- Loans Offered: Personal, home equity, mortgage, and credit builder loans
- Loan Terms : 9 months - 60 months
- APR: 18.99%-46%
- Customer Support: Phone, Live Chat, Email
Spring Financial Reviews: Pros and Cons [Reviewed in 2022]
Spring Financial is a financial company that offers fast money solutions to Canadians, including credit building programs, loans, saving programs and more.
If you still haven’t decided whether or not this is your cup of tea, we’ve prepared one of the most meticulous Spring Financial reviews.
- Loans Offered: Personal, home equity, mortgage, and credit builder loans
- Loan Terms : 9 months - 60 months
- APR: 18.99%-46%
- Customer Support: Phone, Live Chat, Email
Best For
Credit-Building Financial Services
Strengths
- Completely remote process
- There are no prepayment penalties
- Unsecured loans available
- High approval rates
- No hidden costs
- Free credit score
Weaknesses
- Sheer interest rates – up to 50%
- References needed – Spring Financial may contact you for employer's references
- Offering a pesky alternative – you may start paying before receiving the funds
About Spring Financial
Spring Financial Canada is a financial services company that was founded in 2014. Stationed in Vancouver, Canada, Spring Financial is a non-traditional finance lender, that offers a range of financial products.
The financial provider is mostly famous for its entirely-online service as well as its cause to provide all Canadians with equal financial availability services.
Spring Financial Canada is regulated by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) and licensed by the Alberta Government. However, it’s NOT accredited by the Better Business Bureau like Lend Direct. It comes with an A+ BBB rating that grants up to $15.000.
Spring Financial Products
Spring Financial Canada offers loans of many kinds, mortgages, and credit improvement arrangements in the form of loan programs. So, in a sense, it’s similar to other lenders in the field, such as SkyCap Financial.
However, it is essential to mention that Spring Financial is completely online regarding the entire process, from application to granting and receiving the funds.
Committed to their mission, they help Canadians :
- build credit
- improve financial situation
- increase savings
So, here’s the wide range of products offered by Spring Financial Canada, promising to get you out of the endless cycle of high-interest payday loans.
Personal Loan
The personal loan is one-time funding for Canadians, starting from $500 – $15.000.
So, you can pay it off anywhere between a period of 9 months up to 5 years.
Moreover, APRs are based on the applicant’s current credit rate, employment status, income, and other individual factors. They usually start at 17.99%, which is lower than Loan Away.
Let’s take a look at how the rate is calculated.
For instance, if you ask for a $1000 loan over 12 months:
- The rate would be 46.96%.
- Bi-weekly payments would be $48.51
- Full loan repayment with interest would be $1.261
- The total cost of the loan would be $261.17
The cost of a Spring Financial personal loan depends on your interest rate, loan amount and loan term.
Also, every loan payment is reported directly to the credit bureaus, which helps build credit rate scores.
The Foundation
Their flagship product, the Foundation, is often offered as an alternative to applicants with a bad credit score and current employment and income situation.
Aside from this, anyone can apply for The Foundation and help boost their credit score in one year.
The Foundation is a smart-money product with a 100% approval rate.
This ‘credit building on autopilot’ acquires small payments during the 12-month period, which get reported to the bureaus and improve your credit score. A half of each payment made is saved. So, whenever the account is graded in good condition, you may request saving to pay off bills, debts, etc.
You don’t get any funds but are guaranteed to save $750 and improve your score while monitoring the entire process for free through Equifax’s credit score.
As a reward, people who complete the Foundation automatically get a chance to sign up for the guaranteed $1,500 Evergreen Loan.
Evergreen Loan
The Evergreen Loan is available only to applicants that have completed the 12-month Foundation loan and improved their credit score.
These applicants are automatically granted the chance to get $1.500 in cash, with a low-interest rate of 18.99% and a repayment period of 18 months.
Once completed – there’s always the opportunity to get another Evergreen loan under the same conditions.
What’s new with the Evergreen loan is that all payments are automated – and are bi-weekly payments of around $44. It saves you the effort and guarantees to keep moving up on your way to building an even better credit score.
Spring Financial Mortgages
Mortgages are available for anyone looking to buy a new home or improve their current home situation by giving off home equity loans.
Based on many different life situations, Spring Financial Mortgages include:
- Classic mortgages – mainly used when buying a new home.
- Home equities – approached by individuals who are renovating and improving their current living situation.
- Lines of credits and mortgage combo.
Mortgage options are also available online, but it’s preferred to be done through a phone call to better understand the client’s situation.
Loan Eligibility Terms
Though your income rates are personalized – your eligibility is pre-determined by these obligatory terms:
- $1.800 minimum monthly income
- 3+ months of active employment status before applying
- Proof of monthly income and employment arrangements
- Valid Canadian ID
- Proof of legal age in your province (usually 18 or 19)
- Active bank account in a Canadian bank (must be able to receive direct deposits)
- Credit score proved by a credit record you should obtain
- References and/or contact of current workplace
Compared to alternative lenders like Loan Away, Spring Financial Canada acquires more conditions and a higher paycheck to qualify as a loan applicant.
It is possible to get approved for a loan even if you have a below-average credit score or have filed for bankruptcy, similar to the Simplii Financial App.
The difference is you’ll need to note your current income status and employment, while Simplii Financial will not even ask for this information.
Qualifications and terms for the Personal Loan and The Foundation are the same.
On the other hand, The Evergreen Loan acquires a successful 12-month completion of the basic Foundation Loan and a saving of $750 during the process.
How to Apply for a Spring Financial Personal Loan?
According to Spring Financial Reviews, the application process shouldn’t take longer than 3 minutes, and you will get your loan the same day. Let’s do a step-by-step guide on the application procedure.
Step 1: Visit the Official Website and Click on Get a Loan Quote.
Some of the downsides of Spring Financial include unclear interest rates. They’re also a bit higher compared to Borrowell, for instance.
However, note that the interest always depends on your financial history, credit rate, the loan term as well as the amount taken, thus, rates will vary.
Step 2: Create an Account
The next step is the process of creating an account on Spring Financial.
This is crucial to prove you possess the required eligibility terms and get checked by some of their associates. Then, they will approach you with a closer and more punctual calculation of interest rates and an offer for you.
Step 3: Determine the Amount You Would Like to Borrow
This is where you choose the amount of money you’d like to borrow. Select the amount you need and click on the Continue button.
Step 4: Select Your Current Credit Score Rating
The next step requires you to enter your current credit score.
If unsure, select the last option, No Credit/Unsure and hit continue.
Step 5: Enter Employment Status
In order to provide you with an exact quote, Spring Financial needs to be informed about your employment status.
If your employment status is not on the list, select Other and click on the Continue button.
Step 6: Average Monthly Income
To continue with your application process, you need to fill in your monthly income before taxes and deductions in this field. Spring Financial will also ask you about the duration of your current income in years and months.
Step 7: Personal Credentials
We’re nearing the end.
In this step, you need to provide your personal information. You will also be asked for your phone number so that you can verify your account, but it also helps the company protect itself from unfit and prank applications.
Step 8: Bank Verification
You will be asked to log in to your bank account and choose your current and preferred bank. A credit card number must be provided within this step.
Step 10: Loan Purpose
Do you need to repay your student debt or settle your bill payments? Renovation – or auto repairs and upgrades? Going for a vacation? They offer multiple options.
That’s everything there is on your end. After you provide all of the necessary information, Spring FInancial employees will take over your application and get back to you after the review process is done, which is in about 24 hours or so.
If you get accepted – you’ll need to confirm your bank credentials, and your money will arrive in a matter of minutes or hours.
Security and Privacy
Spring Financial collects a few data types in different matters, but it’s all based on your consent.
- Information provided by you – mostly during your registration process, and additional requirements for getting a loan, mortgage etc.
- Automatically collected information – collected by using their website in a public way.
- Credit reports and bank information – consensually provided by you.
They use a bank-level security system with 128-bit encryption, the same security level as Cash Money. This means that even though Spring Financial has your bank account number, they cannot access your login credentials.
When it comes to more valuable personal information, though, such as ID numbers, and addresses, the data Spring Financial receives is only in the form of a ‘read only’ file.
Spring Financial User Reviews
We’ve checked the net to incorporate users’ opinions in this Spring Financial review and take another unbiased approach by implementing both positive and negative experiences.
On TrustPilot, Spring Financial Canada has a remarkable excellence rate of 4.8 out of 5 stars, based on 9.194 reviews.
A similar rate of excellency is presented with Eastern Loans – 4.7 stars. However, this is based solely on 748 reviews.
Customers were mainly satisfied with the approach of the customer services. Furthermore, The Foundation helped them improve their credit scores, enabling them to get rid of the high-interest rates on personal loans in the future.
Customers were mostly protesting about them being allowed to apply for the Foundation instead of a personal loan. They didn’t seem to understand the agreement they were signing and afterwards felt tricked and scammed for not receiving funds.
Customer Support
With a very high social media footprint, it’s not odd that many Spring Financial Reviews state to have an excellent experience getting proper customer support.
- Toll-free number – 1-888-781-8439
This option is available within working hours on business days, or more precisely, Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 6 pm (PST). - Live chat support – available from Monday to Friday from 8 AM – 5 PM (PST)
- Contact them via email at [email protected] and explain your issue thoroughly
Spring Financial is also present on every prominent social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Spring Financial Alternatives
If you have a good credit score, applying for a loan with a formal financial institution such as your bank is the best option since their rates are the lowest.
However, trying an alternative lender is a must if you have difficulty getting accepted for a loan due to your bad credit rate and current employment situation.
So, let’s see the Spring Financial alternatives.
Mogo
Mogo offers many financial services, including personal loans and credit cards.
Personal loans with Mogo start at a lower rate – from 9.90%, with a repayment period of 6 months to 5 years. However, remember that Mogo doesn’t accept a lower yearly income of $13,000 nor a credit score below 500.
On the other hand, their loans take up to $35.000 for individuals with good credit scores.
Borowell
With an A+ grade from the BBB and one of the lowest personal loan APRs of 5.6%, Borowell is considered a leader among the alternative lenders in Canada.
However, unlike Spring Financial, which doesn’t have hidden fees, after being granted a loan, you would need to provide 1%-5% interest to receive the money.
Also, penalties for late payments vary anywhere from $24 to $54 – something you won’t bother with if getting a loan from Spring Financial.
Simplii Financial
One of the leading digital banks in Canada has no brick-or-mortar office available, which might be a downside for some citizens who can’t handle the Internet quite well.
This alternative lender does quite well with mortgages, offering low rates starting from 1.34% and 2.24%. However, their offer lacks the fundamental credit building loan and can’t stand bankruptcy.
So, if you’ve had any financial breakdowns in the last 7 years, Simplii Financial is not your recommended option.
Loan Away
Loan Away is another online-only lender that works with high-interest rates. Its starting rate is around 20%, more than Spring Financial’s APRs for a personal loan.
But, its services reach only six provinces – British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, compared to Spring Financial’s outreach to all Canadians.
DO remember that around 66% of people are dissatisfied with Loan Away’s services on TrustPilot reviews.
Finishing Words
Whether you’re looking to improve your budget and credit score or avoid bankruptcy, Spring Finance Canada will refresh your pocket in no time.
Fast, approachable and completely online.
Granted, they do offer higher interest rates at times, but this is practically unavoidable if your credit score is low.