What is a Business Loan?

Business loan is a funding support offered by Banks and NBFCs to meet the financial requirements of self-employed customers. It can be availed by individuals, MSMEs, business owners, entrepreneurs, and several other entities.

Business loans are mainly classified into two types, such as secured loans and unsecured loans. Secured loans are types of loans that require collateral/security that a borrower needs to deposit with the lender to avail a loan. However, in the case of unsecured loans, there is no need to submit any collateral/security with the bank, NBFC or any other lender.

Most of the financial institutions offer unsecured business loans, including Term Loans, Working Capital Loans, Loans under Govt. schemes, Overdrafts, etc. Leading banks offer secured loans in the form of Letter of Credit, Bill/Invoice Discounting, Equipment Finance, Machinery Loans, POS loans, etc.

The minimum loan amount offered starts from Rs. 30,000 that can be availed from Small Finance Banks (SFBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) or Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). Borrowers can avail collateral-free business loans for up to Rs. 1 crore from leading banks and NBFCs. Small business loans are also available for MSMEs and Startups at affordable interest rates from top banks.

Business Loan Interest Rates
Kotak Mahindra Bank14% onwards
HDFC Bank16% onwards
ZipLoan16% onwards
FlexiLoans16% onwards
Axis Bank17% onwards
Fullerton Finance17% onwards
Bajaj Finserv17% onwards
Yes Bank17% onwards
Tata Capital Finance17% onwards
ICICI Bank18% onwards
Lendingkart Finance18% onwards
Hero FinCorp18% onwards
IIFL Finance18% onwards
Indifi Finance18% onwards
NeoGrowth Finance18% onwards
RBL Bank19% onwards
SMEcorner19% onwards
U GRO Capital19% onwards
IDFC First Bank20% onwards
HDB Financial Services Ltd.22% onwards

 

Note: The mentioned interest rates are subject to change and depend on the sole discretion of the bank, NBFC, SFB, MFI and RBI. Interest Rates are updated as on Oct 2021.

Credit score and it's importance in availing Business Loan

Credit score plays a significant role in the loan approval process. It represents your credit history along with the repayment timeline of availed funding products. Generally, any credit score of 750 or more is considered good by the financial institutions. However, if your credit score is bit low of 650 or above, there are still chances of loan approval from some NBFCs, Small Finance Banks and Micro Finance Institutions.

The credit score eligibility defined by financial institutions are different for individuals, self-employed professionals, MSMEs, retailers or manufacturers and other business entities.

Different ranges of credit score is required by banks/NBFCs, from borrowers who require various types of business loans, such as term loan, working capital loan, letter of credit, overdraft, POS loans, etc. The credit score range defined by the lender for a specific loan product shall vary from applicant to applicant and loan types.

People with New-to-Credit should also start to build a credit score for loan approvals, as applicants with low credit scores are always at higher risk of loan rejections. Startups require even higher credit scores to avail business loans and they are new to the lending market and are about to set up a new business. Therefore, build and maintain a good credit score to enhance the chance of loan approval.

Check the credit score for free and apply for loan online, as per your business requirements.

Business Loan Eligibility Criteria
  • Business Tenure: Minimum 1 year or above
  • Minimum Annual Turnover: Rs. 12 lakh or above for existing enterprises
  • Credit Score: 750 or above
  • Applicants with No past loan defaults
Eligible Entities
  • Individuals, Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Self-employed professionals, Startups, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
  • Private and Public Limited Companies, Sole Proprietorship, Partnership Firms, Limited Liability Partnerships, and Large Enterprises engaged only in Manufacturing, Trading or Services sectors
  • NGOs, Co-operative Societies, Trusts and professionals, such as CAs, Doctors, Architects, Company Secretaries, Designers, etc.
Documents Required for Business Loan

When applying for a business loan, you will need to submit the following documents:

  • Duly filled application form along with passport-sized photographs
  • KYC Documents of the applicant, including PAN card, Passport, Aadhar Card, Driving License, Voter ID card, Utility Bills (Water/Electricity Bills)
  • Last 1 years’ bank statement
  • Copy of Non-Collateral Overdraft, if any
  • Copy of Business Incorporation
  • Any other document required by the lender
Business Loan Fees & Charges

The fees and charges of business loan vary from lender to lender and case to case. The fees and charges depends on the loan amount, interest rate and repayment tenure.

How to Apply Business Loan

Apply for Business loan by following below mentioned 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Fill in the required fields as mentioned in the form and Check the box to agree on terms and further Click to ”Unlock Best Offers”.

Step 2: Further you will be required to mention your company details, basic personal information, along with registered mobile number and email address.

Step 3: After submitting all the details, the bank’s representative will contact you to proceed with loan formalities.

Step 4: Once your loan application and documents are verified and approved by the bank, within defined working days the loan amount shall get disbursed in your mentioned bank account.

Special Schemes for Woman Entrepreneur

To promote entrepreneurship among women, lenders have started offering attractive loan schemes to women entrepreneurs. These business financing schemes are exclusively for women and it provides them relief in terms of interest rates and collateral. Some of the banks also have special departments for women entrepreneurs where they provide business consulting, training and counselling along with avenues for marketing and showcasing of their products.

Women entrepreneurs whose ownership is less than 50% in the company are not eligible to avail the benefits of the women’s special schemes.

Some of the popular loan schemes for women entrepreneurs are as follows:

Types of Business Loans

Term Loan

Term loan is offered under various types, such as short-term loan, long-term loan and other small business loans. The loan amount offered under term loan depends on the applicant’s profile and business requirements that can be repaid in 12 months to 5 years, in the form of EMIs. Term loans are divided into two parts, unsecured business loans, and secured business loans. Secured loans require collateral to be submitted with the lender, which is not the case with unsecured business loans.

2. Working Capital Loan

Working capital loans are availed to meet the day-to-day business requirements or to manage business cash flow. The working capital loan can be availed for various other purposes, such as business expansion, buying equipment or machinery, purchasing raw material or goods, paying off salaries or rent, enhancing inventory, and much more.

3. Bill (Invoice) Discounting

Invoice discounting is a financial instrument offered by banks and NBFCs. Bill discounting is a source of working capital finance for the seller of goods on credit. It is a discount which a financial institution takes from a seller’s customer. Through the payment being made by letter of credit, the buyer has the option of buying goods from the seller. Bills that come under bill discounting are termed as ‘bills of exchange’.

4. Letter of Credit

Letter of credit is a payment instrument used mainly in international trade in which the bank provides a monetary guarantee to enterprises that deal in the import and export of goods. Enterprises doing businesses overseas have to deal with unknown suppliers and they require assurance of payment before performing any transaction. Therefore, a letter of credit is important to provide payment assurance to the suppliers or exporters.

5. Point of Sale (POS) Loan

Point of Sale Loan is a type of funding wherein merchants offer their customers some financial assistance at the point of their purchase. Business owners, enterprises, MSMEs, entrepreneurs, and retailers can avail Loans against POS machines to start a new business or to manage their existing businesses. POS Loan is also termed as Merchant Cash Advance in which the loan amount depends on the business volume generated via POS terminals.

6. Overdraft Loan

An overdraft means overdrawing money from ones’ current/savings account even if the account balance is zero. An agreed rate of interest will be charged if the overdrawn amount is within the limits of a preceding agreement. The interest rate is charged only on the utilized amount of the total withdrawal limit.