Bluevine Line of Credit: A 5-Star Option for Short-Term Working Capital
The Bluevine business line of credit is a strong option for short-term financing. Borrowers with bad credit and only one year in business may qualify. Plus, you can get funded in three days or less. But interest rates can be high compared with other online lenders. And weekly payments on short terms may be untenable for some businesses.
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Randa Kriss is a senior writer and NerdWallet authority on small business. She has nearly a decade of experience in digital content. Prior to joining NerdWallet in 2020, Randa worked as a writer at Fundera, covering a wide variety of small-business topics and specializing in the lending and banking spaces. Her work has been featured by The Washington Post, The Associated Press and Nasdaq, among others. Randa earned a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish at Iona University (formerly Iona College).
Karrin Sehmbi is an editor and content strategist on the small-business team. She has covered small-business software and lending since 2022 and has more than sixteen years of editorial experience in the fields of educational publishing, content marketing and medical news. She has also held roles as a teacher and a tutor.
Senior Writer & Content Strategist | Small business, business banking, business loans
Randa Kriss is a senior writer and NerdWallet authority on small business. She has nearly a decade of experience in digital content. Prior to joining NerdWallet in 2020, Randa worked as a writer at Fundera, covering a wide variety of small-business topics and specializing in the lending and banking spaces. Her work has been featured by The Washington Post, The Associated Press and Nasdaq, among others. Randa earned a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish at Iona University (formerly Iona College).
Karrin Sehmbi is an editor and content strategist on the small-business team. She has covered small-business software and lending since 2022 and has more than sixteen years of editorial experience in the fields of educational publishing, content marketing and medical news. She has also held roles as a teacher and a tutor.
Sally Lauckner has over a decade of experience in print and online journalism. Before joining NerdWallet, Sally was the editorial director at Fundera, where she built and led a team focused on small-business content. Her prior experience includes two years as a senior editor at SmartAsset, where she edited a wide range of personal finance content, and five years at the AOL Huffington Post Media Group, where she held a variety of editorial roles. She has a master's in journalism from New York University and a bachelor's in English and history from Columbia University. Email: slauckner@nerdwallet.com.
Sally Lauckner has over a decade of experience in print and online journalism. Before joining NerdWallet, Sally was the editorial director at Fundera, where she built and led a team focused on small-business content. Her prior experience includes two years as a senior editor at SmartAsset, where she edited a wide range of personal finance content, and five years at the AOL Huffington Post Media Group, where she held a variety of editorial roles. She has a master's in journalism from New York University and a bachelor's in English and history from Columbia University. Email: slauckner@nerdwallet.com.
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Senior Writer & Content Strategist | Small business, business banking, business loans
Randa Kriss is a senior writer and NerdWallet authority on small business. She has nearly a decade of experience in digital content. Prior to joining NerdWallet in 2020, Randa worked as a writer at Fundera, covering a wide variety of small-business topics and specializing in the lending and banking spaces. Her work has been featured by The Washington Post, The Associated Press and Nasdaq, among others. Randa earned a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish at Iona University (formerly Iona College).
Karrin Sehmbi is an editor and content strategist on the small-business team. She has covered small-business software and lending since 2022 and has more than sixteen years of editorial experience in the fields of educational publishing, content marketing and medical news. She has also held roles as a teacher and a tutor.
Senior Writer & Content Strategist | Small business, business banking, business loans
Randa Kriss is a senior writer and NerdWallet authority on small business. She has nearly a decade of experience in digital content. Prior to joining NerdWallet in 2020, Randa worked as a writer at Fundera, covering a wide variety of small-business topics and specializing in the lending and banking spaces. Her work has been featured by The Washington Post, The Associated Press and Nasdaq, among others. Randa earned a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish at Iona University (formerly Iona College).
Karrin Sehmbi is an editor and content strategist on the small-business team. She has covered small-business software and lending since 2022 and has more than sixteen years of editorial experience in the fields of educational publishing, content marketing and medical news. She has also held roles as a teacher and a tutor.
Sally Lauckner has over a decade of experience in print and online journalism. Before joining NerdWallet, Sally was the editorial director at Fundera, where she built and led a team focused on small-business content. Her prior experience includes two years as a senior editor at SmartAsset, where she edited a wide range of personal finance content, and five years at the AOL Huffington Post Media Group, where she held a variety of editorial roles. She has a master's in journalism from New York University and a bachelor's in English and history from Columbia University. Email: slauckner@nerdwallet.com.
Sally Lauckner has over a decade of experience in print and online journalism. Before joining NerdWallet, Sally was the editorial director at Fundera, where she built and led a team focused on small-business content. Her prior experience includes two years as a senior editor at SmartAsset, where she edited a wide range of personal finance content, and five years at the AOL Huffington Post Media Group, where she held a variety of editorial roles. She has a master's in journalism from New York University and a bachelor's in English and history from Columbia University. Email: slauckner@nerdwallet.com.
NerdWallet's content is
fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness, and relevance by humans.
It undergoes a thorough review process involving writers and editors to ensure
the information is as clear and complete as possible. Learn more by checking
our
Editorial Guidelines.
Content was accurate at the time of publication.
Why trust NerdWallet
250+ small-business products reviewed and rated by our team of experts.
80+ years of combined experience covering small business and personal finance.
50+ categories of the best business loan selections.
NerdWallet's small-business loans content, including ratings, recommendations and reviews, is overseen by a team of writers and editors who specialize in business lending. Their work has appeared in The Associated Press, The Washington Post, MarketWatch, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur, ABC News, MSN and other national and local media outlets. Each writer and editor follows NerdWallet's strict guidelines for editorial integrity to ensure accuracy and fairness in our coverage.
Advertiser disclosure
You're our first priority.
Every time.
We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with
confidence. While we don’t cover every company or financial product on
the market, we work hard to share a wide range of offers and objective
editorial perspectives.
So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us for advertisements
that appear on our site. This compensation helps us provide tools and
services - like free credit score access and monitoring. With the
exception of mortgage, home equity and other home-lending products or
services, partner compensation is one of several factors that may affect
which products we highlight and where they appear on our site. Other
factors include your credit profile, product availability and
proprietary website methodologies.
However, these factors do not influence our editors’ opinions or ratings, which are based on independent research and analysis. Our partners cannot
pay us to guarantee favorable reviews. Here is a list of our partners .
Bluevine - Line of credit
Overview
The bottom line:
Bluevine loans are well suited for when working capital is needed fast — particularly for businesses with bad credit.
Loan details
Min. Loan Amount
$5,000
Min. Term Length
6 months
Min. APR
14%
Max Loan Amount
$200,000
Max Term Length
12 months
Max APR
95%
Qualifications
Min. credit score
625
Min. Time in Business
12 months
Min. Annual Revenue
$120,000
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cash can be available within 24 hours (for a fee).
May be eligible to extend repayment to 52 weeks (instead of 26).
Low minimum credit score requirement.
Cons
Requires weekly repayments.
Requires personal guarantee.
Not available in North Dakota, South Dakota or Nevada.
Rates can be high compared with traditional lenders.
Editor's note: Bluevine offers three options for a line of credit, each with different terms and qualification requirements. This review focuses on the 26/52-week term line of credit.
Bluevine is an online lender that offers business lines of credit up to $250,000. It can be a good option for small-business owners looking for short-term working capital. The Bluevine line of credit is issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered industrial bank, member FDIC.
Bluevine is known for its simple application process in which borrowers can connect their business checking accounts, and in most cases, receive a decision in minutes.
Consider Bluevine if you:
Need cash fast: You can complete an application for a Bluevine business line of credit in just minutes and receive a decision the same day. Funds can be available within hours, but transfers may take up to three business days.
Don’t meet credit score eligibility requirements with other lenders: Bluevine considers borrowers with a minimum FICO score of 625.
Can manage a short repayment period: Bluevine offers lines of credit with repayment terms of only 6 to 12 months.
Bluevine offers a total of three line of credit options to borrowers, based on their profiles. One is only open to eligible Bluevine business checking customers, so we’ll outline the other two options here.
Bluevine 26/52-week term line of credit
Loan amount
$5,000 to $200,000.
Estimated APR range
14% to 95%.
Fees
$15 fee to receive funds via wire transfer.
Late fees may apply based on the information in your loan agreement.
Terms
6 or 12 months.
Repayment schedule
Weekly.
Funding speed
As fast as the same day. May take up to three business days for funds to process, depending on your bank.
Bluevine 12-month term line of credit
Loan amount
$20,000 to $250,000.
Estimated APR range
14% to 95%.
Fees
$15 fee to receive funds via wire transfer.
Late fees may apply based on the information in your loan agreement.
Terms
12 months.
Repayment schedule
Monthly.
Funding speed
As fast as the same day. May take up to three business days for funds to process, depending on your bank.
Where Bluevine stands out
Quick funding
Bluevine is a good option if you need a fast business loan. You can apply quickly online. First provide basic information about you and your business. Then connect your business bank account or upload bank statements.
After you’ve submitted your application, Bluevine may be able to offer you a same-day business loan, with funds in your bank account in as little as 24 hours. If you opt to pay a $15 fee for a wire transfer, you can get your funds in just a few hours.
Flexible credit score requirements
Bluevine has more lenient qualification requirements for its minimum credit score compared with other traditional and online lenders. The Bluevine line of credit can be a good option for businesses with bad credit (FICO score of 629 or lower), as you can qualify with a credit score of 625 or higher.
Note that the 625 credit score minimum only applies to the line of credit with weekly repayments. To qualify for the 12-month term, you'll need a score of 700+.
Bluevine offers a line of credit up to $250,000 — which is a higher maximum loan amount than some of its closest online competitors.
Bluevine also doesn’t charge monthly maintenance fees, account closure fees or prepayment penalties for paying your balance back early.
💬 From our Nerds: Don’t underestimate the importance of speedy draw approvals and disbursements on your line of credit
"Borrowers may overlook the layers of approval that can be involved with a line of credit. When I worked in small-business lending, I saw several borrowers become frustrated over delays in accessing new draws — depending on the lender, you may have to seek approval and indicate the intended use behind each draw. Furthermore, with lenders that don’t have the technology to provide instant access to funds, each time you take a draw from your line of credit it can feel like another loan approval process.
This is where online lenders like Bluevine shine as, in contrast, there is not a lot of red tape involved."
Olivia Chen, lead writer, Small Business
Where Bluevine falls short
Can be expensive
Bluevine has annual percentage rates of up to 95% on its business lines of credit. Compare that with average interest rates across business loan types, and you’ll see that Bluevine is more expensive than many business loan options.
More frequent repayments
The Bluevine line of credit carries short repayment terms of up to 12 months, which results in higher payment amounts. Plus, the 26/52-week term line of credit is repaid weekly. Such frequent payments can pose an issue for businesses that have uneven sales or don't hold much cash in a bank account.
Estimate loan payments and interest
Enter a few loan details into our business loan calculator, and we’ll help you arrive at estimated monthly payments. We’ll even break out the principal versus interest and give you an estimated amortization schedule. Give it a try!
Headway Capital offers lines of credit of up to $100,000. To qualify, you must have at least 6 months in business, a credit score of 625 and at least $50,000 in annual revenue. With a lower minimum annual revenue requirement than other lenders, Headway's line of credit can be a good option for low-revenue businesses.
Headway offers a weekly or monthly repayment schedule. It has repayment terms of 12, 18 or 24 months. Interest rates range from 35% to 80%.
Fundbox offers business lines of credit up to $250,000 with repayment terms of 3 to 26 months. Fundbox can provide application decisions within minutes and transfer funds to your bank account as fast as the next business day.
Fundbox’s line of credit can be a good option for startups and businesses with bad credit, as Fundbox accepts borrowers with 3 or more months in business and a minimum credit score of 600 or higher. Plus, this lender’s minimum annual revenue requirement of $30,000 is much lower than Bluevine’s $120,000 minimum.
Former NerdWallet writer Andrew L. Wang contributed to this article.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Bluevine is a financial technology company that’s been in business for more than a decade. The Bluevine line of credit is issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered bank, member FDIC.
Bluevine is a financial technology company that provides business lines of credit through its partnership with Celtic Bank. You can apply online in a few minutes, and once approved, you may have access to cash by the same day.
Bluevine was approved as a direct non-bank lender for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. The lender accepted applications until the PPP program ended on May 31, 2021. Bluevine does not itself issue SBA loans, but it does partner with Fundera, a subsidiary of NerdWallet. Fundera is a lending marketplace that may match eligible borrowers with SBA loans through partner lenders.
Methodology
NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates small-business loan products from traditional banks and online lenders. We collect over 30 data points on each lender using company websites and public documents. We may also go through a lender’s initial application flow and reach out to company representatives. NerdWallet writers and editors conduct a full fact check and update annually, but also make updates throughout the year as necessary.
Our star ratings award points to lenders that offer small-business friendly features, including: transparency of rates and terms, flexible payment options, fast funding times, accessible customer service, reporting of payments to business credit bureaus and responsible lending practices. We weigh these factors based on our assessment of which are the most important to small-business owners and how meaningfully they impact borrowers’ experiences.