MaxFunding Review for Potential Borrowers
Max Funding Review for Potential Borrowers
This review of Max Funding will delve into what makes this business funding facilitator unique and how their small business financing solutions stack up against banks and online business lenders. We’ll explain the criteria to qualify for a small business loan through Max Funding and the diverse suite of predominantly secured lending products that can be arranged through the Sydney based financing facilitator. This is the web’s most comprehensive Max Funding review.
Max Funding Review – Basic Figures for 2022
Website
Logo
ABN
39 616 549 725
Credit License
616 549 725
Loan Amount
$1,000 – $1,000,000
Loan Term
Up to 36 months.
Unsecured Loans?
Specialist Secured Funding Facilitator – Can also facilitate Unsecured Loans Available up to $30,000.
Lender Requirements
Trading for at least 6 months
Turnover greater than $10,000 per month
Paid Credit Defaults OK.
Required
Personal Identity Documents + Company Bank Statements (for some types of loans)
Response Time
Pre-approval within two hours. Full approval normally within the same day – Money in the bank in 24h.
Easy to Apply
Yes, fully online (expedited application here) and a team of experts on hand to speak with should applicants get stuck.
The Nitty-gritty
Online Reviews
4.7 / 5 – Based on 361 Google Reviews
4.98 / 5 – Based on 617 Reviews on reviews.io
Awards and Recognition
None
Minimal Interest Rates
From 1.5% per month.
Max Funding Reviews and Ratings
Full Review: Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Credibility & Company Story
Founded in 2011, Max Funding has consistently worked to create a better business loan process for Australian small business owners. The company has set out to change the way small businesses interact with finance. Time is money – Max Funding understands it and knows that business owners can’t afford to waste time on slow lenders and confusing finance options.
Max Funding aims to be more than just a small business finance facilitator. It wants to collaborate with its borrowers on a personal level and this is evident right through its application process. Once you sign up with Max Funding, a dedicated lending specialist will manage every aspect of your loan from your initial enquiry to the settlement process, and beyond. Max Funding provides applicants with a lending specialist’s name, direct phone number, and email address, allowing them to speak with the same individual each time they have questions. These are team members who have been recruited precisely for their knowledge and expertise within the finance industry.
To date, Max Funding has arranged business loans for more than 8,500 businesses in over 130 industries, including retail, restaurants, health and fitness, accommodation and much, much more.
Australian Fintech touts them as one of the fastest, most reliable business lenders for new business owners. And The Sydney Morning Herald highlights Max Funding as a possible method for small business owners to fund their new business.
In addition to business lending, Max Funding openly supports a number of charities including Kiva – a non-profit organization that works to build opportunities for individuals in poverty on a global scale. They are an official Kiva sponsor as part of their ongoing effort to support people around the world financially.
Max Funding Business Loans Client Reviews
- REVIEWS.io: 4.98 / 5 – 619 Reviews
- Google Reviews: 4.7 / 5 – 375 Reviews
The Feedback:
Across all review platforms (as of April 2022), there are close to 1000 Max Funding reviews. We’re not entirely sure on the validity of the reviews on reviews.io – more on this below – but to highlight some of the google reviews:
Analysis of Client Reviews:
It would appear that Max Funding was using reviews.io as its primary review platform until 2020 as the vast majority of more recent reviews have been left on google. Many of the reviews on reviews.io are from ‘verified buyers’ meaning they have been invited by Max Funding to write a review. Providing the client clicks through the invitation link, the review is marked as verified.
With no feedback at all under four stars, all of the Max Funding reviews are glowingly positive. It’s possible that Max Funding was only sending its feedback link to customers it knew had a positive experience – this can be quite a common tactic across many industries. Nevertheless, it still means there are a number of happy customers who are happy to recommend Max Funding to others. We do find it a little suspicious that there is not even one review rating the service as three stars or worse though – not even an unverified review. The positive reviews are also quite generic, we don’t see them specifically mentioning a part of the lending service which was helpful or a team member who guided them through the process. In short, despite many ‘verified buyers’ we don’t completely trust the reviews on reviews.io for Max Funding.
If we take a look at the google reviews, many reviewers are specifically highlighting a team member by first name who has helped them in the lending process and Max Funding is taking the time to respond to each review. We get the feeling these are genuine reviews, even though anyone can leave a review on google. In addition to positive feedback, there are a number of negative reviews too. This is not unexpected in an industry as sensitive as lending and we welcome negative reviews, providing the company has taken the time to resolve/respond to them and look to fix issues for the future.
Some of the negative reviews point to high interest rates – remember rates start at 1.5% per month (not annual) so borrowers should be absolutely sure of the full costs before agreeing to a business loan. High loan costs can be a common complaint across the lending industry. One of the more worrying reviews is from a borrower who had a charge set up against his house as security for a loan as well as his car when it was agreed it would only be his car that was used as security. Another bad review is from one client who received a credit check at the point of pre-approval when Max Funding advertises it doesn’t need to happen at this stage, only once the application has been processed further. We can’t see much from Max Fundings’ response – just that they have been in touch and would like to discuss the issue further. It’s definitely positive that Max Funding is taking the time to respond to each review but we can’t see if these major errors were resolved.
Max Funding Website Review
The Max Funding website is clear & concise.There’s easily enough detail to understand if they’ll be a good fit for businesses across a plethora of different industries, without having to speak to a member of the Max Funding team (though this is always an option at any time). All of the lending solutions are clearly explained and there’s a wide variety of finance options that readers can learn more about, such as the difference between a caveat loan and a second mortgage loan.
The FAQs are all encompassing and cover virtually any question one could have ahead of applying for a business loan. The application is easy and borrowers can receive a pre-approval within minutes of applying.
Max Funding Loan Compatibility
- Startup: Yes, Max Funding accepts clients who are new to business.
- Bad credit: Yes, Max Funding works with clients who have bad credit.
- Sole trader: Yes, Max Funding accepts sole traders.
- Established business: Yes, Max Funding will accept any established business.
Max Funding Pricing & Rates
Across all of its lending solutions, whether secured or unsecured or short or long term, Max Funding states that interest rates start at 1.5% per month. We can surely assume unsecured and short term lending from Max Funding will attract a higher rate of interest than secured business loans. Most online lenders make no reference to interest rates at all, so whilst we can’t read too much into ‘rates starting at’ it’s still good to see this lender is more transparent than most.
There are some negative reviews which directly mention the expensive loan costs they incurred. Though it must be said some of them had an unrealistic expectation on the costs of a short-term loan. There is a cost that comes with the speed and convenience of borrowing from an online lender and it’s better to compare the loan costs to a lending solution such as invoice finance as opposed to a bank loan that is likely to be for at least a 12 month term. Invoice Finance is usually charged at 2% for a 30-day invoice so this puts the ‘rates starting at 1.5%’ into perspective.
In a recent review, one borrower commented, “It’s easy to apply but there’s a catch! The interest rate is 3.42% monthly”. So this provides a steer as to the sort of rates one may be able to actually achieve. It must be remembered, everyone’s situation is unique and businesses can achieve a rate anywhere of 1.5% per month upwards.
MaxFunding Review Summary
Name: MaxFunding
Description: Max Funding is a well-known and respected financing facilitator for the SME space in Australia. It has been operating for a long time and has gathered very positive feedback from customers. The firm is very flexible on the type of businesses it is accepting (including from any industry, bad credit and start ups). They are flexible in terms of lending options too, though Max Funding is certainly more of a secured lending specialist and unsecured business loans are capped at $30,000. SMEs seeking an unsecured business loan for more than this amount will need to look elsewhere. Max Funding claims to offer a pre-approval decision within 5 minutes or less – that’s very quick by our count and borrowers can complete their application from there.
Summary
Max Funding is a well-known and respected financing facilitator for the SME space in Australia. It has been operating for a long time and has gathered very positive feedback from customers. The firm is very flexible on the type of businesses it is accepting (including from any industry, bad credit and start ups). They are flexible in terms of lending options too, though Max Funding is certainly more of a secured lending specialist and unsecured business loans are capped at $30,000.
SMEs seeking an unsecured business loan for more than this amount will need to look elsewhere. Max Funding claims to offer a pre-approval decision within 5 minutes or less – that’s very quick by our count and borrowers can complete their application from there.
Overall
-
Credibility - 100%
100%
-
Client Reviews - 100%
100%
-
Website - 98%
98%
-
Compatibility - 97%
97%
Pros
- Transparency about terms and conditions and interest rates, starting from 1.5%
- Industry veteran with 10 years of experience
- $1m business loan cap
- Diverse solutions and loan sizes
- Easy integration with online bank account
- Positive coverage in mainstream media
Cons
- Not many client reviews
- Smaller in size than competitors like Prospa