Accion Small Business Loans Review 2024
Whether you need financing to start a business or to grow your business, Accion Business Loans offer customized term loans to serve most businesses.
In this review, we’ll go over the details of Accion's business loans to help you decide if Accion’s loans offer the right features for your business.
Recommended: Visit our comprehensive guide on small business loans or read our review of the best small business loans.
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Small Business Loan Guides
Learn more by checking out our comprehensive guides on small business loans.
Accion's Business Loans
Our Approach:
To help match your business with the right loan, we compared Accion’s loan offerings and matched those to the businesses that would benefit most.
In this review, we’ll cover the types of loans Accion offers to help you decide if Accion is the right lending partner for your small business.
Selecting the best small business loan for your company comes down to three things:
- Type of business you have
- Needs of your business
- What you want for the future of your business
Accion Business Loans Summary:
Accion customizes term loans for each business it lends money to, and as a nonprofit that’s been around for over 50 years, Accion offers loans to the following types of businesses:
- Loans for women-owned businesses
- Loans for minority-owned businesses
- Loans for food and beverage businesses
- Loans for startup businesses
- Loans for small businesses
- Loans for veteran-owned businesses
- Business loans for people with disabilities
- Loans for green businesses
Term loans are the best business loans for companies that need a specific amount of money to fund their business needs. Accion offers term loans up to $50,000 with rates as low as 8.99%. You can also get approved in as little as five to ten days.
PROS
- Money can be used for any business expense
- Free up your cash
- Transparent fees
- Easy approval in 5-10 days
- Don’t need collateral
CONS
- Need 576+ Equifax score to qualify for a term loan
- Need to be in business two years to qualify for $50,000
- No bankruptcy for 24 months
- No more than $3,000 in past due debts
- Must demonstrate you can repay the loan
Recommended: Read our guide on how to build business credit.
How to Apply for an Accion Invoice Factoring Loan
- Apply online at us.accion.org in less than 15 minutes providing basic details about your business and customers.
- Get approved by Accion in 5-10 days.
- Get your money 5-10 days later.
Types of Accion Business Loans
Accion offers business term loans only. A term loan is the equivalent of a traditional bank loan, where you receive a certain amount of money with specific repayment terms.
Accion Term Loan
Accion is a nonprofit lender whose mission is to serve certain businesses. Their focus is on helping startups and small businesses. This is evident by the fact they only lend up to $50,000 towards businesses.
Here are the specific businesses Accion helps fund:
- Loans for women-owned businesses
- Loans for minority-owned businesses
- Loans for food and beverage businesses
- Loans for startup businesses
- Loans for small businesses
- Loans for veteran-owned businesses
- Business loans for people with disabilities
- Loans for green businesses
Lowest rate: 8.99% per week
Loan sizes up to: $50,000
Benefits:
- Free up cash flow
- Quick approval
- Fixed payments
- Fixed interest rate
Qualifications:
- 576+ Equifax credit score
- 2+ years in business
- No bankruptcy in past 24 months
- Less than $3,000 in debt
How to Apply:
- Visit us.accion.org and click “Apply For A Loan”
- Provide basic details about your business.
- Get an approval decision within ten days.
- Get your funds within another ten days.
Accion Customer Reviews
Accion seems to have mixed reviews from customers. Here are some verified Accion reviews on Trustpilot’s website made by people who sought loans through them to help their businesses:
“After several voicemails and a call to another Banker, the Accion representative finally called me back. We had a brief conversation. He said he was in my area every Thursday and wanted to stop by. I said sure, let’s do it. Thursday went by and no call or contact with me was made. I followed up again. This time he said he was taking my file down to his boss and underwriting. He would get back with me that afternoon.
Still no answer when I called! Voicemails or emails went unanswered. Again I called the other a Banker and he gets right through to him with no problem. Finally after about 2-3 more days of calling I finally get through and he tells me he was off work and No his company considered me high risk.”
“Ever since we got that loan … we started to have cash flow. So, we grew economically and personally and the business settled down more.”
Learn more by checking out our comprehensive guides on small business loans.
Accion Review Ratings
Value - 3/5
Overall, Accion’s value works well for most startup businesses needing less than $50,000 to improve their business and make it more profitable. Accion does not lend money for real estate purchases. You might also find better interest rates with an SBA 7(a) loan.
UPDATE: Accion is currently only lending money to businesses in New York and Florida. They told us that they were limited on funds and that this would continue for some time.
Customer Service - 4/5
Accion’s customer service is helpful and knowledgeable. Our overall experience was slightly above average. They answered our questions and encouraged us to check back after a few months.
Ease of Use - 5/5
Applying for a term loan with Accion is easy. Everything is explained perfectly on Accion’s website, but they did tell us it’s best to call ahead before filling out an online application.
Included Features - 4/5
We like Accion’s approach to lending because they have fair rates and tend to help businesses that need loans the most. The main feature we like is that they offer term loans that can be used for any business expense, giving you the freedom to run your business as you see fit.
Final Thoughts on Accion
If you need short term financing with average rates, fixed terms, and if you don’t have more than $3,000 in outstanding debt, Accion may be the right lender for your business. Accion may not be the best lender if you’re looking for lower interest rates and need higher amounts of capital.
Visit our comprehensive guide on small business loans.
FAQ
In 2018, Accion reported helping 45,000 borrowers.
The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is a fund set up by the US Government to award grants to nonprofits. Accion is a grant recipient of CDFI.
Accion offers the following:
- Loans for women-owned businesses
- Loans for minority-owned businesses
- Loans for food and beverage businesses
- Loans for startup businesses
- Loans for small businesses
- Loans for veteran-owned businesses
- Business loans for people with disabilities
- Loans for green businesses
Consider what you’ll need the loan for, what payments you can afford, and how much the loan will help you.
Accion lends only to businesses, but in most cases, you’ll need to guarantee the loan with your personal assets.
