Bank Strikes Back Against Online Lenders – Offers 5 Minute Business Loans

Online lenders have new competition, a 198-year-old bank based in Boston, Eastern Bank. Worried that technology would leave them in the dust, Eastern has invested millions in an application and underwriting system that can fund merchants up to $100,000 in 5 minutes. “The 55 requests for information on the old form have been replaced by eight,” according to the WSJ.

Rates range from 6.99% to 9.99% and it’s only available to existing customers. However a new customer only need open a checking account to become immediately eligible for it. One out of the 36 original borrowers on this program has already become delinquent on their loan, a statistic mostly within their expectations, the WSJ reports.

Eastern makes no mention of their speedy capabilities on their website, which still has the old paper application available for download.

Notably, former NFL player Doug Flutie, Eastern Bank’s spokesman for over 10 years, is scheduled to appear on the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.