Amazon Community Lending Program
Program and Applicaon Guide
Through the Amazon Community Lending program, Amazon, in partnership with
Lendistry, is providing access to aordable nancing for small and medium-sized
businesses selling in the Amazon US store.
Small businesses approved for a loan from Lendistry through the Amazon Community
Lending program can use these funds to grow their business in Amazon’s US store
and to cover other strategic business needs, such as stang and operaons costs,
inventory, product development and manufacturing, and markeng eorts to build
their brands and grow their customer base.
In addion to nancing, program parcipants will be able to leverage specic
supplementary resources from Lendistry, which may include one-on-one consulng,
webinars, and on-demand educaonal classes, curated and tailored to meet the
unique needs of the businesses served by Lendistry.
All U.S.-based Sellers are invited to learn more and determine if nancing
opons from Lendistry are the right t for their business needs. Business owners who
idenfy with communies that Lendistry serves are encouraged to apply. This
includes tradionally low-to-moderate income communies, minority-owned
businesses, and other historically disadvantaged business owners and the communies
they serve.
Introducon
Amazon
Community
Lending
program:
A partnership
between Amazon
and Lendistry.
FAQs
What is Amazon
Community Lending?
Through the Amazon Community Lending program,
Amazon, in partnership with Lendistry, is providing access
to aordable nancing for small and medium-sized
businesses selling in the Amazon US store. This program
supports urban and rural small businesses in socially and
economically distressed communies through short-term
loans at compeve and aordable rates.
Who is Lendistry?
Lendistry is a designated third-party lender oering
loans to sellers through the Amazon Community
Lending program. Lendistry hosts and manages a portal
for the program’s loan applicaon, processes, reviews
and approves each loan applicaon, and provides the
nancing to approved applicants. Lendistry and its
authorized representaves may communicate directly
with applicants to provide nocaons on the status
of their applicaons and to request any addional
informaon or documentaon necessary to help
applicants comply with loan requirements.
Visit lendistry.com to learn more about Lendistry.
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Is this program available
to all sellers?
All U.S.-based Sellers are invited to learn more and
determine if nancing opons from Lendistry are the
right t for their business needs. Business owners who
idenfy with communies that Lendistry aims to serve
are encouraged to apply. This includes tradionally low-
to-moderate income communies, minority-owned
businesses, and other historically disadvantaged business
owners and the communies they serve.
How can my business apply?
Any acve U.S.-based Seller is welcome to express
interest in the program on Seller Central by clicking to
learn more about the program and indicang interest.
If you click on the “Yes, I’m interested” buon on Seller
Central and your business meets Lendistry’s eligibility
criteria, you will see a loan presentment from Lendistry.
However, if your business does not have a loan
presentment aer clicking on the “Yes, I’m interested”
buon, Amazon will nofy you once Lendistry has a loan
presentment for your business.
What are the requirements to get
a loan from Lendistry?
The following are certain key requirements for a business
to be eligible for a loan from Lendistry under the program:
• Must be a current Amazon Seller account in good standing
• Must be an established Amazon Seller with 1 or more
years on Amazon Seller Central
• Must be a U.S. based business with all owners
domiciled within the U.S.
• Must have a U.S. business checking account, and the
authority to apply for credit on behalf of the business
• Must have sasfactory personal credit
Loan terms are provided for reference purposes only and
do not constute an oer for credit. The availability of
any applicable Lendistry business loan product is subject
to certain eligibility requirements, including without
limitaon, the creditworthiness of the business and its
owners, and the applicant’s acceptance of the terms
of loan documentaon to be provided by Lendistry. To
determine eligibility for a Lendistry business loan product,
you will be asked to complete an electronic applicaon
made available through Lendistry’s portal. Neither the
compleon nor the submial of an applicaon will
constute a guarantee of approval for any Lendistry loan
product, and you may be required to submit addional
documentaon and informaon in support of your
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applicaon. Please see hps://lendistry.com/aclp-terms-
of-use/ for addional informaon, eligibility requirements
and authorizaons that may be required as a condion to
receiving a Lendistry business loan product through the
Amazon Community Lending program.
What documents will I need
if I decide to move forward
with an applicaon?
An applicant will need a government-issued photo ID and
a copy of their last two months business bank account
statements (if their bank account is unable to be veried
electronically).
Will any data on Amazon be shared
with Lendistry? If yes, what data?
No personal informaon will be shared without your
explicit consent before sharing any data. Amazon will
share your business’s sales and performance data on
Amazon.com with Lendistry aer receiving your consent.
Prior to being redirected to the Lendistry website to apply
for a loan, you will be asked in Seller Central whether you
agree to share your business’s sales data with Lendistry.
Refer to Data Share FAQ for more informaon on the data
Amazon will share with your consent.
Will Lendistry share any
personal informaon used in the
applicaon process with Amazon?
Amazon does not ask Lendistry for your name,
shareholder(s) names, or loan guarantor, nor does Amazon
ask Lendistry for your contact informaon such as phone
number, email, and address. To learn more about what
informaon Lendistry will share with Amazon, refer to the
Data Share FAQ. Any informaon shared with Amazon
will be shared in accordance with Lendistry’s privacy
policy available here.
Will Lendistry share any
personal informaon with
any other third-party?
The security of your personal informaon is of the highest
priority for Lendistry. Lendistry does not sell your personal
informaon to adversers or other third-pares for
nancial gain. Any sharing of personal informaon with
third-pares is done in accordance with Lendistry’s privacy
policy available here, and is primarily for the purposes of
making available and/or providing Amazon Community
Lending program products and services to you.
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Will I be signing a loan agreement
with Amazon?
No. The seller will sign a loan agreement directly with
Lendistry. Amazon will not be a party to the agreement.
Does Lendistry pull credit reports
as a part of the applicaon process?
Yes, Lendistry does pull personal credit reports through
Experian for the main owner that is applying on the
applicaon with 20% or more of the equity or ownership
of the business.
Note : You must list enough owners on the applicaon whose
combined equity or ownership represents at least 50% of the
ownership of the business. Listed equity/ownership does not
have to total to 100% of ownership.
Can my business’s
interest rate adjust?
No, your business’s interest rate will remain the same
throughout the life of the loan if your business pays on
me. Any future loans could have higher or lower
interest rates depending on your business’s credit
prole at that me.
Is there any prepayment penalty if
I want to pay the loan o early?
No, there is no penalty for paying the loan o early. You
may prepay any amounts outstanding at any me, in
whole or in part. You are able to pay o your loan directly
online, by logging into MyLendistry and following the
instrucons. If you have any quesons, please contact
the Lendistry Program Call Center at 888-216-6445.
Why is Lendistry requiring addional
informaon or documentaon for
the applicaon process?
Since the loan is extended by Lendistry, it determines
what informaon it needs to process an applicaon and
determine your business’s eligibility for credit.
How do you lock a bank account?
In order to lock the account, visit the approved applicaon
in Seller Central by referring to the secon labeled
“Applicaons in progress”. Click the “Lock account” buon
and follow the steps that appear onscreen.
Note : This account will remain locked unl the loan is paid in
full and the loan is closed. For any issues during this process,
please contact [email protected].
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Why is locking a bank
account required?
Locking the Seller’s bank account on le with Amazon
may be a prerequisite from the third-party lender.
Once it is locked, the third-party lender veries it
matches what was provided in the loan applicaon.
The account on le with Amazon cannot be changed
aer this step.
How does the bank
account unlock?
The account will be automacally unlocked once
Lendistry conrms that the loan has been paid in full. If
the loan is closed, but a bank account remains locked,
send an email to [email protected]om with
the request and a copy of the payo leer from
Lendistry that the account has been paid o.
Who can I contact with
quesons about the program
or my business loan?
You can contact the Lendistry Program Call Center at
888-216-6445 during the hours of 6:00 am to 5:00 pm
Pacic Time Monday - Friday.
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Tips for
Applying
You do not have to complete the applicaon in one session
and will have an opon to save and connue it later.
To make your applicaon process as smooth as possible or
if you experience dicules while applying, these are some
suggesons that may help.
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Use the Latest Versions of
Website Browsers
For the best user experience, please use
the latest version of Google Chrome,
Microso Edge, or Safari throughout the
enre applicaon process.
Open Incognito Window
Opening Incognito allows you to enter
informaon privately and prevents your
data from being remembered or cached.
Clear Your Cache
Cached data is informaon that has been
stored from a previously used website or
applicaon and is primarily used to make
the browsing process faster by auto-
populang your informaon.
However, cached data may also include
outdated informaon or informaon you
may have previously entered incorrectly.
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Registering your MyLendistry Account
When registering your account, please
do the following:
• Make sure you pick a strong password
that includes:
– 8 minimum character length
– 1 uppercase character
– 1 lowercase character
– 1 digit
• Add a conrmaon code that you
will be texted with the number
you provide during the registraon
process.
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How to Unlock your
MyLendistry Account
For your security, when aempng to log
in to MyLendistry if you use the incorrect
password more than ve mes, your
MyLendistry Account will be locked. To
unlock it, you must call the Lendistry
Program Call Center at 888-216-6445.
As a reminder you can reset your
password by going to the MyLendistry
sign-in page and following the
instrucons.
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What is your Federal Tax ID/Employer
Idencaon Number (EIN)?
An Employer Idencaon Number
(EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax
Idencaon Number, and is used to
idenfy a business enty. Generally,
businesses need an EIN. You may apply
for an EIN in various ways, and may be
able to apply online. This is a free service
oered by the Internal Revenue Service
and you can get your EIN immediately.
Learn more at the IRS website.
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Providing Ownership Informaon
List all owners of 20% or more of
the equity of the business. You must
list enough owners whose combined
equity represents at least 50% of the
ownership of the business.
Listed equity does not have to total to
100% of ownership.
If an owner is not from the United
States, therefore does not have a social
security number, the owner can enter
their alien card, green card number
instead.
What is Plaid?
Plaid is a quick, seamless way for you to provide what we need to verify your banking informaon.
It replaces you having to scan and upload documents, making it easier for you and giving us an
opportunity to provide you with a decision faster.
Plaid is a third-party technology Lendistry uses to set up Automated Clearing House (ACH)
transfers by connecng accounts from any bank or credit union in the U.S. to an app like
MyLendistry. The third-party does not share your personal informaon without your permission
and does not sell or rent it to outside companies. The use of personal informaon on or through
Plaid is subject to Plaid’s End User Privacy Policy. Lendistry uses this technology to verify and
review your bank statements.
This method of bank vericaon is preferred, but may not be acceptable, including if your banking
instuon is not available through the provider. In this case, you can verify your bank account
using other methods.
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Using Plaid to Verify Your Bank Account in
MyLendistry
When registering in MyLendistry, you will be
prompted to provide bank details and you click
“Start Plaid”.
• First, select your bank account and provide
credenals. It is important that you use
your Amazon Seller Central account when
selecng your bank. Otherwise, it will not be
funded if approved.
• Aer following direcons in Plaid, you will be
back in MyLendistry and if you have more than
one account in that bank, they will all be listed.
You must select and conrm the same Bank
Account you use in Amazon Seller Central,
which must be a business or personal account.
• If you run into errors, you have the opon
to try again. If you connuously run into
errors or your bank instuon is not available
through the provider, you can proceed using
another method, by clicking the link provided.
Video: How to Use Plaid
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Uploading Required Documents
All documents that are required to be
uploaded have certain requirements,
mainly to make sure informaon is read
accurately.
• Must be in clear, straight format with
no disrupve backgrounds
• File name CANNOT contain
any special characters, such as
!@#%^&*()_+=
• File size must be under 10MB
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How to Lock Your Amazon Seller
Central Bank Account
If approved, the next step required
to receive funds is to lock your bank
account in Amazon Seller Central.
How to do that and addional quesons
about account locking in Amazon Seller
Central are provided in the FAQ secon,
which you can go to here.
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How to DocuSign
Aer successfully locking your Amazon
Seller bank account using your Amazon
Seller Central portal, you should return
to your Lendistry loan applicaon.
When you return to your applicaon on
MyLendistry you should be prompted
to “Sign your agreement” via DocuSign.
This will take you to DocuSign to where
you can review your loan applicaon
and securely sign and nalize your
documents.
If you have issues, please contact
the Lendistry Program Call Center at
888-216-6445.
