Lendr Review

Lendr is a direct, online lender that offers working capital loans in the form of merchant cash advances, as well as invoice factoring, for small and medium-sized businesses. You can access up to $1 million through Lendr and will pay back the funding with a portion of daily debit/credit card sales or a daily or weekly ACH debit from your business checking account.

Lendr aims to serve business owners who aren’t able to qualify for a business loan elsewhere. If you’ve been rejected by banks or other alternative lenders, Lendr might be a good option for you. Unlike more traditional loans, Lendr’s financing products are based on your future sales, so your credit history is less of a factor. You’ll also be able to complete Lendr’s application quickly and, once approved, receive funds as soon as the same day.

Lendr has two invoice factoring products: full-service factoring and basic funding. While the basic option simply offers cash for your invoices, full-service factoring also handles the invoice collection process and more—for a slightly higher fee.

As we mentioned, Lendr caters to business owners who aren’t able to qualify for bank loans. Due to the nature of their loan products, your credit history is less important than your business’s sales history. Your business needs to have been established for at least one year—or, if you’re a home-based business, three years.

You’ll also need a business bank account that you make at least seven deposits into per month. If you’re planning to pay back your financing with a portion of credit/debit card sales, you’ll also need at least $5,000 in monthly credit card volume.

Of course, if you’re interested in their invoice factoring product, you need to be a business that invoices customers, which should be either business-to-business or business-to-government. 

Lendr is unable to work with businesses that have liens exceeding $40,000 or 40% of the funding amount, or businesses that have filed for bankruptcy less than a year ago. Additionally, they do not work with businesses that are publicly traded, located in Alaska or Hawaii, or that fall under one of the following industries:

• Adult entertainment
• Auto
• Credit restoration
• Direct sale or multi-level marketing
• Financial or lending
• Gambling
• Lawyers
• Oil and natural gas
• Religious

The type of financing you’re seeking from Lendr will determine what you need to apply. For their merchant cash advance, you’ll need:

• Three months of bank statements
• Government-issued ID
• Voided check
• Business license
• Bank verification
• Current financials

For their invoice factoring product, you’ll provide:

• Completed factoring application for all majority owners
• Two years of corporate tax returns and two years of personal tax returns for all majority owners
• Copy of driver’s license for all majority owners
• Articles of incorporation
• Operating agreement
• Workers compensation certificate
• Year-end financial statements for past calendar year
• Year-to-date AR aging report, profit and loss statement, and balance sheet
• A copy of any current invoicing

If you’re considering either Lendr’s merchant cash advance or invoice factoring product, here’s how the application and post-funding processes will work.

To get started with Lendr, you fill out their online questionnaire. It’s just 10 questions and asks basic business and personal information. After receiving your questionnaire, a Lendr funding specialist will get in touch with you for additional information.

Should you have questions about your loan status, there is an online portal where you can check your loan progress. You can also call or email Lendr.

Lendr will do a soft credit pull and review all of your documentation. If you meet their requirements, then they will present you with an offer in as few as six hours. You then have to sign the loan agreement before receiving the funds. Before closing on the deal, Lendr will require a personal guarantee from enough owners covering at least 70% of the business.

Should you decide to accept Lendr’s funding offer, the funds will reach your business bank account within 24 to 48 hours.

Repayment will begin the next day after you receive funding. There are two different options for repayment, one of which you will choose before you sign your financing agreement. You can either choose to have Lendr debit a fixed amount from your business checking account, in which case the loan functions more like a short-term loan. Alternatively, you can structure the financing like a traditional merchant cash advance, and Lendr will deduct a fixed percentage from your daily credit card or debit card sales.

Lendr also has a concurrent funding policy. They might approve you for more money than you need right away, and they’ll keep that extra money on the table for 90 days. During that time frame, if you find that you need more money than you initially expected, you can then tap into the additional funding.

Once you’ve paid back at least 60% of your loan, you’re eligible for a renewal, typically with better terms than your first advance.

Lendr charges a 2% origination fee on their merchant cash advance product. They don’t have a prepayment penalty if you’re able to pay your balance off early; however, you also won’t save money on interest since it’s a non-amortizing loan. 

While they do require a personal guarantee, Lendr won’t file a lien on your business unless you default on payment.

It’s also worth noting that Lendr doesn’t report loan payments to the consumer or business credit bureaus, so while your credit score won’t be negatively affected if you miss a payment, you also won’t be able to build your credit score through consistent, on-time payments.

Lendr is located in Chicago, Illinois, and can be reached via phone, email, or through their mobile app. Their customer service reps are available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday.

Lendr has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 2016 and has an A+ rating. They’ve received just two complaints in the last three years, which the company has addressed. 

Overall, Lendr’s customer reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Customers appreciated the ease of the application process, how quickly they were able to receive funding, and felt like Lendr was transparent about pricing and other terms. Additionally, customers sing the praises of the sales team and customer service, often calling reps out by name to share how helpful and accommodating they were.

On the other hand, some customers found that daily repayment was too hard on their cash flow. This is common for any funding option that requires daily repayments, and—as Lendr even says on their site—MCAs are often a solution only when you can’t qualify for a bank loan or need funding fast.

Lendr is not in Fundera’s Lender Network. The Fundera team carefully vets all of the lenders in our network, and have determined that Lendr 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.