Best Business Loan Affiliate Programs
Businesses of all sizes need to have funds in order to operate. Whether the business needs capital to expand or purchase equipment, or simply cash flow to fund the daily operations, without freely available funds, no business can survive. In essence, money is the lifeblood of an organization.
In the not-so-distant past, getting a loan from a bank was extremely tedious and could take days or even weeks to be granted. Adding to the problem, if you had no collateral or solid financials, the odds were pretty good your application would be rejected, especially for startups.
The solution to this problem led to the rise of unsecured business loan companies that are happy to take on the risk. They provide fast and efficient online services that in some cases are approved almost instantly and the funds can be in your account within a day or two.
According to Allied Market Research, the unsecured business loans market was worth a staggering $4.3 trillion in 2021 and is expected to reach $12.5 trillion by 2031. That is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7%, which represents a massive opportunity for affiliates. Affiliates can earn $100s, and potentially $1,000s per approved loan, making the business loan segment a highly lucrative but competitive area for affiliates to operate in.
What is a Business Loan Affiliate Program?
While affiliate marketing has traditionally focused on the consumer market, the ecosystem is increasingly delivering products and services for businesses. Typical affiliate offers for businesses include subscriptions to cloud or SaaS applications, digital business services, hosting, marketing offers, and more.
When it comes to business loans, there are a plethora of lenders nowadays besides traditional banks that are all looking for new customers. One of the most effective ways for these companies to generate new leads is to use affiliates and publishers. This is where business loan affiliate programs take center stage.
These affiliate programs are sometimes run and managed by the lender or an associated company, however, the general trend in more recent years is to outsource the program management to an affiliate network. Whether the program is in-house or outsourced, for the affiliate marketer, the mechanics are pretty much the same.
The affiliate program works as the intermediary between the loan company and the affiliate. The program provides loan affiliates with all the necessary marketing content, tracking, analytics platforms, payments, support, and much more.
On the merchant side i.e., the loan/lending/finance company, the affiliate program also manages many processes there such as working with their marketing teams to develop content or promotions that affiliates can use, integrations to track and manage leads and conversions, and more.
Ideal Content for Affiliate Business Loan Blogs
Loans can be a great source of financing that can help a business maintain smooth operations or even expand, however, loans can also put a heavy burden on a business that cannot afford it. Another challenge when marketing loans is that many business owners are hesitant about borrowing money, whether it’s the ability to pay the installments or the extra interest costs. There are also many people out there that are not fully aware that there are financing options beyond their bank.
Taking these few points mentioned above, your business blog content should educate the reader and deal with these key concerns. By providing clear and objective information, you stand a better chance of building trust with the reader. When you are going for a more active push to get the reader to take a loan, focus on the benefits of having extra funds for the business.
There are many approaches that one can use, but here are some examples:
- Discuss the latest changes in finance operations, applications, services, and updates to legislation.
- Unsecured loans are easier to promote to your audience as the business does not have to put up any collateral or assets for the loan.
- Vertical bloggers can talk about the evolving landscape in healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, hospitality, and other areas.
- Those with retail experience can talk about the frenetic change of pace in online retailing and the many new services that help improve sales efficiency.
- Future of business articles highlighting the use of AI in all areas of operations.
There are also other business services you can recommend alongside loan affiliate offers to broaden your earning potential.
- Service providers and application vendors.
- SEO and marketing tools.
- Freelance, virtual office, gig, and hiring services.
- Business forums and social services.
10 Best Business Loan Affiliate Programs
Whatever your path along the affiliate journey, promoting business loans has the potential to deliver high-level income. It is important to note that in every country there are rules and regulations regarding the marketing and promotion of financial-related products. Make sure you abide by these and the rules of the affiliate program to avoid potential issues.
1. Tide: A Digital Business Bank with A Strong Affiliate Program
Entrepreneurs and business owners are turning more and more to digital banks rather than looking for a traditional bank that will take their business. Fast and efficient, the UK digital bank Tide is fast-winning customers and has a great affiliate program for affiliates to earn from.
Delivering £50-£500 per deal, Tide’s affiliate program is open to anyone, but your content should have a UK focus for it to make sense. Tide offers a range of business loans that affiliates can promote in their content.
Tide welcomes new and expert marketers with a range of training content to get newcomers up and running and tracking tools for all users to monitor performance.
Tide Details:
Offer Type: CPA
Payout: £50-£500 depending on the product/offer
Cookie period: 30 days
Payments: ~45 days from deal completion
2. Caplona – Unsecured Business Loan Broker UK Affiliate Program
Caplona is a UK-only credit broker, providing a range of business loan types including merchant cash advance, invoice finance, and unsecured loans to British-based businesses. Signing up for the business loan broker affiliate program is fast, requiring only your personal/business details and information on your promotional methods.
Approval can take place in a matter of minutes, and for any deals that are finalized through your affiliate offer, the commission from the lender is split 50/50 with Caplona.
With unsecured loans of up to £500,000 ($608,000) available, you could earn a sizeable commission on your deals. Caplona also provides white-label landing pages depending on your content and affiliate business.
Caplona Details:
Offer Type: CPS/Revenue Share
Payout: 50/50 (Although the site doesn’t explain exactly how this is calculated)
Cookie period: 30 days
Payments: Not specified (Site claims upon deal closure)
3. Shield Funding – US Business Loan Affiliate Program
Shield funding is based in the US and promotes itself as one of the highest-paying affiliate programs for business loans. The Shield affiliate program offers a range of bonuses for high performers, but all of those details are undisclosed until you get into the program.
Businesses should be aware that they need a minimum of $25,000 monthly turnover to apply for a loan, between $25,000 and $1 million. Affiliates get email support to help them deliver the best content and service for their audience.
From first-time business loans to repeat business, Shield offers great service and is more likely to offer loans to businesses than traditional banks, with lower credit scores and recurring income requirements.
Shield Funding Details:
Offer Type: CPS
Payout: Undisclosed
Cookie period: 30 days
Payments: Monthly
4. Algo-Affiliates – Performance Marketing Network for Business Affiliates
At Algo-Affiliates, we use a performance marketing approach to drive the best results from the affiliate offers that you use on your site and content. With CPA and CPS offers across a range of business and eCommerce services, there is a constant line-up of new offers to promote to your audience.
Each offer comes with a loan landing page that does the heavy lifting explaining the details of any offer and helping to attract and convert your audience. Finding and running offers is easy with a quick search highlighting the pick of our 1,500+ offers, and our dashboard allows affiliates to track offer activity and income. And with a fast-growing number of offers, there will always be something to attract your business audience, be it loans or services.
Algo-Affiliates Details:
Offer Type: CPA/CPS
Payout: Varies
Cookie period: 30 days
Payments: Monthly
5. OnDeck – Best Small Business/Veteran Loan Affiliate Program
With over $15 billion in loans delivered to US and Canadian firms, OnDeck is an expert in the loan market, with an A+ Rating from the Better Business Bureau. It offers loans across varying business niches, including for veterans setting up their own companies, and more generally among small businesses.
The OnDeck Business Loan Affiliate Program works with publishers and content producers, helping organizations grow and invest to drive them forward. Affiliates can promote OnDeck’s loan service which offers funding from $5,000 to $250,000.
Affiliates can earn up to $800 per loan, and with clear and powerful marketing material, and OnDeck’s brand, its loans should be an easy sell if you have an audience with business decision-making power.
OnDeck Affiliate Details:
Type: CPS
Payout: 2%
Referral period: 60 days
Payments: 15 days after the end of the month
6. Biz2credit Loan Broker Affiliate Program
Biz2credit acts as a business finance platform, delivering the best loan options to US companies. With over a decade of experience, Biz2credit operates a smart affiliate/partner program to help drive loan sales and boost business.
Biz2credit’s partner program meets a range of business financing needs including loans and other services. There’s a speedy five-minute sign-up process, high-quality marketing materials to drive audience engagement, and a range of performance incentives.
Biz2credit Affiliate Details:
Type: Online sale
Payout: Percentage of each confirmed loan
Referral period: Unspecified
Payments: Unspecified
7. Commercial Loan Direct – Direct Lending Affiliate Program
Commercial Loan Direct specializes in commercial loans with a variety of loan types to choose from including refinancing options. This range of products provides plenty of marketing opportunities for affiliates to tap into different sub-niches.
The Commercial Loan Direct affiliate program pays a decent $1,250 CPA per closed and funded deal. Plus, you can earn an additional $250 for affiliates that you refer who go on to close deals.
Biz2credit Affiliate Details:
Type: CPA
Payout: Up to $1,250
Referral period: Unspecified
Payments: Unspecified
8. UCS – Top Business Loan Affiliate Program
If you are in the financial industry, either offering advice or services, United Capital Source is an affiliate program offering strategic referrals for loans and other products. Its referral program has provided billions of dollars in loans.
Affiliate partners get powerful features and strong service as UCS looks to deliver repeat and sustainable business across affiliates, loan providers, and customer businesses. With commission-based sales across various loans, financing, and credit lines, when aligned with powerful thought-leadership style content, affiliates should see strong performance from UCS
USC Affiliate Details:
Type: % of deal
Payout: Various
Referral period: Unspecified
Payments: Unspecified
9. Nav – Fast Growing Business Loan Affiliate Program
Having acquired Nuula (formerly BFS Capital) in early 2023, Nav bills itself as the No.1 for small business finance for the US market. The Nav app helps customers track their corporate health, and with a broad loan offering and affiliate program, Nav creates a powerful way to promote finance to businesses at any stage of their journey.
Nav’s affiliate program works with content creators and referral businesses to promote loans. Working with over 70 lenders, Nav shows what’s the best type of loan and the requirements to apply for it. Affiliates get creative assets, text links, videos, and other ways to promote Nav loans to their audience, with up to $40 per sign-up.
Promoting the Nav app and loans in content is a great way to highlight these offers to startups or the many early-stage businesses.
Nav Affiliate Details:
Type: CPL/CPA
Payout: $8 to $40
Referral period: 45 days
Payments: 15 days EOM
10.National Funding Affiliate and Referral Program
National Funding provides small business loans, short-term loans, and equipment financing, for US businesses in every niche from HVAC repairs to supply chain and food trucks. It offers fast and flexible access to loans of between $5,000 to $500,000, powering the heart of American business.
The National Funding affiliate program is just one of its partner options. Managed by Impact, it provides a professional affiliate service with quality marketing material and offers 3% of the loan value received to affiliates plus bonuses for high-performing affiliates.
National Funding Affiliate Details:
Type: CPS and bonuses
Payout: 3% of the loan value
Referral period: 60 days
Payments: 6 days EOM
Summary
Business finance is always in demand, and there has been a surge of lending companies outside of the traditional banks that have entered the market in the last 10 years. This growing space is the ideal playground for affiliates to earn exceptional commissions.
With some creativity, professional marketing efforts, and the right business loan affiliate program, you can start capitalizing on this massive market.
Business Loan Affiliate FAQs
1. What are the benefits of promoting business loan affiliate offers?
As one of the highest-value affiliate niches around, promoting business loans offers potentially huge rewards for the affiliate, especially where percentages of the loan value are involved. If you have a large enough audience and compelling content that attracts business owners or leaders, you can benefit from lots of businesses signing up and even recurring deals, as companies grow.
2. What to look out for in business loan affiliate programs?
You will be entering into a legal agreement with the affiliate program, and there are large amounts of money on the line. This means, before you join any program, make sure to read and understand the terms and conditions. No matter how impressive the program appears and the incredible commissions they offer, if the terms are not suitable, then it doesn’t matter.
Other things to look out for are the reputation of the program and the lenders. Check what the cookie duration is, the payment terms, and any other specific rules. Bear in mind that finance products and the marketing of them can have varying regulations from region to region or even state.
3. How can I attract new businesses through my content?
From startup culture to new entrants in traditional markets, there is always plenty to discuss with business issues and pain points making strong search terms. These are easy to tie into conversations about loans and financing that can help deliver a strong affiliate income. Bear in mind you are entering an extremely competitive space, so you will need to develop a strong marketing strategy.
4. What should I watch out for when planning to use business loan affiliate offers?
Primarily, check which regions they offer their products in and ensure that your audience aligns. If you have global reach, then look for strong local or regional players in the financial markets and use them alongside reliable regulars.
5. Is the business loan market a strong one?
Many businesses rely on revolving credit or loans to continue operations, and even strong enterprises operate with a large debt. As mentioned earlier, the unsecured business loan market was worth $4.3 trillion in 2021 and with an 11% CAGR is expected to reach $12.5 trillion by 2031.
