# How 37Lend works, from application to funding > You fill in one application, it is matched against a network of 75+ lenders, and you choose from the offers that come back, or none of them. Here is what happens at each stage, and when your credit is checked. Source: https://www.37lend.com/how-it-works Last updated: September 28, 2026 ## Five stages, one application Your account shows which stage your application is at, and anything that is waiting on you. ### 1. Application: tell us about your business - What you do: Sign in or create an account, say how much you need and what it's for, add your business and its owners, agree to the credit authorizations and review. It takes about six minutes, and documents and the bank account for funding can wait until later. - What happens: Nothing about your application reaches our funding partner or any lender until you send it. Your Social Security number and EIN are used to verify you and your business, not to run a hard credit check. - Your credit: No inquiry yet. You authorize the soft inquiry as part of the application. ### 2. Processing: your business is verified and matched - What you do: Nothing, unless a lender needs something more. Anything still needed shows up in your account as an open item, and you upload documents there. - What happens: Your identity and business are verified, a soft credit inquiry is made, and your application is matched against our network of 75+ lenders and sent to those whose criteria fit it. You can follow its progress in your account. - Your credit: A soft inquiry, which doesn't affect your credit score. ### 3. Offers: compare real offers side by side - What you do: Read each offer, sort them by lowest cost, largest amount or fastest funding, and ask your advisor anything before you decide. You are under no obligation to accept any of them. - What happens: Each lender that makes an offer sets its own terms. Every offer is shown with its amount, rate, term, payment, fees, total payback and estimated time to fund, and none is hidden. - Your credit: Still only the soft inquiry. Looking at offers doesn't affect your credit score. ### 4. Closing: accept one offer and sign - What you do: Accept the offer you want, choosing a different amount or term if the lender quotes a range. Then clear any final items the lender asks for, and sign the agreement it sends you. - What happens: Before you accept, you are shown the authorizations, including the one for the lender's hard inquiry, and asked to agree. Accepting declines your other open offers on your behalf. The agreement is between you and the lender, and it confirms the final figures. - Your credit: The only stage where a lender may run a hard inquiry, and only after you are told and agree. ### 5. Funded: the lender sends the money - What you do: Nothing more to arrange with us. Your agreement with the lender sets out how it is repaid. - What happens: The lender sends the funds directly to your business bank account. Your account keeps the offer, your documents and your conversations with your advisor. - Your credit: No further inquiry through 37Lend. ## When your credit is checked There are two moments. Only the second can affect your credit score, and it happens only if you choose to accept an offer. ### Looking at your options: a soft inquiry - When it happens: When you send your application. - Effect on your score: None. On your credit report, only you can see it. - Before it happens: You authorize it in the application. ### Accepting an offer: a hard inquiry is possible - When it happens: Only if you accept an offer, and it is made by that one lender, not by 37Lend. - Effect on your score: It can affect your score. This is the only step that can. - Before it happens: Your account shows you the authorization, names the lender and asks you to agree. Declining an offer, or letting one expire, never leads to a hard inquiry. If a lender declines your application, its notice and the reasons come from that lender. If you think something on your credit report is wrong, you can dispute it with the bureau that issued it; the [privacy policy](https://www.37lend.com/privacy#credit-checks) explains credit checks in full. ## What you see in your account The whole process is visible in your account, on the web and in the 37Lend mobile app, rather than relayed through a broker. - **Every offer, side by side.** Each offer shows its total cost next to the amount, rate, term, payment and fees. Sort them by lowest cost, largest amount or fastest funding; none is buried. - **Where your application stands.** A tracker shows which of the five stages you are at, and a timeline records each step as it happens. - **Documents and open items.** Anything a lender still needs is listed on your application, and you upload it from the same page. - **Your advisor.** Message your funding advisor from your inbox, before you choose an offer and after. ## Start your application Apply once, compare every offer side by side, and decide. Applying is free, and no lender runs a hard inquiry unless you accept its offer. Tell us how much you need and what it's for, then sign in or create an account on our secure page and finish the application in about six minutes. Start: https://www.37lend.com/login?next=%2Fapplications%2Fnew Questions first? [Read the small business funding FAQ](https://www.37lend.com/faq), or book a call with a funding advisor: https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/jpande ## More - [Small business funding FAQ](https://www.37lend.com/faq) - [All nine kinds of business funding](https://www.37lend.com/business-loans) ## Disclosures 37Lend is a funding marketplace, [not a lender](https://www.37lend.com/how-it-works#credit-checks). Loans and other financing are made by third-party lenders and funders in our network, and terms, rates and eligibility vary by lender, state and business profile. 1. The rate and pricing ranges shown are what lenders and funders in our network quoted as of September 2026. They are not APRs and not an offer. What you're offered depends on your credit profile, revenue and time in business, and on the lender or funder that takes your application. A line of credit is quoted per month, so its APR is higher. 2. Checking your options uses a soft inquiry that does not affect your credit score. A lender may run a hard inquiry only if you choose to accept its offer, and you are told and asked to agree first. 3. Applying is free, and so are getting offers and accepting one. Lenders may pay 37Lend a fee when financing is funded; the terms explain [what it costs](https://www.37lend.com/terms#what-it-costs). 4. Home equity lines of credit are offered by lenders in our network and are secured by your home, which you could lose if you don't repay. 5. A merchant cash advance, invoice factoring and a purchase of receivables are sales of future revenue or invoices, not loans. Their cost is usually quoted as a factor or discount rather than an interest rate, so compare offers by their total cost. 6. 37Lend is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.