Quick Bonding Credit-Based Bonds Up to $3M

What Is Quick Bonding?

"Quick Bonding" is shorthand for our fast-application surety bond programs — programs that get contractors bonded without the full CPA-prepared financial package required by standard underwriting. They exist because not every contractor wants to compile a complete financial workup just to get a $500,000 bid bond.

We work with many credit-based surety programs, not just one or two. Each surety has its own credit thresholds, project parameters, bond types, and limits. Our job is to match your situation to the markets that fit you best — that might be the highest-limit programs (Merchants and Liberty XPress, featured below) or a different surety better suited to your credit profile, trade, project mix, or geography. If you're not sure where you fit, just contact us and we'll point you to the right program.

For contractors whose credit doesn't fit the private credit-only programs — whether due to past credit challenges, recent business hiccups, or other factors the private market won't underwrite around — the SBA's QuickBond Application is a separate path. SBA's government guarantee fills the gap, allowing sureties to bond contractors they would otherwise decline.

For growing contractors building toward larger work, Quick Bonding is often the on-ramp before transitioning to a Standard Bonding program with full underwriting.

Three Featured Quick Bonding Programs

Below are three of the programs we use most often. Merchants and Liberty XPress are the highest-limit credit-based options in our portfolio — we have other credit-based markets for contractors who fit a different profile. The SBA QuickBond serves a different contractor entirely (credit-challenged applicants). Tell us your situation and we'll match you to the right program.

Merchants Bonding $2M Instant Program

This is our partnership with Merchants Bonding Company, an A-rated surety. The Merchants Rapid Access Program (RAP) gives qualified contractors instant-decision bonds — you fill out the application, e-sign the indemnity, and get a decision in seconds. No human underwriter review required for qualifying submissions.

Merchants Eligibility

The applicant company, owners, and any predecessor entities must not have:

• Ever declared bankruptcy
• Defaulted on a contract
• Been involved in a surety claim
• Been involved with any lawsuits or liens in the last five years
• Open bonds with another surety
• Been in business or under current management for less than three years

Geographic exclusion: Not available for contractors or bonds within the five boroughs of New York City.

Merchants Project Exclusions

The following project characteristics make a bond request ineligible under the Merchants instant program, regardless of credit:

• Completion time in excess of 18 months
• Warranty or maintenance guarantees exceeding 24 months
• Liquidated damages exceeding $2,500 per day
• Bid spreads of 10% or greater
• IDIQ contracts, phased projects, or percentage bonds with total contract value over $2,000,000
• Design-build contracts
• Subdivision or completion bonds (see developer program)
• Takeover projects where a prior contractor has defaulted
• Work for sovereign nation owners
• Construction projects outside the contractor's home or contiguous states, unless within 300 miles of home office
• Bond forms with unilateral payment obligations (forfeiture or pay-on-demand)
• Environmental or remediation exposure, including tree preservation and wetlands
• Efficiency or performance guarantees

For non-construction bonds (service, supply, install, fabricate), additional exclusions apply — including financial guarantee bonds, utility deposits, software/tech guarantees, contracts over 18 months without the Merchants Annual Bond Form, renewal/evergreen bonds, and speculative ventures.

Liberty XPress $3M Credit-Only Program

For contractors who need more capacity than the Merchants instant program but still don't want to provide CPA financials, we offer the Liberty Mutual XPress credit-only program. This program supports single and aggregate bonding up to $3 million based on the indemnitors' personal credit profiles.

Unlike the Merchants instant program, Liberty XPress is manually submitted by our team. We review your eligibility against program parameters, prepare the application, and submit on your behalf. Decisions typically come back within a few business days.

Liberty XPress requires stronger credit than the Merchants program (740+ owner credit, 700+ spouse credit) and has its own per-project parameters. For full details, eligibility, and the application path:

SBA QuickBond Application ($500K) — For Credit-Challenged Contractors

The SBA QuickBond Application is the Small Business Administration's streamlined path within their Surety Bond Guarantee Program. It uses a simplified one-page form (SBA Form 990A) for bonds on contracts up to $500,000, with approvals often returned within hours.

Who this is for: The SBA QuickBond is specifically designed for contractors who cannot qualify for a surety in the standard markets — typically due to low credit, past credit challenges, limited time in business, or other underwriting concerns that the private credit-based programs (Merchants, Liberty XPress, etc.) won't accept. The SBA's government guarantee fills the credit gap, letting sureties write bonds for contractors they would otherwise decline.

What makes SBA QuickBond different from our credit-based programs:

• Government backing fills the credit gap — the SBA guarantees a substantial portion of the surety's loss (80% standard, 90% for socially & economically disadvantaged businesses), which lets sureties bond contractors with credit that wouldn't pass private underwriting
• Built for credit-challenged applicants — if your credit doesn't meet the Merchants thresholds or the 740+ owner credit Liberty XPress requires, this is often the only quick path to a bond
• Lower working capital ratios accepted — the government guarantee reduces the surety's risk, so they accept thinner balance sheets than standard markets would
• Set-aside friendly — useful for contractors pursuing federal 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, or SDVOSB set-aside work that requires bonding
• $500,000 single-contract ceiling for the QuickBond path specifically — for larger contracts you can still use the SBA program, but through the standard Prior Approval or Preferred Surety Bond pathways (up to $9M non-federal / $14M federal)

The QuickBond path is the SBA's answer to the same speed-and-simplicity demand that drives the credit-based programs. If your project is $500K or under and you're not a clean fit for the Merchants or Liberty XPress credit thresholds, this is usually the right path. For contracts above $500K, the full SBA program supports up to $9M non-federal and $14M federal — same government backing, just a more thorough application file.

When Quick Bonding Isn't the Right Fit

Quick Bonding works for many contractors, but it isn't right for every situation. You'll want to look at our other programs if:

• You need more than $3M capacity on a single contract — see our Standard Bonding Program for $10M to $1B+ capacity, or the full SBA Bond Program for $9M non-federal / $14M federal with government backing
• You want lower premium rates — standard programs typically run 1%–2% versus 3%+ on credit-only programs
• You need bonds for projects the credit-only programs exclude — design-build, IDIQ over $2M, subdivision, environmental, takeover work, etc.
• You have CPA-prepared financials already — standard programs will likely give you more capacity at lower rates for similar effort
• Your project is over $500K and you don't fit the credit-only criteria — the SBA QuickBond ceiling is $500K, but the full SBA program goes much higher with the same government backing

Not Sure Which Program Fits?

Tell us about your business and what you're trying to bond. We'll recommend the right program — whether that's instant Merchants, manual Liberty XPress, a Standard Bonding setup, or the SBA program.