The 7 Best ERC Companies For Getting Your ERC Funds
Read More Jul 10, 2023 Filed under: Accounting, Bookkeeping, Invoicing, Small Business
Bluevine Small Business Loans Review
Bluevine might be expensive, but the online lending service offers transparent services and flexible lines of credit that may work for some businesses.
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Expert Analyst & Reviewer
UPDATED
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Bluevine
| Total Rating | 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Rates & Fees | Good |
| Application Process | Excellent |
| Sales & Advertising Transparency | Good |
| Customer Service | Excellent |
| User Reviews | Good |
Bluevine At A Glance
- Business lines of credit available to corporations and LLCs
- 6 and 12 month draw periods
- Credit limits up to $250,000
Pros
- Financing is available for startups and entrepreneurs
- Monthly repayments available for some customers
- The application is fast & easy
- Funds get disbursed quickly
Cons
- Financing isn’t available in some states
- Rates can be expensive
- Customer service is inconsistent
Table of Contents
What Is Bluevine?
Bluevine is an online lending service offering business lines of credit and business checking accounts.
Bluevine’s fees can get a little expensive, but despite the potential for high costs, Bluevine offers useful and transparent services that are relatively easy to qualify for, convenient, and useful for merchants who struggle with cash flow problems.
Services Offered
Bluevine offers small business lines of credit. Lines of credit are similar to credit cards, giving you a set amount of credit that you can use. You can make one or multiple draws as needed, and you only pay interest on the amount borrowed.
Bluevine offers a revolving line of credit, meaning that your credit replenishes once you’ve made a payment. The lines of credit are offered on either a six-month or 12-month repayment plan.
Bluevine also offers business checking accounts.
Borrower Qualifications
To qualify for a Bluevine line of credit, your business must meet the following minimum requirements:
| Time In Business | 24 months |
| Credit Score | 625 |
| Business Revenue | $40,000 per month |
Bluevine lines of credit are available to U.S. corporations and LLCs, except those based in Nevada, North Dakota, or South Dakota. Your business must have not filed for bankruptcy within the last three years.
This product is available to most industries except for the following:
- Illegal gambling
- Pornography
- Political campaigns
- Firearms
- Controlled substances
- Financial institutions and lenders (includes auctions, insurance, and cryptocurrency)
- Auto dealerships
- Political campaigns
Rates & Fees
Bluevine offers two lines of credit — one with a draw term length of six months and one with a term length of 12 months. Because its more extended term length makes it riskier, most businesses will not qualify for lines of credit with 12-month draw terms.
Here are the rates and fees for both products:
| Credit Facility Size | $6,000-$250,000 |
| Term Length | 6 or 12 months |
| Interest Rate | 0.3%-1.5% per week (6-month terms) 1.5%-6.5% per month (12-month terms) |
| Draw Fee | 1.6%-2.5% per draw |
| APR Range | 15%-78% |
| Personal Guarantee: | Yes |
Bluevine’s lines of credit currently cap at a maximum of $250,000, but the amount you can borrow will depend on the strength of your business.
Once approved, you can draw funds up to your available credit line at any time you want. Be aware that there are draw fees starting at 1.6% whenever you request funds from your credit line. There’s also a $15 fee for expedited deposits. Otherwise, the funds from each draw are deposited by ACH transfer, which can take up to three business days.
Repayments are made in 26 weekly installments if you have a 6-month term or in 12 monthly installments if you have a 12-month term. Regardless, you can repay early at any time. If you do so, you’ll only have to repay the interest that has accrued up to that point. Bluevine does not charge a prepayment penalty.
Bluevine’s lines of credit are issued by Utah-based Celtic Bank.
Application Process
The application for Bluevine’s services is simple: create an account via the website and answer basic questions about yourself and your business. You’ll also have to provide either the most recent three months of bank statements or allow read-only access to your bank account.
Once you give your phone number, expect a call from a Bluevine rep who will walk you through the process and answer any questions.
Approval is based on several factors. Your credit score is a consideration, but Bluevine also looks at various other factors, such as social media presence, business history, transaction volume, and the creditworthiness of your customers.
Once approved, you can begin drawing from your credit line immediately. Money transfers usually take one to three business days.
Sales & Advertising Transparency
Bluevine provides pretty good transparency about its lines of credit, with most questions being answered in Bluevine’s FAQ.
The customer service is similarly transparent and willing to answer questions about its products.
Customer Service & Technical Support
| Bluevine Support | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
The consensus (which matches my own experience) is that Bluevine reps are very responsive, whichever way you choose to contact them. And if you’re not in the mood to talk to somebody, Bluevine also has an FAQ for general questions before signup as well as one for customers already using the lender’s services.
Bluevine User Reviews
Negative Reviews & Complaints
Bluevine is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating and has had 341 complaints closed in the last three years. A large number of those are associated with PPP loans from 2020, and many of the more recent ones are about the company’s business checking product.
It’s worth noting that Bluevine is extremely proactive in responding to negative reviews and fixing complaints when possible. Customer reviews on the site are negative overall, however, with Bluevine rating 1.21 out of 5 stars based on 166 customer reviews. Unfortunately, this number has been steadily trending downward with recent updates.
Criticisms and complaints include:
- Denials: Some reviewers were frustrated to learn that they had been denied funding, even though they met all the requirements listed on Bluevine’s website. A few were further frustrated because they felt Bluevine did not give them a clear reason for why they were rejected.
- Expensive Fees: The fees may be a little higher than some customers would like.
- Rejected Draws: Some customers were frustrated to learn that requested draws from their credit line had been rejected. Bluevine monitors your revenue and debts and will not let you borrow if it looks like you cannot repay based on the information it has. Unfortunately, this can happen at inconvenient times for some businesses.
- Communication Issues: One of the harder-to-resolve complaints involved confusion over the point of contact for Bluevine products administered through their partnerships.
Positive Reviews & Testimonials
Bluevine’s rep has fared better on Trustpilot, where it gets an average of 4.2 stars out of 5 with over 7,224 reviews.
In addition to a large number of customer reviews, Bluevine has been extensively covered by news sources, including TechCrunch, Forbes, HuffPost, PYMNTS.com, Crowdfund Insider, American Banker, and others.
In general, merchants like Bluevine’s services for solving cash flow problems. The funder’s lines of credit can be used any time you need extra cash, whatever the purpose may be.
Additionally, customers like the:
- Prompt customer service
- Transparent advertising
- Easy application process
- Fast time to funding
Is A Bluevine Loan Right For Your Business?
Bluevine’s growing pains appear to have carried over into 2023. The line of credit product remains largely unchanged, although it is now harder to qualify for, particularly when it comes to the amount of revenue you need to have.
How much cause for concern is there? Most of the recent complaints are centered on Bluevine’s neobanking services and PPP loan issues (along with nearly the entire online lending industry). Bluevine’s lines of credit are not the only — or the cheapest — products on the market. The more stringent borrower qualifications make it a less compelling offer than it used to be, although some businesses may find the terms of the line of credit to be acceptable.
Chris Motola
Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
Chris has been writing about small business topics since 2003. In 2015, he joined Merchant Maverick, where he writes about business financing, payment processing, and demographic trends in entrepreneurship. Chris has been featured in Fox Business, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates, Newsweek, BizJournals, and other publications. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Writing Arts from SUNY Oswego, and a Masters of Science in Interactive Media from the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
View Chris Motola's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
Bluevine |
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Bluevine for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
Bluevine |
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Bluevine for yourself.
I applied for my PPP loan in Feb, they didn’t address and approve the loan until May. Then they sent me a letter stating that the PPP loan had run out of funding. You cannot directly contact anyone with meaningful information about your PPP loan status, they have some kind of receptionist who knows absolutely nothing about your loan or even what PPP is, that’s about it. They failed to address my loan in a timely fashion and now it looks like they waited too long and it won’t be approved. Meaningwilhile my colleague applied through Bank of America twice and received 20k each time. My biggest mistake was going with Bluevine, an archetype of incompetence.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Eric!
I’m sorry to hear about the issues you have had with receiving your PPP loan. I just want to make it clear that while lenders are no longer accepting new loan applications, loans that have already been approved will be funded. Per CNBC: “The SBA will continue to fund outstanding approved PPP applications from other lenders but won’t accept any new applicants.”
I would continue to follow up with BlueVine to learn about the status of your loan and to receive updates as to when your funds will be disbursed. Good luck!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Luke transit LLC
Had a blue vine business account opened up. Was approved and active. Had a large deposit for it to fund the account. Money was in the account for maybe 2 days. And one day after going for lunch. They closed my account for “unusual activity”
They will not return follow up calls like they say. They only have a call back list they put you on. They won’t release any info “for security reasons “
And the biggest kicker. THEY SAID THAT THEY ARE KEEPING MY MONEY AND THAT THEIR TERMS SAY THAT IF THERE IS AN ACCOUNT CLOSURE THEY WILL KEEP ALL THE FUNDS. WTF? OVER $17,000 AND IM SO LOST
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: A&B Property Owners, LLC
I cant give any ratings yet….I got my first loan through SBA for 5,000…gov…I applied for first round of ppp through Bluevine for 5,200., Feb 23-21 and was not denied but still it is saying in reviewed…they said all my documents are in and nothing is further needed…yet iv emailed them and today I called and she just said check your dashboard…it takes 14-21 days…its been over 21 days…so I feel if I don’t get an answer soon…i miss the cute off to apply anywhere else…SBA approved me in a day…no one gives you answers …and if I gave them all the stuff they needed…confused here
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Healing Path Integrative Medicina
I had an excellent experience this week with Bluevine to obtain a PPP loan in 2021. Their online format made it really easy where they asked questions and then used the answers to guide me towards the loan application completion. i was pleasantly surprised how easy it was. I applied on Tues and had the loan in my bank account on Friday. Very thankful, and impressed.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
If I could leave a zero for Bluevine, I would.I applied for the second round of ppp loans with Bluevine on the advice of my accountant. After submitting the application, I was eventually asked to approve an alternative offer. They would not let me see the offer before I okd it – so I tried to contact them for more information. Endless hours on hold, only to be disconnected, unanswered emails – when I finally connected with someone who said she could help, she canceled my prior email requests and then completely disappeared, never answering my subsequent emails. I regret even considering using them. Dealing with them is a nightmare. Maybe they are understaffed, but that will become YOUR problem very quickly.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Sunny Day
This is one of those phantom banks you heard about. So easy to open your account, but once you move your money or need anything else, then you see that their support is non-existent and incompetent. Wait time is almost 45 minutes regardless of the time date. Their support doesn’t know anything and can’t do anything, they are promising supervisor will give you a call back and that of course never happens. Because they probably don’t have them. The risk you put your business by dealing with this bank is so enormous that there is absolutely no point of even opening your account there. You have been warned.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
BlueVine service is horrible. I applied for a PPP loan that my business really needs about 8 weeks ago. I was referred to them through a friend that works at one of BlueVines partners. After it said my app was complete, it was over a month of silence. They did not reply to my email inquiries. I called in. I waited on hold for about an hour then hung up. I called another day and was given the option to have them call me back from the customer service line. They never called. Tried this again a few days later. They did call back, I pressed a number to be connected, then an automated response said they weren’t accepting calls at that time. Called again, and it took over 2 hours to be connected to a customer service rep. They said everything looked good on my application, and they were just dealing with the backlog of applications before they’d get to mine. A week or two later, I received an email, followed the link and my app was declined. Reason? “Unable to verify Applicant’s identity from documents submitted.” My driver’s license and LLC docs have been used numerous times for loans. Names match. There are no problems with the IDs. I asked my friend that works with one of BlueVine’s partners. He said “The inability to verify your identities is not true by everything I see in the application.” I sent an email to [email protected] 2 weeks ago for clarification or see what they needed. No replies. Been on hold for over 2 hours now at 888-216-9619. There is no outlet to get answers or insight. Not replying to support tickets, declining and closing applications for petty reasons and no resolution option, not calling back, calling back but telling customers you aren’t taking calls, and 2+ hour wait times… This is unacceptable service. I considered applying months ago to other PPP lenders, but many said to not apply if you have applied through another lender. I wish I would’ve cancelled my BlueVine app way back then. Do not use BlueVine. They do not care about their customers.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: JC Systems, Inc
Very dissatisfied with this company. The day they announced COVID-19 they shut down my credit line (as did Kabbage). During this time, when money was needed to keep businesses open they shut down. If it was not for On Deck, I probably would have had to close my doors. They were the only company that helped during these hard times. I tried contacting both Kabbage and Bluevine because I was struggling to make my payments. Neither company would call me back and they continued to take payments not caring if they overdrafted my account. If you want a company that is not going to run during hard times try On Deck. Bluevine and Kabbage will definitely not be there for you. They do not answer voicemail messages or emails so don’t expect much from them.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I applied for a PPP loan on 5/23, due to the advertisement saying “approval in minutes”, and so haven’t received any communication from Bluevine. Today is 6/17 so their minutes turned into a month. You can’t get anyone on the phone and receive no responses via email. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I’ve ever received.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Credentialed Clinical Placement, llc
Has anyone received their PPP from this company?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Shame on you BlueVine for denying my small business SBA Backed PPP loan only because my bank account is newly negative for the first time ever! The world has been literally shut down since March because of a world wide pandemic and everyone was affected. I did what I was told and paid my employee’s so that they could shelter in place before finally closing down to help stop the spread. Because the Small Business Association and the federal government guaranteed relief would come through the smaller lenders this time as a protection from being overlooked the first round.
Stop eliminating a valued part of our community and back the small businesses to ensure jobs and growth and sustainability for us all. Shame on you for closing out the ones that really could use the help the most. First it was the big banks now it’s even the small lenders and their partners. I have been waiting patiently since the first round of SBA relief to finally be told that I don’t qualify for the second round during a pandemic?!?
8 years of self financing my dream business will be washed away because my bank account is only recently insufficient during a PANDEMIC!
No where in the SBA guidelines does it state that a newly negative account or low income would automatically disqualify you from receiving credit, or a Economic Hardship loan. If you cared enough BlueVine maybe you would have called my bank and learned that my account has never EVER been negative not once, until this global Pandemic! My bank can vouch that this is my first time negative. My finances are normally not this stressed. But now I realize there will never be any relief for the minority owned disadvantaged Women business leaders.
I will file a complaint with SBA ombudsman, the federal trades commission, and all of your lending partners. The Equal credit opportunity act prohibited these actions.
“Notice: The Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age (provided the applicant has the capacity to enter into a binding contract); because all or part of the applicant’s income derives from any public assistance program; or because the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The Federal agency that administers compliance with this law concerning this creditor is Federal Trade Commission”
Looking at the bigger picture I really wonder how many minority owed or disadvantaged small businesses have been shut out from government relief during this pandemic. Every Business and Every Person matters and because of that a class action suit will be the next cause of action against your predatory lending and bad ethical practices.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.