Shift Review for Potential Borrowers
Shift Review for Potential Borrowers
This review of Shift will enable you to better comprehend the small business loans industry in Australia and understand where Shift fits into the wider picture of online business lenders. We’ll look into who founded and currently manages Shift, the numerous financing solutions that Shift offers and what differentiates Shift from their competition. Read the following Shift review and learn what they look for in a borrower.
Shift Review – Basic Figures for 2022
Website
Logo
ABN
24 149 390 625
Credit License
149 390 625
Loan Amount
$25,000 – $1,000,000
Loan Term
Term loans available up to 5 years (other solutions available for longer)
Unsecured Loans?
Unsecured Loans are Available
Lender Requirements
- For term loans, trading for at least 3 years (2 if securing the loan with a property)
- For an equipment finance facility, businesses are required to have been operating for 2 years.
- Turnover must be greater $250,000 to access Shift’s products
Required
Complete the application form and provide 6 months of bank statements for loans under $250,000. For working capital loans of over $250,000 Shift requires previous financial statements and a snapshot of your ATO portal.
Response Time
24h.
Easy to Apply
Yes, fully online
The Nitty-gritty
Online Reviews
Shift has widely positive online ratings. In fact, 98% of customers rate their experience as either excellent or great on Trustpilot. The excellent service and support offered is praised in virtually all Shift / GetCapital reviews.
Awards and Recognition
- Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 – 2016 – 2019
- LinkedIn – Top Startups – 2019
- The Adviser – Best Lender – 2020
- Financial Review Fast 100 – 2018, 2020
- The Smart 5 Top 10 – 2018 & 2016
- “Finnies” FinTech Awards – Excellence in Business Lending – Finalist (Winner announced later in 2021)
Minimal Interest Rates
Rates will vary depending on individual circumstances and the type of funding solution.
Comparison
Compare Shift with 20+ Australian Lenders
Credibility & Company Story
Shift is a lending company that provides business loans and lending solutions to small and medium sized businesses in Australia. As attested to in our product section, they offer a wide range of business loan products (more than any other online business lender we review) that tend to fall into these three categories: flexible business loans, trade finance (for both paying suppliers and receiving payment from business customers), and equipment/vehicle finance.
Shift’s CEO, Jamie Osborn, has more than 20 years of experience in banking – both commercial and investment. Jamie Osborn founded the company back in 2013, and has grown it since then to be a large player in the Australian online lending industry. Their options are all tailored to SMEs, and their business overdraft facility is unique for an online lender.
With the depth of products Shift offers there is no doubt they’re looking to push the boundaries in which Australian Fintech’s compete with the banking industry. Ensuring that whilst small businesses can enjoy easier access to finance so too can midcap companies that can often get caught in no man’s land – in need of more complex financing solutions than SMEs but not necessarily wanting to/able to get this from a bank.
It comes as no surprise then that a lot of Shift’s senior leadership arrived at Shift having held senior banking positions at Westpac, ANZ and Macquarie. Complemented by product and development teams with a Fintech background.
Shift works in partnership with several other financial giants including Alibaba, OFX, Business Rewards and Xero. These partnerships allow them to offer more comprehensive lending services as well as expand their capability to create new products for customers.
Its most integrated partnership is perhaps that with illion Data Solutions. Not only does illion help to provide Shift’s business overdraft facility, they also assist with illion’s frictionless BankStatements technology. 18 months ago, Shift reported about 65% of applications using digital bank statement technology. Since the pandemic, that adoption rate has moved to in excess of 95% in 2021/2022. Showing how easy business loan applications can be done online in the modern age.
GetCapital relaunched as Shift in late 2021 to reflect its expanding suite of lending solutions. Sales Director at Shift, Kristian McCausland commented “GetCapital started as a single product business lender, and has developed over the last few years into a multiproduct offering and a platform based business which enables our customers to transact with us in far more different ways than they previously could.” The new name reflects the increased set of products made directly available to businesses but also its ‘Shift Connect’ platform which is targeted at business loan brokers.
In Detail: What Shift Does
Shift (formerly GetCapital) offers by far the biggest variety of lending solutions amongst Australia’s most recognisable and best rated online lenders.
Shift’s primary products come under three main categories:
- ‘Business Loans’ which includes standard term loans and a business overdraft.
- ‘Equipment’ which includes equipment finance, vehicle finance and fit out finance.
- ‘Payments’ which refers to Shift’s trade account solution, allowing businesses to finance their supplier payments (lacunehd in 2021).
Shift also has a section dedicated to ‘Merchants & Payments’ which is in essence further use cases for its trade account solution. Shifts’ merchant and payment services are designed for business. Equipment payment options offer businesses the flexibility to pay for their purchases over time. Trade credit options offer customers of that business an open account to trade with them on terms.
Business Loan Terms
Term Loans
Term Loans are available up to $1,000,000 for a period of up to 3 years. Repayments can be made either weekly or monthly and there are no early repayment fees. There’s also no annual fee or establishment fee with a Shift term loan.
Term loans with Shift have some of the highest qualifying criteria of any online lender – Shift asks that businesses have been running for at least 3 years and have a minimum of $250,000 in annual turnover. Though they will look at businesses who have been operating for at least 2 years if they are able to secure the loan with a property.
Unsecured business loans are available up to $250,000, i.e. loans under $250,000 do not require the loan to be secured by property. For loans between $25,000 to $250,000 a directors guarantee is required. For loans over $250,000 a property is required to secure the loan.
Businesses can also access loans up to $250,000 by simply providing account transaction data, loans over $250,000 will need the applicant to send supporting financial statements for their business as well as a copy of their ATO portal.
After 15 weeks, borrowers can benefit from a convenient re-draw option if required, though Shift will conduct another assessment of your business to ensure it is able to repay the loan. Annual percentage rate between 9.95% – 19.95%.
Business Overdrafts
Through a unique partnership with illion Data Solutions, customers can link their transaction account with an overdraft provided by Shift for up to $1,000,000. Leveraging on the open banking movement it means customers can have their transaction account with the favoured transactional bank of their choice but not be obliged to use that bank’s business overdraft facilities. Customers can even move their transaction account between providers and retain their Shift overdraft just by updating their new account in the Shift platform. This facility is only available to businesses which have been established for at least 3 years and there is an annual $395 fee. Annual percentage rate between 9.95% – 19.95%.
Working Capital Facility
Shift’s working capital facility appears to be almost identical to its term loan solution. Operationally, we can’t see how it works any differently. Businesses are still provided with a lump sum of cash and can choose to redraw on their working capital loan after 15 weeks. In this sense the working capital facility works very much as a loan as opposed to a line of credit, in which you would always have access to undrawn funds in your facility.
The major differences between the working capital facility and term loan facility appear to relate to the borrower criteria and some subtle differences in the repayment schedule and fees.
The working capital facility is available to younger businesses – rather than asking that borrowers have been trading for at least 3 years, borrowers who have been operating for at least 12 months are eligible for the Shift working capital facility.
Similar to the term loan, no property security or financials are required for working capital loans up to $250,000. Loans are possible up to $1,000,000 but property would be required to secure the loan.
There is no option for monthly repayments under the working capital facility and borrowers must opt for weekly repayments. There is no annual fee or early repayment fees but an establishment fee applies (unlike the term loan).
Business Overdrafts
Through a unique partnership with illion Data Solutions customers can link their transaction account with an overdraft provided by Shift for up to $1,000,000. Leveraging on the open banking movement it means customers can have their transaction account with the favoured transactional bank of their choice but not be obliged to use that bank’s business overdraft facilities. Customers can even move their transaction account between providers and retain their Shift overdraft just by updating their new account in the Shift platform. This facility is only available to businesses which have been established for at least 3 years and there is an annual $395 fee.
[Business Overdrafts by Shift Currently Not Available]
Import Line of Credit
The Shift Import Line of Credit is a convenient way for businesses to finance supplier purchases from overseas. There’s no cost to set up the facility and once approved, businesses can easily transact within their approved credit limit. Like loans,r the total size of the facility can be up to $1,000,000. There is then an individual supplier payment limit of $10,000. Businesses are required to have been in operation for at least 3 years (2 with property).
Shift Business Loans Client Reviews
In Numbers
– TrustPilot Australia: 427 Reviews, 92% Excellent, 6% Great, <1% Average, <1% Bad 4.8 / 5 Total TrustScore (Excellent)
Productreview.com: 101 Reviews, Transparency 4.7 / 5, Application Process 4.8 / 5, Customer Service 4.8 / 5, Timeliness 4.8 / 5, Overall 4.7 / 5.
The Feedback:
Over 98% of Shift’s (GetCapital) reviews on TrustPilot are positive, with under 2% rating their experience as ‘average’ or ‘bad’. We’ve taken just a couple of the positive Shift (formerly GetCapital) reviews on TrustPilot to best sum up the client experience.
There are just six reviews which mark the service as bad. The three most recent bad reviews left in 2021 and 2022 are very vague and do not mention what went wrong, in fact it’s not even clear if these are verified customers. Shift has responded to the reviews asking for more information in order to locate the customer’s account, if indeed it is genuine.
The other bad review from 2016 relates to a customer who had one very good experience with (the then) GetCapital but then another bad experience as GetCapital deducted their first loan repayment on the day the loan actually went into their account. When the customer didn’t want to pay this, there was then threatening communication from GetCapital explaining the customer was in arrears. There also appeared to be confusion over bank holidays and when charges should be deducted if a bank holiday conflicts with a loan repayment date. This review from 2016 sounds like a system issue and no other user has reported it since.
All in all, to have only three verified bad reviews, and three unverified bad reviews, is quite outstanding and they seem like one-off events that may happen very rarely but certainly nothing to put us off.
Analysis of Client Reviews:
Shift has hundreds of positive reviews available online for interested borrowers to research. In general, those who reviewed Shift positively or gave them a high score agreed that the product was unique, turnaround time was quick and customer service was excellent. Moreover, there are a number of repeat clients which is the biggest testament to the service Shift provides.
Considering there are over 400 Shift/GetCapital reviews on TrustPilot and the fact that only six of these are bad shows that customers love Shift. If we then consider that three of these are unverified and one of these is from a customer who was rejected for a loan (and these types of complaints are incredibly common in this industry) then it leaves just two verified bad reviews. There appear to be some valid points in these reviews and it certainly looks as if Shift had a slip-up with its comms and systems. The system issue was back in 2016 and the fact there has been no further issues related to this subject is positive. We recommend customers to verify their repayment plan with a member of the Shift team, check when their first payment is due and ask Shift about their policy when a repayment date conflicts with a bank holiday.
One thing worth highlighting is how few Shift reviews have been left in 2022. Whether this is a result of reduced client acquisition or the company no longer steering clients to leave feedback, we don’t know. Given the overwhelmingly positive feedback the firm generally enjoys, we can’t understand why they would stop inviting customers to leave a review.
shift.com.au Website Review
Shift.com.au (GetCapital.com.au redirects to Shift) has a highly professional look and feel that you would expect from an industry leader. Immediately you get a feel this is a solution aimed at both mid-sized businesses as well as newer startups.
Customers can easily access information on a wide range of solutions Shift provides. Each product then has an easy to read FAQ section clearly detailing the product capabilities and eligibility criteria.
Visitors are encouraged to call straight through to the Shift team or complete some high level information about their business which can be done in under 60 seconds and they’ll receive a call from Shift later on the same day.
As a thought leader in the online lending and small business space, Shift also publishes various reports on both the lending and small business sectors in Australia. Including its latest report available now – the SME savings report.
Shift Loan Compatibility
- Startup: No, Shift requires that you’ve been operating for at least 3 years to access term loans(2 years for Equipment Finance)
- Bad credit: No, Shift doesn’t usually approve with bad credit. Manageable ATO debt considered.
- Sole trader: Yes, Shift works with sole traders.
- Established business: Yes, Shift works with established businesses.
- Turnover: Shift requires a minimum annual turnover of $250,000 in order to access its funding solutions
With loans available up to $1,000,000 Shift has the capacity to grant higher loan volumes than the majority of online lenders. In this sense it provides a higher degree of flexibility for larger businesses to seek non-bank lenders. Its lending terms however – a minimum of 3 years in operation and minimum $250,000 annual turnover will exclude some businesses.
Shift Rates & Pricing
The fee structure you have with Shift will be dependent on the lending solution you choose. What we love most about Shift is that they are transparent with both establishment fees and interest rates.
More often than not, online lenders do not display their minimum and maximum interest rates that they will charge borrowers. The fact Shift is happy to display both a min and max interest rate range on some of its lending solutions shows us they are not looking to shark any prospective borrowers and charge unnecessarily high rates. By displaying their minimum fees it also tells us they know they can compete with the best and feel what they charge is fair for the service they provide.
Pricing for Shift’s products are as follows:
Business Loans
| Product | Establishment Fees | Interest Rate (APR) | Annual Renewal Fees |
| Unsecured Small Business Loans | None. | 9.95% – 19.95% | N/A |
| Working Capital Facility | Yes. | Based on your business circumstances. | N/A |
| Term Loan | None. | 9.95% – 19.95% | N/A |
Ongoing Business Facilities
| Product | Establishment Fees | Interest Rate (APR) | Annual Renewal Fees |
| Business Overdraft | $395 | 9.95% – 19.95% | $395 |
| Import Line of Credit | $395 | 9.95% – 24.95% | $395 |
Asset Finance
| Product | Establishment Fees | Interest Rate | Annual Renewal Fees |
| General Equipment Finance | $499 | Based on your business circumstances. | None. |
| Vehicle Finance | $499 | Based on your business circumstances. | None. |
| Fitout Finance | $499 | Based on your business circumstances. | None. |
The fact that there are no establishment fees for Shift’s term loans makes them a great option. However, as their term loans are designed for businesses who have been operating for at least 3 years, only businesses operating for longer than this will be able to benefit. The ongoing facilities have an annual fee in place but this is very common and at $395 it certainly isn’t extortionate, providing you are getting good use out of the facility.
Shift Review Summary
Name: Shift
Summary
Shift (formerly GetCapital) is one of the most recognisable brands in the Australian small business lending industry as the firm has been operating since 2013. Shift has more than 400 reviews online in Australia which is amongst the highest in the industry and virtually all of them are positive (99% to be precise).
Shift really comes into its own for businesses seeking an overdraft or equipment finance. The online application is very easy and the entire process is very straightforward. Shift’s strength is in its variety of lending solutions and its brand power. It is trusted by companies like the Chinese commerce giant Alibaba, and boasts very good Shift/GetCapital client reviews online. We have no doubt that Shift is one of the lenders you should be inquiring with, if you are seeking a quick business loan.
The minimum requirements are quite high and Shift is definitely not going to take any excessive risks but the variety of financing solutions offered attests to their lending capabilities. As a specialist business lender, Shift believes every business should have the opportunity to reach its full potential without being constrained by capital.
Overall
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Credibility - 100%
100%
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Client Reviews - 100%
100%
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Website - 98%
98%
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Compatibility - 97%
97%
Pros
- Most bespoke financing solution
- Term Loans available
- Line of Credit available
- Business Overdraft available
- Equipment Financing available
- Deloitte’s 2016-2019 Tech Award
- No early repayment fees
- No drawdown fees
- Low annual fee
Cons
- Min 9 months in business
- Min $100,000 annual turnover