What you need to apply
Five minutes of gathering beforehand prevents the single most common reason an application stalls.
The short answer
For a consumer application: government-issued ID, Social Security number, proof of income, an active checking account, employment details and your monthly housing cost. For a business: add the EIN, entity details, ownership information and three to six months of bank statements. Have them to hand and most applications finish in under five minutes.
Consumer checklist
What to have ready
Identity
A current government-issued photo ID and your Social Security number. If your ID shows an old address, have proof of your current one.
Income
Recent pay stubs, or bank statements showing deposits. Benefits, pension and self-employment income all count — they just need documenting.
Banking
An active checking account in your name. Routing and account numbers for payment setup.
Employment
Employer name, how long you have been there, and contact details. Self-employed: how long trading and what you do.
Housing
Your monthly rent or mortgage payment. Providers use it to assess what you can service.
The purchase
What you are buying, roughly what it costs including tax and delivery, and from which merchant.
Business checklist
Additional items for a commercial application
Entity details
Legal name, EIN, state of formation, and how long you have been trading.
Ownership
Names, addresses and ownership percentages for principal owners. A personal guarantee is commonly requested.
Bank statements
Three to six months of business account statements. On a thin file these often carry more weight than the credit score.
Equipment quote
A real invoice from a named vendor for identified equipment. A budget figure is not underwritable.
Financials
For larger transactions: profit and loss, balance sheet, and sometimes tax returns.
Municipal applicants
Entity details and any board or council approval documentation required for the contract.
Why files stall
The three things that hold applications up
A missing income document. By far the most common. The application is routed, a provider asks for a pay stub, the email lands in a junk folder and the file sits.
An address mismatch. Your ID says one state, your application says another. Have proof of your current address ready if you have moved recently.
An amount with nothing attached to it. A request for a round number with no identified purchase is harder to underwrite than a real invoice for a real item.
If you have not heard back
Check your junk folder first, then call 888-509-1370. We can see what is outstanding and usually clear it in one call.
Questions
Common questions
Do I need to upload documents to apply?
Not usually to start. The application itself asks questions; documents are requested afterwards only if a provider needs them to finalise a decision.
Can I apply without a bank account?
An active checking account is required by most providers for payment setup, so it is effectively a prerequisite.
What counts as proof of income?
Recent pay stubs, bank statements showing deposits, benefit award letters, pension statements, or for the self-employed, bank statements and tax returns.
Do I need a Social Security number?
Yes. It is required for identity verification and for the credit inquiry.
How long is the application valid?
An approval comes with a spending limit good for 30 days.
Keep reading
Related guides
See what you qualify for
One application, the whole lender network. The first step is a soft credit check that will not affect your score.