The specs
OnDeckCiti Business Loan
Product typeMulti-productMulti-product
Amount range$5K – $400K (term); $6K – $200K (LOC)$25K – $500K (term + LOC); $250K – $25M+ (CRE + commercial)
Cost (factor / APR)Term APR 27%+; LOC APR 30%+APR 8% – 16% (relationship-priced term + LOC); SBA Prime + 2.25 – 2.75%
Speed to fundSame-day for approved files7 – 14 business days (term + LOC); 30 – 90 days (SBA)
Min time in business12 months24 months
Min monthly revenue$8,000$25,000+/mo typical for unsecured products
Min credit score600+680+
Products
- Term loan
- LOC
- Business term loans
- Business LOC
- SBA 7(a)
- Commercial real estate
- Treasury + foreign-exchange services
Verdicts by use case
- Established Citi customer in covered metro with 24+ months TIB and 680+ FICO — Winner: Citi Business Loan. As of 2026-06-28 Citi relationship-priced business term loans and LOCs at 10 – 13% APR materially undercut OnDeck's 27%+ term APR and 30%+ LOC APR. For merchants who clear Citi's bar AND have an existing Citi Business Banking deposit relationship in a covered metro, Citi is structurally cheaper across all standard quotes. The cost gap (10 – 13% vs 27%+) is large enough that the slower funding timeline is worth absorbing for predictable working-capital needs.
- Newer business between 12 and 24 months TIB — Winner: OnDeck. Citi's 24+ months TIB floor declines sub-2-year merchants on unsecured products. OnDeck's 12+ months TIB floor is reachable for businesses in the 12 – 24 month window. For merchants in that band OnDeck is the only structural option in this pair, with the OnDeck term loan or LOC providing capital until the merchant can qualify for Citi pricing at month 24.
- Need cash this week — Winner: OnDeck. OnDeck funds same-day on approved files; first deals typically fund within 24 hours. Citi's bank-style underwriting takes 7 – 14 business days minimum — among the slower bank timelines. For genuine same-week capital needs Citi isn't an option regardless of relationship history. OnDeck's structural speed advantage matters most for merchants bridging a working-capital gap that can't wait the standard bank cycle.
- Merchant outside Citi's covered metros — Winner: OnDeck. Citi's branch network is concentrated in NYC, LA, SF, Chicago, Miami, and DC metros. Outside those markets the deposit-relationship signal that drives Citi's best pricing is impractical to establish. OnDeck underwrites identically across all U.S. states. For merchants in mid-size cities or rural markets OnDeck is the only practical option in this pair.
- Cross-border merchant with FX-denominated supplier payments — Winner: Citi Business Loan. Citi's FX desk integration with the business LOC is uniquely strong — drawing on the LOC to fund USD-denominated international wires or to hedge FX exposure runs through one Citi relationship. OnDeck has no equivalent FX capability and is purely domestic. For merchants with materially-sized cross-border supplier payments Citi's structural FX advantage is operationally meaningful, even when the merchant could qualify for OnDeck domestically.
The honest takeaway
OnDeck and Citi Business Loan solve overlapping but distinct problems. The right choice depends on three things you already know about your business: how fast you need the money, how long you've been operating, and whether the capital need is one-time or recurring.
Frequently asked questions
- I'm an import/export merchant with FICO 700, 3 years TIB, $40K/mo revenue, and I bank with Citi in NYC — does Citi clearly beat OnDeck for my $200K working-capital need?
- Yes, on this profile Citi is structurally the right fit. Citi relationship-priced term loan or LOC at 10 – 13% APR vs OnDeck's 27%+ APR is a roughly 15 – 17 percentage-point cost advantage on $200K. The FX-desk integration is additional operational value for cross-border merchants. The trade-off is timeline (Citi 7 – 14 days vs OnDeck same-day) and underwriting depth (full financials package vs bank statements). For a predictable working-capital cycle Citi wins clearly. Many merchants in this profile run both: Citi as the primary low-cost line for predictable supplier payments and Citi-FX-routed transactions; OnDeck as fast-access backup for unexpected inventory or opportunity-driven capital that can't wait the Citi cycle.
- Can I refinance an active OnDeck term loan into a Citi term loan?
- Yes, if you qualify. A typical OnDeck term loan at 32% APR with 18 months remaining on a 24-month payback can refinance into a Citi relationship-priced term loan at 11 – 13% APR over 36 – 60 months, saving materially on cost-of-capital and extending amortization. Citi will pull business credit, see the active OnDeck debt, and underwrite the refinance as debt consolidation — disclose proactively. The qualifying bar is firm (680+ FICO, 24+ months TIB, $25K+/mo revenue, established Citi deposit relationship in covered metro). Without the Citi deposit relationship, cold applications often see harder pricing or decline; for merchants outside Citi's branch network Chase, BofA, or U.S. Bank are usually the cleaner refinance paths.
- Why might I choose OnDeck even if I qualify for Citi pricing?
- Three legitimate reasons. (1) Speed — OnDeck funds same-day on approved files, Citi takes 7 – 14 days; for opportunity-driven capital needs the speed gap can be more valuable than the cost gap. (2) Documentation burden — OnDeck's bank-statement underwriting requires 4 – 6 months bank statements and basic application data; Citi requires 3 years business tax returns, 2 years personal returns, current YTD financials, balance sheet, debt schedule, and PFS for owners — for merchants without organized financials the documentation gap can be a multi-week delay before Citi can even underwrite. (3) Branch-network access — for merchants outside Citi's covered metros, establishing the deposit relationship that drives Citi's best pricing is impractical, making OnDeck's flat-pricing-everywhere model the realistic option. For merchants whose books are clean and who bank with Citi in a covered metro, Citi is the cheaper structural fit; for everyone else OnDeck remains competitive on the practical-access dimension.