Celtic Bank SBA Loans & Small Business Loans Review

Pros

• Good for SBA loans
• Large variety of funding options
• Valid in all 50 states

Cons

• Opaque terms & fees

What Is Celtic Bank?

Celtic Bank is a Salt Lake City-based industrial bank chartered by Utah that has a substantial online presence.

Celtic Bank has developed a reputation for writing and issuing SBA loans. In fact, it’s one of the most prolific SBA lenders in the country. If you’re not in the market for an SBA loan, Celtic can still offer you a line of credit or a variety of other small business loan options.

Celtic Bank Loan Services

Celtic Bank offers a large array of business loan options to meet the needs of most businesses, earning it a full 5/5 rating for this section.

Celtic Bank offers:

• Business term loans
• Lines of credit
• Business acquisition loans
• Commercial real estate loans
• Equipment financing
• Working capital loans
• Partner buyout loans
• USDA B&I loans
• Debt refinance loans
• Renewable energy financing
• Construction financing

Most of these loans are structured as secured loans or SBA loans.

Celtic Bank Borrower Qualifications

To qualify for a small business loan, you need to be a small business operating for profit. You’ll need to have “reasonable” equity in the business. Depending on the type of loan, you may need to put up personal assets as collateral. You also can’t have any delinquent debt and must be located in the U.S.

While we wish that Celtic Bank gave slightly more information on what it considers “reasonable,” the company’s borrower requirements are both fair and competitive. Celtic Bank is also still much more transparent about borrower requirements than other lenders.

You can “improve your chances of being approved” if you meet these additional qualifications:

• A “good” credit score (generally 670 to 739)
• At least 2 years in business
• No bankruptcies in the last 3 years
• No recent charge-offs or settlements
• No significant criminal history

Celtic Bank Terms & Fees

Celtic Bank offers various financial products to small businesses. Many of Celtic Bank’s loan offerings fall under SBA loans. For example, Celtic Bank offers commercial real estate loans, but in reality, these are SBA 7(a) loans that can be used for real estate.

Celtic Bank is transparent about borrowing amounts, terms lengths, and some interest rates and collateral requirements like down payments. However, Celtic Bank doesn’t disclose exact interest rates, which is not uncommon in lending, or disclose if there are origination fees or other fees.

Most Celtic Bank loans don’t have a prepayment penalty, which is a plus.

Here are the terms and fees for some of their most popular lending programs.

Celtic Bank Asset-Based Lines Of Credit

Here are the terms for Celtic’s Asset-Based Lines of Credit:

Businesses that have commercial accounts-receivable infrastructure can apply for a line of credit through Celtic. Unlike a loan, which delivers a lump sum to you, a line of credit can be drawn upon in bits and pieces over the course of your term. You only pay interest on the amount of credit you’ve used. This grants you a lot more flexibility than you’d have with a loan, though often with more fees. The amount of financing you’re eligible for depends on the value of your accounts receivable or inventory.

Celtic Bank Express Loans

These are the terms and fees for Celtic Express Loans:

Businesses seeking smaller amounts of working capital may want to instead consider a Celtic Express Loan—Celtic’s version of an SBA Express Loan. These loans have an expedited approval process. Be aware, however, that these are still secured loans, meaning you’ll have to put up collateral in the form of your business assets.

Celtic Bank SBA Loans

These are the terms and fees for Celtic Bank’s traditional SBA loans, specifically the bank’s SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans:

Celtic Bank is one of the biggest originators of SBA 7(a) loans and SBA 504 loans. These loans are still made through private lending institutions like Celtic, but they’re partially guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. This allows businesses to access terms for which they would otherwise be unable to qualify.

Be prepared to make a down payment of around 10% for a 7(a) loan, as well as provide assets or real estate for collateral. The length of the SBA loan will vary depending on the purpose of the loan.

Celtic Bank Specialty Financing

Celtic Bank’s specialty financing options like business acquisition and renewable energy financing have less information online about their borrowing requirements.

For business acquisition loans, a 10% down payment is required, which is much lower than most other lenders who require 30%. For partner buyout financing or renewable energy financing, Celtic Bank boasts “lower fees” and “longer terms” than competitors, but doesn’t give specifics.

Celtic Bank Application Process

You can apply for term loans online, at which point you’ll be presented with a form that asks you to record the purpose of your request, your name, contact info, business info, credit rating, and annual revenue. Celtic Bank gets knocked to a 3.8/5 for this section because it doesn’t provide as much transparency regarding the various steps of the application process beforehand as other competitors.

Express loans are usually processed within 24 hours. Expect a longer process with other products, especially SBA loans which have notoriously long processing times.

Celtic Bank Sales & Advertising Transparency

Celtic Bank is semi-transparent. This lender is forthcoming with borrowing amounts, term lengths, and interest rates, but doesn’t provide much on fees, collateral specifics, or the application process. There is also a significant number of complaints on Consumer Affairs regarding the company’s sales ethics, resulting in a 1.6/5 star rating for this section.

Celtic Bank Customer Service & Technical Support

You can contact Celtic Bank by phone, email, fax, or live chat.

There are also additional ways to get in touch or get support, including a company blog, social media profiles on Facebook, X/Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as a support form and videos.

While there are a few positive customer reviews, there are a lot of negative reviews regarding customer service.

Celtic Bank User Reviews

Celtic Bank customer reviews run the gamut from satisfaction to deep displeasure. Many of the complaints appear to be credit card-related, although since our last review the lending complaints have increased.

Celtic Bank has a D- rating with the BBB and an aggregate third-party review sites rating of 2.5/5 stars. In the past, there were over 150 BBB complaints regarding Celtic Bank’s participation in the Paycheck Protection Program as an underwriting bank. However, since our last review, there are no recent complaints on BBB.

Negative Celtic Bank Reviews & Complaints

Here are some common issues customers have had with Celtic Bank:

• PPP Loan Denials: Celtic is an underwriting bank for some major fintech lenders who participated in PPP, including BlueVine and Kabbage. Several Celtic Bank reviews complained they were unfairly denied for a PPP loan by Celtic even though their business qualified.
• Payment Processing Issues: These are mostly related to credit cards, but several customers have reported problems and delays with making payments online.
• Slow Response Times: The number of complaints unaddressed by the bank suggests that it does not consistently and quickly respond to customer issues.
• Limited Unsecured Products: This may not be much of a problem for most businesses, but Celtic requires some form of collateral for most of its products.

Positive Celtic Bank Reviews & Testimonials

Celtic Bank offers a number of perks for potential borrowers that have been mentioned in Celtic Bank loans reviews:

• Fast PPP Loans: While some reviewers complained about PPP loan denials, others praised Celtic for its speedy approval and time-to-funding for PPP loans.
• Lengthy Terms: Celtic Bank gives you a lot of time to pay off your loans.
• Prolific SBA Lender: If you’re looking for an SBA loan, Celtic writes a lot of them.
• Online Applications: You can apply remotely for most of Celtic’s products, which isn’t always possible with banks.

Final Verdict: Is Celtic Bank Worth It?

Celtic Bank is one of the more accessible bank lenders out there when it comes to business loans, with less stringent requirements than most of its competitors. This company will be of particular interest to businesses looking for SBA loans. The bank, however, does not fully disclose its interest rates or fee structure upfront, so make sure to ask for those details before you sign any papers.

If you’re still on the hunt for business funding, compare your options starting with our picks for the best loans for small businesses. If you want to explore other SBA options, check out our list of the best SBA lenders.

Business Loan & Funding Products Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing business lenders since 2015. Our writers have tested over a hundred different funding products, including traditional term loans, online loans, lines of credit, start-up loans, merchant cash advances, and equipment financing. In each review, we evaluate rates and fees, services, eligibility requirements, application process, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews.

Read more about how we rate business loans and funding products.

When comparing different lenders and loan products, we consider many data points, including the ease and transparency of the application process, interest rates, repayment structure, sales ethics, time to funding, revenue and time in business qualifications, and credit score requirements. Our lists of the best funding products include only those we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points, and often share qualities such as widespread accessibility across fifty states, low rates, flexible requirements, and competitive borrowing amounts.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the loans and funding products included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

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