Wells Fargo Small Business Loans Review 2024
Whether you need financing to purchase equipment, money for a one-time project, or need a line of credit to help your cash flow, Wells Fargo’s business loans offer several short-term and longer-term loan products.
In this review, we’ll go over the details of Wells Fargo's small business loans to help you decide if these 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.
Wells Fargo Business Loans
Our Approach:
To help match your business with the right loan, we reviewed Wells Fargo’s small business loan offerings and matched those to the businesses that would benefit most.
In this review, we’ll cover the types of small business loans Wells Fargo offers to help you decide if Wells Fargo 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
Wells Fargo Business Loans Summary:
Wells Fargo offers two different types of small business loans: Wells Fargo Unsecured Business Loans and Equipment Express Loans
- The Wells Fargo Unsecured Business Loan is the best business loan for companies that want to finance one-time expenses with the flexibility to pay over a short or long term. Wells Fargo offers loans up to $100,000 with rates as low as 6.25% per year. You can also get approved in as little as 24 hours.
- Wells Fargo’s Equipment Express Loan is the best business loan for businesses needing to purchase new or used vehicles or equipment at competitive rates with flexible terms. Wells Fargo offers credit lines up to $100,000 with rates as low as 4.5% for vehicle purchases and 5% for equipment purchases.
PROS
- Unsecured loans
- Longer term repayment plans
- Great financing rates
- Free up your cash
- Transparent fees
- Easy approval if qualified
CONS
- Need a 530+ FICO score to qualify for invoice factoring
- Need $10,000 in monthly revenue to qualify for invoice factoring
- Need to be in a business-to-business (B2B) company to qualify for invoice factoring
Recommended: Read our guide on how to build business credit.
How to Apply for a Wells Fargo Small Business Loan:
- For Wells Fargo Small Business Loans call: 1-866-582-0039
- For Equipment Express Loans call: 1-800-416-0056
Types of Wells Fargo Business Loans
Wells Fargo offers two small business loans: Wells Fargo Small Business Loans and Equipment Express Loans. Each loan serves different purposes.
The Wells Fargo Small Business Loan is a term loan. A term loan has fixed payments over a specified period of time with interest calculated over the life of the loan, added to the monthly installment payments. With Wells Fargo, if you pay the loan off early you save on paying additional interest. Some lenders charge early payment fees but not Wells Fargo.
The Equipment Express Loan is a term loan used specifically for purchasing a company-owned vehicle or some other type of business equipment. Equipment could be an oven for a restaurant, conveyor belt for a factory, or any other type of equipment used to help the business successfully operate. Wells Fargo does exclude computers and software from their list of acceptable equipment purchases. These items devalue too quickly, making it riskier for Wells Fargo to finance them. Rates for Equipment Express Loans are less than for Wells Fargo Small Business Loans because the risk is less. If someone defaults on an equipment loan, the bank can simply repossess the equipment while keeping previously made payments.
Wells Fargo Small Business Loan
The Wells Fargo Small Business Loan offers competitive rates and loan amounts up to $100,000. These loans can be used for business purposes like making purchases.
Lowest rate: 6.25% per week
Loan sizes up to: $100,000
Benefits:
- $0 opening fee
- $10,000 to $100,000 loan amounts
- 1-5 year terms
- Fixed rates beginning at 6.25%
- No collateral required
Qualifications:
- 3+ years in business
- No bankruptcies
- Five tradelines
- Two years profitable
- $1.50 in revenue for each $1.00 you borrow
How to Apply:
- Call 1-866-582-0039
Equipment Express Loan
Wells Fargo Equipment Express Loan offers competitive rates and loan amounts up to $100,000. These loans can be used for equipment purchases for your business.
Lowest rate: 4.5%
Loan sizes up to: $100,000
Benefits:
- $0 opening fee
- $10,000 to $100,000 loan amounts
- 1-5 year terms
- Fixed rates beginning at 4.5%
- No collateral required
Qualifications:
- 3+ years in business
- No bankruptcies
- Five tradelines
- Two years profitable
- $1.50 in revenue for each $1.00 you borrow
How to Apply:
- Call 1-800-416-0056
Wells Fargo Customer Reviews
Wells Fargo seems to have mostly positive reviews from customers. Here are some verified Wells Fargo reviews on Trustpilot’s website made by people who sought loans through them to help their businesses:
“Wells Fargo has delivered a good experience to date.”
“Wells Fargo is one of the best banks there is and they are better than Bank of America TD Bank any other banks that's out there and their process of starting a new account applying for loans is very easy and there's customer service to walk you through every step of the way and all their customer representative speak for [sic] English.”
“No immidiate [sic] help availble [sic], wait for us mail 3 to 5 days, really!”
Learn more by checking out our comprehensive guides on small business loans.
Wells Fargo Review Ratings
Value - 4/5
Overall, Wells Fargo can be valuable to many businesses given they offer many types of loans. We reviewed their small business loans and found them to offer competitive rates and longer repayment terms than many other banks offer. Wells Fargo may not be so useful for companies that have not been in business for at least three years or companies with less established business credit.
Customer Service - 5/5
Wells Fargo customer service is helpful, professional, and straight-shooting. Our overall experience was fair and pleasant.
Ease of Use - 2/5
Applying for both a Wells Fargo Small Business Loan and an Express Equipment Loan was definitely not as simple as applying for an online loan. We had to call them and then wait on hold and finally were asked to jump through some hoops. All-in-all, easier than dealing with other brick-and-mortar banks but not as simple as online lenders.
Included Features - 4/5
We like Wells Fargo’s approach to lending because of features like:
- Low-interest rates
- Flexible terms
- Great customer service
Final Thoughts on Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo small business loans may be the right financing option for your business if you need short-term or longer-term funding with fair rates and financing that work in parallel with your business goals.
Visit our comprehensive guide on small business loans.
Wells Fargo FAQs
To apply for a business loan with Wells Fargo, call them directly: 1-866-582-0039.
Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Wells Fargo has limited its business loan offerings to mainly support the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loans.
Wells Fargo doesn’t require collateral for their small business loans.
Wells Fargo is the largest Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a) lender in the United States.
Wells Fargo is the number one SBA 7(a) lender, in dollars, in 13 of the 50 US states that make them a preferred SBA lender.
