If you’ve never offered an unsecured loan as part of your financing options before, you may not be aware of all the benefits they feature to help grow your business. Here are just some of the benefits, for both you and the homeowner, when it comes to offering an unsecured loan from EnerBank USA as an option for your customer’s home improvement project.

Benefits for Contractors

EnerBank offers unsecured loans for home renovation projects that are originated and serviced in-house. We assume all the credit risk, and we’re federally regulated, so you can count on us to fulfill our obligations and provide a great customer experience to homeowners and contractors alike.

Start Jobs Sooner

The homeowner can complete one of our three paperless application methods quickly, usually while your salesperson is still in the home, and receive a credit decision within minutes. Comparatively, a HELOC, which uses the customer’s home as collateral, can take anywhere from one to six weeks to get funded. This simplified process means no more waiting around for your customer to jump through hoops while trying to get approved for a secured loan. Once they’re approved, you can get started with the project as soon as possible, helping you to maximize your time.

Increase Leads and Referrals

A quick and easy application and approval process improves your customer experience, and the better experience your homeowner has, the more likely they are to refer you to their friends and family. An unsecured loan requires less documentation, which makes the process easier for customers, increasing the likelihood of more business. Plus, when you advertise payment options as part of your marketing materials, you can see a 50% increase* in leads because customers will know they can get everything done through your business.

Improved Customer Experience

One of our top priorities is ensuring that your customer has a great experience working with us. We’ve designed products and tools that make the loan process convenient and easy, from initial application all the way to closing. This includes paperless application methods, high approval rates, funding requests via our convenient PartnerPortal, and so much more. When your customer has a great experience working with us, they’re more likely to use you again in the future as well as refer you to their friends and family.

Benefits for Homeowners

Quicker Application Process

Unlike a traditional form of financing, such as a HELOC, an unsecured home improvement loan is a much quicker process and doesn’t require using the home as collateral for the loan. This means the homeowner doesn’t need to pay additional fees for an appraisal and can be approved for the loan quickly based on their creditworthiness.

Greater Purchasing Power

How often have you worked with a customer who needed to scale down a project or had to compromise their vision by using less expensive materials in order to stay under budget? Probably too many to count. With an unsecured loan, they can be approved beyond their initial project budget to cover these additional costs and help them get the project of their dreams the first time in a cost-effective way.

More Financial Flexibility

No matter how a customer is planning on paying for a renovation, they can find an option that best fits their individual needs with EnerBank’s loans. This can include customers who were planning on paying with cash, customers who want a low monthly payment option, those looking for lower-interest options, and even homeowners who haven’t quite figured out how to pay for a project prior to speaking with a contractor.

Attractive Loan Options

Our variety of loan options, including our Same-As-Cash Loan and low monthly payment options, can help fill the needs of many individual financial situations. This means a customer may be able to qualify for a loan that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise with other lenders.

*Brickyard Study, 2018