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Unifi Funding CEO Eric Heller has been in the financial services industry for almost two decades. Before creating UniFi Funding, he headed a personal lending company that reached number 334 on the 2018 Inc 5,000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, fueled by revenue growth of over 1,500% in just three years.
After nine years of operations, and as the coronavirus pandemic upturned markets, one of the most important pillars was establishing a better online experience to streamline the loan-seeking process and offer better customer service than competitors.
“People seeking loans go online, shuffle through the offers of many lenders, try to collect information scattered all around, and complete submission forms,” Heller told California Business Journal. “They invest a lot of time into getting through the red tape, which often ends with them getting declined.”
The need for personal loans is on the rise. Americans’ total credit card balance reached $1.1 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the latest consumer debt data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The figure has steadily risen in the past three decades—it stood at $245.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 1990. The pandemic’s economic impact and aftermath only exacerbated the situation.
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“Many people are now stuck with the high payments of credit card debt, personal loans, and sometimes even mortgages. So, we’ve created a linear network that we can help people sort out their debt,” Heller says.
UniFi Funding has an extensive network of lenders to usher clients toward loans that work for them. Their online process requires no hard credit check. Only after a five-minute application process, clients can get offers from all major lenders.
“We use high technology to give clients a simple and seamless loan experience on a streamlined and quick interface without the need to shop around—and the potential to get frustrated,” Heller says.
“We get our clients pre-approved at no cost, with no credit impact. We offer them a one-stop-shop experience. Once the client chooses a loan with the guidance of our customer agents and gets funded, we get paid a marketing fee by the lender.”
When determined eligible for the loan, they get funding in 48 hours. UniFi Funding does not charge the client fees; they must pay the pre-agreed fixed interest rates.
Heller’s approach is practical not only for loan-seekers but also for lenders. The system helps lenders find clients who have been pre-approved by UniFi Funding and Fresh Rate Funding.
“We bring lenders pre-qualified clients, without spending on marketing or investing in laborious application vetting. We handle those tasks for lenders,” Heller said.
UniFi Funding’s agents spend time with clients, discuss their financial goals, and help them understand what they can afford.
“The reviews we are receiving stand as a testament to our work. We’ve got the highest rating on BBB and Trustpilot,” Heller said. Additionally, MoneyDailyNews.com named UniFi funding as the best business on the Editor’s Top Best Loans in January 2024.
UniFi Funding’s sister brand, Fresh Rate Funding, finished second on the editor’s list. Fresh Rate Funding focuses on longer-term loans and provides lower payment options. “Fresh Rate Funding is for people who have existing loans with high payments, in which they’re drowning. Their problem is not high interest rates but shorter-term loans. They need longer-term loans to give them financial relief,” Heller said. He insists it is irrelevant whether the client has good or bad credit; similarly to UniFi Funding, Fresh Rate Funding has a vast network of lenders to find the client the best option for financial relief.
The CEO is planning another round of technological advancement for his businesses. “We’re looking into automation to build a system that communicates instantaneously with all the different underwriting guidelines set by lenders with the push of a button. So it pushes out the information to all the lenders and comes back with offers based on the fields and information we put in there,” Heller said.
Streamlining its technology further, UniFi Funding is also looking into artificial intelligence to alleviate the workload on agents and cater to changing customer needs. “Over 40% of the people who apply don’t want to talk to human beings. They’re happy with an AI-operated system, so long it works flawlessly,” Heller said. He is planning to enter the test phase of this new feature in ninety days.
Heller seems restless and has big ambitions. “In the long term, we want to be able to do a billion dollars a year in debt. We want to take over the lending industry. We know our clients well; they are people looking for payment relief and support in their loan applications—and we are here to assist them on their journey,” Heller concluded.
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