FAQs

ACCION Texas is a nonprofit statewide loan fund committed to empowering diverse individuals and small businesses with limited access to traditional sources of credit. We strive to be a sustainable organization that contributes to the economic development of Texas by providing microloans and other services to our clients.

• We help small businesses that fall just beneath bank guidelines.
• We help small business owners who despite having good credit are unbankable.
• We help business owners with weak credit, but a good capacity to repay the loan.
• We help businesses that are too inexperienced by a bank's guideline or are start-ups.
• We help business owners that have no formal financials records or have poor to limited credit.

• Individual Business Loans from $500 - $100,000:
  • Financial ability to repay
    
  • Commitment and motivation to improve your business
    
  • Good payment history with other creditors, landlords, suppliers, etc.
• Business Lines of Credit from $5,000 - $25,000:
  Established businesses with 2 years of financial history
• Start Up Business Loans
  Entrepreneur must have:
  • Industry experience and personal equity investment of at least 10-20% (depending on loan size).
    
  • An alternative income source
  • A business plan and financial projections are required.

In order to qualify for a loan we will look at the following criteria:

• Financial ability to repay
• Your personal character
• Committment and motivation to improve your business
• Commitment and motivation to improve your credit
• Payment history with other creditors, landlords, suppliers, etc.
• Collateral
• Bankruptcy History
  
  • Chapter 7 not allowed in last 2 years
    
  • Chapter 13 not allowed in last year
• Startups must have an alternate source of income

• Small business loans at competitive rates
• Access to technical assistance
• Report your good payment history to the credit bureaus to help establish business credit
• Help you with business marketing and assist you in networking with other small businesses

Our loan program is designed to strengthen your business and credit record so that your business will be "bankable" in the future.

Flexible terms from 6 months to 72 months.

Interest rates vary and reflect the market rate and loan risk. 

Your interest payments accrue every day, but they are not compounded every day. What that means is that we do not charge you interest on the interest you owe. For example, if you owe $100, and your interest rate is 14.5%, you would pay a little less than 4 cents a day in interest. Tomorrow you would not pay interest on $100.04, but instead, you only pay interest on your $100 balance. When you make a payment your balance decreases, and the interest is only on the balance of the loan, not the original loan amount.

• The funds must be used exclusively for your business.
• If you are a start-up business, you must have another source of income to repay the loan.
• We require collateral equal to or greater than the amount of the loan you are requesting.
• We also need to make sure that you have the ability to make regular monthly payments. Active bankruptcy is the only certain disqualifier.

Most of our customers have poor credit or no credit history. We do our best to help people with poor credit. We want to help you rebuild your credit record. If your record is poor, we may ask that you get a cosigner, but we will try to help you.

ACCION Texas needs to have something to secure the loan. This loan is not a grant, and if for some reason you cannot pay the loan, ACCION Texas will need to be repaid. Also, when you are willing to use whatever you believe is of value to you as collateral, it shows us that you are committed to your business. We want to see that you believe in yourself and your business enough to take some of the risk as well.

We can use a vehicle, business equipment, jewelry or real estate, as long as it is not your home. If you are planning to use your loan to buy additional equipment or vehicles, we can use that as collateral as well. If you have them, we can often use assignments of contract, CDs and other financial assets. We cannot use your home or home furnishings or items that you do not own free and clear. All collateral must be accessible from the State of Texas.

A co-signer provides a little bit of insurance for ACCION and can strengthen your loan in the event you, the applicant, have weak credit. Additionally, if something should happen to you or the business, it helps ACCION to know that here will be someone there to help you. Remember, as long as you are paying your loan on time, your co-signer will never be contacted by ACCION.

A co-signer is someone who does not live in your household but is a Texas resident, has excellent credit and the willingness and ability to make payments on the loan should you be unable to do so.

We are not a government program, but we do get some funding from government institutions. We also receive grants from private foundations and individuals, nonprofit organizations, banks, religious congregations and corporate entities. Basically we receive funding from anyone interested in helping small businesses gain access to resources and become strong contributors to the economy.