About lender
Lending Loop is a Canadian peer-to-peer lending platform that creates efficient and mutually beneficial connections between investors and businesses seeking financing. This platform allows funding at lower interest rates, which boosts businesses and reduces cash pressure. Investors can participate in building the Canadian economy through this platform and invest even with small amounts and still earn returns.
Since Lending Loop is a commercial product, both borrowers (businesses) and investors are charged reasonable fees for using the service.
The company's legal name is Loop Securities Inc., and the corporate form is For Profit. Loop Securities Inc. is registered as an Exempt Market Dealer in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon.
All Canadians can earn a return on their investments with Lending Loop, a Toronto-based company.
Pros and Cons
Here are the strong sides of the Lending Loop services.
Pros
Lending Loop provides quick access to funding for business needs;
reasonable fees for the use of the platform service and the use of the funds;
simple registration procedure;
an officially registered company that can offer its services on a legal basis;
the company takes care of the security of customer data;
all types of investors have the opportunity to invest (even small amounts);
businesses are supported throughout Canada;
the business credit check offered by Lending Loop is a tool that allows investors to feel more secure;
lenders can select loans based on Lending Loop's borrower’s grade. It allows investors to evaluate the risk of their portfolio;
lenders (investors) can withdraw cash or reinvest money after borrowers pay it back;
all transactions between lenders and borrowers take place on Lending Loop's secure platform;
the company offers a transparent fee policy: no penalty fees, no application fee;
possibility of early repayment without penalties;
the application process is conducted online, saving the platform's customers from visiting an office or bank branch.
assignment of a personal advisor;
availability of a borrowing guide to help clients understand the borrowing process;
a wide range of financing purposes (equipment purchases, bidding, hiring employees, renovation or expansion, inventory purchases, marketing, refinancing, and working capital bridge, etc.);
personalized financial offers;
ability to borrow from $1,000 to $500,000;
auto lending option for investors which takes into consideration preferred risk level;
lending Loop uses a proprietary lending model that allows it to offer flexible choices to small businesses;
it is possible to cancel or reduce loan commitment.
Low-interest rates are usually offset by higher requirements that the borrower must meet, among other rules that customers may find a disadvantage.
Cons
personal creditworthiness is checked to get on the list of companies eligible for financing;
according to open sources, only Canadian investors are allowed to be lenders on the platform;
there is no specific, more straightforward process for follow-on loans;
the Lending Loop team must review the project;
requirement of minimum company revenue;
it is not entirely clear what interest rates are applicable, and it is only known that they start at 4.96%;
open sources give fairly general information, and further questions can be asked either by talking to customer service or during communication with your manager;
there is no clear information on whether collection methods are used against bad debtors and which institutions are informed about borrowers' repayment discipline and produce records for other credit score statistics.
Lending Loop is an excellent opportunity to obtain financing on competitive terms. Still, there are also some disadvantages because you must have a good personal credit score to be eligible and have a confirmed turnover of not less than $100,000 for the last 12 months; besides, there is no clarity about collection procedure and reporting about repayments to credit history bureaus, etc. Therefore, you will need to weigh the pros and cons to determine if this financing option is best for you.
Loan conditions
The loan process begins with a simple online registration and eligibility check. Once your business successfully passes the first step, you will be asked to provide additional information to get closer to funding (legal business name, owner's first and last name, contact phone number, login, and password).
For borrowers, the following requirements apply:
at least one year in business;
annual revenue must be at least $100,000;
a personal credit score must be at least 640 units.
When you first apply, you must verify that you meet the requirements and create a profile in the system to track your application and the loan progress.
The amount borrowed can be up to $500,000, and the interest rate varies from 4.96% to 24.93%. The interest rate is part of the individual offer to the borrower. In addition, lenders must pay an annual service fee of 1.5%, which is charged when they receive repayment from the company. It is charged monthly on the outstanding loan amount.
There are several types of loans: Express Loans and Standard Loans.
Express loans offer loans from $1,000 to $40,000; sole proprietors are also eligible for this type of loan.
Interest rate and loan amount are assigned to the borrower by Lending Loop based on scoring risk analysis and prediction.
Credit decisions are made based on financial, business, and credit information.
Once funding is in place, the borrower receives the money credited to their account.
Term loans for small businesses offer financing solutions for $1,000 to $500,000 with terms ranging from three months to five years.
Methods of loan funding
Once the project is financed by the purchase of the promissory bill by the lender, the borrower receives the money in their account.
The loan amount is listed with the lender as a promissory note for sale within 30 days. It usually takes one business day for the borrower to access the funds; before that, it takes two days for the Lending Loop team to analyze and list.