Currency Finance Review (Formerly Currency Capital)

Currency Finance (formerly known as Currency Capital) is an alternative lender of business loans based in Los Angeles, California. They provide equipment financing as well as working capital loans—however, equipment financing is what they’re most known for. Their equipment financing and working capital loans go up to $500,000. But their smaller deals (less than $150,000) are where Currency Finance really shines.

To be eligible for Currency Finance funding, you will need a business bank account. While Currency Finance can work with businesses with tax liens, if the lien is larger than $10,000, then it will need to be on a payment plan. Personal bankruptcies are also not a deal-breaker, but a year must pass between discharge and funding.

Currency Finance will check your business credit history through Equifax, Paynet, and LexisNexis, but they won’t require a minimum business credit score.

Currency Finance does not work with businesses in the following industries:

• Adult entertainment
• Gaming
• Casinos
• Unregulated drugs or paraphernalia

What you need to apply with Currency Finance (formerly Currency Capital) will vastly differ depending on how much funding you need. 

For equipment financing loans under $150,000, all you’ll need is an equipment quote to finalize funding. 

For deals $150,000 or above, expect to provide:

• Two years of business tax returns
• Six months of bank statements
• An exact equipment quote
• Profit and loss statements
• Balance sheet
• Debt schedule

With this overview in mind, how does funding work with Currency Finance exactly? Read on for all the details about the application, underwriting, and post-funding processes.

If you’re applying for less than $150,000 worth of equipment financing from Currency Finance, then the underwriting process you’ll need to go through is actually one of the simplest you’ll come across. All you’ll have to do is fill out an application and then provide a formal quote for your funded equipment to finalize the process. Altogether, Currency Finance can fund these deals under $150,000 in as few as 24 hours.

However, if you’re applying for $150,000 or more of equipment financing from Currency Finance, the underwriting process will be more involved. You’ll not only need to fill out an application and provide an equipment quote, but you’ll also need to hand over two years of business tax returns, six months of bank statements, and a few more nitty-gritty financial documents. As a result, these bigger deals will take longer than a day to fund.

If you go for a working capital loan you could get up to $500,000 with no prepayment penalties and up to six years to pay it back. These loans can be funded in just days so you get the capital you need quickly. Before you agree to the loan, though, be sure that it is in fact a loan agreement and not an agreement for equipment leasing or financing. Some customers have complained about confusion regarding which product they’re given.

For any of these loan products, Currency Finance performs a soft pull on your personal credit through Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to check your personal credit score.

Currency Finance provides a corporation-only guarantee option, but otherwise will require that all owners with at least 10% ownership provide a personal guarantee. They will also file a UCC lien specific to the equipment you finance with their funding.

You may also run into various fees with Currency Finance, including document fees, UCC filing fees, inspection fees, and titling fees.

After you take on equipment financing from Currency Finance, you’ll pay down your debt on a monthly repayment schedule. You won’t be able to follow your repayment progress through an online dashboard, so you’ll have to rely on statements and customer service to keep up.

Some of the lending partners Currency Finance works with offer non-amortizing funding, so you’ll need to adhere to your preset payment sum, regardless of how early you’re able to prepay. Be sure to check your loan agreement to see if the equipment financing you secure through Currency Finance has a prepayment penalty or not.

You’ll be able to set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking account or you can send in checks to make payments on your debt.

You can contact Currency Finance’s sales team from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT Monday through Friday. You can also fill out and submit a short questionnaire and a representative will contact you via phone or email. For general support, you can also fill out a short form or call their support line.

The vast majority of Currency Finance customer reviews are negative. Many of these negative Currency Finance reviews from unhappy customers focus on the confusion surrounding the nature of their equipment financing versus their working capital. Currency Finance equipment financing as a whole consists of many different iterations of equipment financing, and which one you fund with will depend on how creditworthy they deem your business.

As a result, some  Currency Finance reviews feature disgruntled customers who didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when they accepted their loan. Several customers also complain of receiving an equipment lease when they thought they were getting a loan. Because equipment financing through Currency Finance can get a little confusing, be sure to read through your entire loan agreement before signing.

Additionally, reviews call out hidden fees and extra charges beyond what they agreed to, making this product more expensive than they expected. 

Customers who did have a positive experience call out the speed with which they were able to fund, which they describe as much faster than going through a bank.

Currency Finance, LLC is not in Fundera’s Lender Network. The Fundera team carefully vets all of the lenders in our network, and have determined that Currency Finance, LLC either doesn’t have the technology to work with Fundera or does not offer a financing product that competes with the other lenders in its product class. We suggest considering another lender in this product class.

See if you qualify for similar products in Fundera’s Lender Network.