Declined by Prospa? What usually sits behind it, and your fastest next step

If Prospa declined your application, or it stalled and you’re still waiting, you’re in good company. Plenty of solid businesses fall outside a statement-based lending formula on a given day. The trick is working out which part of the formula caught you, because that tells you whether to fix it, wait it out or use a different kind of loan altogether.

What Prospa is, in plain terms

Prospa is one of the larger online small-business lenders in Australia. Its main products are unsecured: a term loan and a line of credit. Because there’s no property behind them, the business’s own bank account does most of the talking. Turnover, how steady it is, and what’s already going out each week are the heart of the assessment.

That model suits lots of companies. It’s quick, it’s online and there’s no house involved. But it means the decision is only as good as the statements look in the months you apply.

Why a statement-based application gets knocked back

These are the reasons that commonly trip up unsecured cash flow lending generally. We can’t tell you which one applied in your case. Only Prospa can.

• Seasonality. A Gold Coast café with a cracking summer and a flat winter can look shaky if the statements cover the flat bit.
• Takings that don’t reach the account. Cash sales that are used to pay casuals or suppliers before banking make turnover look smaller than it is.
• Dishonours or days overdrawn. A few in a quarter can be enough to end it.
• Debits already running. If another online lender already takes a slice every day, there may be no room left.
• A short history. Newer businesses simply haven’t built enough months of data.
• Credit file marks or ATO arrears. Both are common reasons for a no, often before a person reviews the file.

The next 24 hours

1. Ask for the reason. A one-line reply from Prospa about which factor drove the decision is gold.
2. Hold your fire. Don’t send the same statements to three more lenders this week. The enquiries stack up on your file.
3. Count your debits. List every loan repayment leaving the account each week. That number shapes every cash flow application you’ll make.
4. Check what’s owned. If you or another director own a home, an investment property or premises, write down roughly what it’s worth and what’s owed.
5. Enquire once. Our 60-second form doesn’t touch your credit file.

How a property-backed loan answers the same need

Company Cash asks a different question. Not “can the account carry this?” but “is there enough equity in the property, what’s the money for, and how does it get repaid?”

We lend $20,000 to $50,000 against residential or commercial property, up to 80% of residential value or 70% of commercial value. No bank statements, no financial statements, no tax returns, no valuation. Bad credit, defaults and ATO debt are considered. Funding can happen in as little as 24 hours once approved.

It’s deliberately short and simple: up to three months of interest prepaid at the start, then weekly repayments, and out again when the cash comes in or you refinance. Quick in, quick out.

Example: the winter café

A café owner in Brisbane’s inner north applies online for $40,000 to replace a coffee machine and get through a slow July. The statements show a thin two months, one dishonoured direct debit and an existing small loan with daily debits. The answer is no.

The owner has a townhouse with solid equity behind a home loan. A second mortgage for $40,000 doesn’t depend on July’s statements. It depends on the townhouse, the purpose and the exit, which is spring trade and the existing loan finishing. That’s a file we’d want to look at. This is an illustration, not a real customer.

When sticking with an unsecured lender makes sense

If you don’t own property, or you’d rather not put it up, an unsecured lender may still be right. And if the decline was about something fixable, like one messy month or a soon-to-finish loan, waiting six or eight weeks and reapplying could be the cleaner path. Our page on patchy cash flow explains how lenders read your statements.

See what your property can do

If Prospa said no and the money’s still needed, tell us what you need and what you own. It takes about a minute, there’s no credit check when you first enquire, and your credit file won’t know you asked. We’re the lender, so your details stay with us instead of being sent to a long list of lenders. Someone from our lending team reads it and phones you. Give us accurate figures on the property and what’s owed, and you’ll get a real answer quickly. See if you qualify →