Borrowers will find a dizzying array of online loans, and this guide can help as you comparison shop for the loan with the best rate and terms.
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
Lender |
Learn More |
APR |
Max. Loan Amount |
Min. Credit Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
10.49% to 12.49% | $50,000 | Not disclosed | |
 |
7.74% to 17.99% | $50,000 | 650 | |
 |
6.99% to 24.99% | $35,000 | 660 | |
 |
5.99% to 23.99% | $100,000 | 670 | |
 |
8.99% to 23.43% | $100,000 | Not disclosed | |
 |
6.99% to 24.99% | $40,000 | Not disclosed | |
 |
6.50% to 35.99% | $50,000 | Not disclosed | |
 |
9.99% to 29.99% | $40,000 | Not disclosed | |
 |
8.99% to 35.99% | $50,000 | 640 | |
 |
8.99% to 21.49% | $50,000 | 660 |
If you need money fast, Alliant Credit Union typically makes same-day online personal loans between $1,000 and $50,000. The Chicago-based credit union, founded in 1935, is one of the biggest in the nation, with 700,000 members and more than $17 billion in assets. In addition to personal loans, Alliant offers home and auto loans, credit cards, checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, trust accounts, and insurance policies.
Although PenFed Credit Union – officially Pentagon Federal Credit Union – serves members of the armed forces, military associations, veterans and retirees, and their families, a military connection is not required to become a member. The credit union offers personal loans for eligible members and eligible co-borrowers in all 50 states, as well as in Guam, Puerto Rico and Okinawa, Japan.
Discover is a digital bank and payment services company known for its credit cards. But Discover also offers other products, including fixed-rate personal loans of up to $35,000, to borrowers nationwide. The lender charges no fees as long as you pay on time.
LightStream is the online consumer lending division of Truist Bank. Low-interest fixed-rate loans from $5,000 to $100,000 are available for almost any purpose and backed by a $100 satisfaction guarantee. Borrowers have good to excellent credit and may receive funds as soon as the same day they apply from the website or mobile app.
SoFi, short for Social Finance, offers personal loans of up to $100,000 with terms between two and seven years. The lender was founded in 2011 and is known for offering loans with no fees. In addition to personal loans, SoFi offers student loans, auto and student loan refinancing and home loans.
Best for no origination fee
Marcus is the consumer bank and lending arm of investment bank Goldman Sachs. Established in 2016, the lender offers personal loans between $3,500 and $40,000. Borrowers need an invitation code to apply for a personal loan.
Upstart is a lending platform that uses artificial intelligence to improve access to affordable credit. Based in California and founded by former Google employees in 2012, Upstart also applies AI to reduce lending risks and costs for its bank partners. The lending intermediary provides unsecured personal loans from $1,000 to $50,000 to borrowers anywhere in the U.S. except West Virginia or Iowa.
Happy Money offers Payoff personal loans designed to consolidate credit card debt. It operates in all but two states and provides loans of up to $40,000. Happy Money is not a bank and instead works with lending partners that originate the loans. The California-based financial wellness company takes a psychological approach to money matters.
Best Egg is an online lender founded in 2014 and owned and operated by financial technology company Marlette Holdings. Borrowers can access personal loans starting at $2,000 to cover medical bills, home remodeling projects and many other expenses. Loans are issued by New Jersey’s Cross River Bank and can be funded in as little as one business day.
U.S. Bank has physical locations in more than 25 states and offers both short- and long-term personal loans with fixed annual percentage rates. Current customers may qualify to borrow up to $50,000 with a credit score of 660 or above, and loans up to $25,000 are available for noncustomers.
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
AmeriSave Mortgage Corp. is an online lender that has been in business since 2002. It was one of the first to offer an offsite digital mortgage experience for customers. The company says it has financed more than 664,000 borrowers since it began operating. With headquarters in Atlanta, AmeriSave services loans in 49 states and Washington, D.C.
Pentagon Federal Credit Union, widely known as PenFed, offers borrowers access to many types of mortgages: conventional, adjustable rate, jumbo and Department of Veterans Affairs, plus refinancing loans and home equity lines of credit. The financial institution, which serves 2.8 million members, was established in 1935 and is based in McLean, Virginia.
New American Funding is a mortgage lender offering a variety of home loan options to homebuyers and homeowners nationwide except for Hawaii. The company, founded in 2003 and based in Tustin, California, has originated $64.2 billion in mortgages to date.
PNC Bank is one of the largest banks in the United States, serving more than 9 million customers in all 50 states. A full-service mortgage lender, PNC offers most mortgage loan product types.
Bank of America serves roughly 67 million customers in all 50 states. The lender offers conventional, Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and jumbo loans as well as home equity lines of credit and mortgage refinancing.
Guaranteed Rate, founded in 2000 and based in Chicago, offers mortgage options including conventional loans, FHA loans, jumbo loans and interest-only loans to customers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Borrowers can take advantage of specialized loan products and Guaranteed Rate’s online application, documentation and loan payment options.
Wells Fargo offers a variety of mortgage products nationwide. Options include conventional, government-backed and jumbo loans. You can also refinance an existing mortgage with Wells Fargo.
SoFi is an online lender founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco that offers fixed-rate mortgages. Refinance, jumbo and home equity loans are also available.
Rocket Mortgage, the largest mortgage lender in the nation, was founded in 1985. The Detroit-based company is best known for its fully digital experience of buying or refinancing a home. Rocket Mortgage changed its name from Quicken Loans in the summer of 2021.
Chase, one of the world’s largest banks, was founded in 1799 in New York and offers fixed-rate, refinance and other mortgage loans.
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Find the Best Student Loan Refinance Lenders
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Sallie Mae is a publicly traded consumer bank that offers private student loans to pay for undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees, among other educational needs. Congress started Sallie Mae in 1972 as a government-sponsored entity that serviced student loans. The lender went private in 2004 and today provides a range of student loan products. Additionally, Sallie Mae Bank offers savings products and other tools to help families plan and pay for college, including a credit card that earns bonus cash back to help you pay off any student loan.
College Ave exclusively offers student loans. Founded in 2014 and based in Wilmington, Delaware, College Ave offers undergraduate, graduate and parent loans for students enrolled at schools affiliated with College Ave in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. College Ave’s advantage is speed, with applications that take a few minutes to complete and instant decisions.
Earnest is an online lender offering private student loans to college and graduate students, as well as student loan refinancing. The company was founded in 2013. Borrowers can choose their own loan terms to fund up to the full cost of their education.
SoFi is an online lender founded by Stanford business school students in 2011. SoFi offered student loan refinancing as of May 2012, and the San Francisco-based company added private student loans in 2019. Choose from undergraduate, graduate, law, MBA, health profession or parent loans with no fees.
PNC offers student loans in all 50 states for students at all stages of postsecondary education, including professional training loans and refinancing. The bank is also engaged in a number of community efforts, including financial literacy programs and PNC Grow Up Great, which supports early childhood education. For eligible undergraduate students, PNC offers opportunities to win $2,000 scholarships toward education expenses.
Education Loan Finance, also known as ELFI, is a student loan program offered by Tennessee-based SouthEast Bank since 2015. The company provides private student loans and refinancing options for private and federal student loans.
Ascent Funding is an online lender offering undergraduate and graduate student loans for those with or without a co-signer at more than 2,200 eligible schools nationwide. Students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents or those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status – aka “Dreamers” – may apply for an Ascent loan. Ascent Funding was founded in 2015 and is based in San Diego.
Citizens Bank was founded in the late 1800s in Rhode Island. Today, it’s one of the largest commercial banks in the U.S. Branches are concentrated in the New England, mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions.
Credible is a loan comparison marketplace that allows would-be borrowers to shop around for student loans and student loan refinancing that meet their needs. The company was founded in 2012 in San Francisco as a tool to empower borrowers to shop rates and products.
LendKey’s digital platform connects borrowers who need private student loans or refinancing loans with nonprofit credit unions and banks. Since 2009, LendKey has helped more than 135,000 people by funding $5 billion in loans. The company offers fixed- and variable-rate loans for undergraduate and graduate students.
Methodology: U.S. News selected national small-business loan companies for this guide based on consumer ratings and availability of products.
Established in 2013, Bluevine has delivered more than $13 billion in financing to more than 425,000 customers. The entrepreneurial lender focuses on small businesses, offering business lines of credit up to $250,000. The lender serves borrowers across the country and has brick-and-mortar locations in Redwood City, California; Holladay, Utah; Austin, Texas; and Jersey City, New Jersey.
Best for loan options
Biz2Credit was founded in 2007 as a platform to match small businesses with funding based on their needs by connecting borrowers with lenders that offer a range of loan and credit options. The platform has arranged more than $7 billion in small business financing for thousands of U.S. companies.
Best for large loan amounts
Established in 2013, Fundbox has served more than 500,000 small businesses. Borrowers can obtain revolving lines of credit of up to $150,000.
Best for fixed monthly payments
Funding Circle is an online business-lending platform that connects small-business borrowers with investors. The platform has linked 130,000 businesses worldwide with $19.4 billion in funding.
Best for short loan terms
OnDeck is an online small-business lender offering term loans and lines of credit. The company, founded in 2006, uses data analytics and digital technology to assess the creditworthiness of small businesses. It has served more than 114,000 small businesses with more than $14 billion in loans, the company says.
Best for product availability
Rapid Finance is an online financial services company that provides small business loans, lines of credit, merchant cash advances and other loan products. Rapid Finance’s small business loans can range from $5,000 to $1 million, and you can get funds to your business bank account within hours of your application and approval.
Personal loan interest rates rose this week, trending higher for three-year and five-year loan terms. Here are the average personal loan rates offered to well-qualified applicants with a credit score of 720 or greater, as of Mar. 7:
- Three-year personal loan term: 17.3% (down from 18.34% a week ago).
- Five-year personal loan term: 18.94% (down from 19.7% a week ago).
Personal loan rates vary widely based on creditworthiness. Borrowers with very good or excellent credit scores will see much lower interest rates than those with fair or poor credit, as seen in the chart below:
Powered by Bankrate
Look at these factors to choose the right online loan for your financial situation:
- APR range. Whenever you can, prequalify to check your odds of approval and to receive an estimated APR, monthly payment and loan amount. Then compare prequalified offers before you apply, which will trigger a hard credit inquiry that may cause a temporary dip in your credit score. Your loan’s APR should not exceed 36%, which is considered predatory.
- Loan amount. Check the lender’s minimum and maximum loan amounts, but keep in mind that how much you can borrow will depend on your creditworthiness. Borrow only what you need and can afford to repay. Many lenders have online payment calculators to help you determine the monthly cost of different loan amounts.
- Repayment period. How much time you have to repay a loan, or the loan term, varies based on your lender, your creditworthiness and your loan type. Choose an online lender with the shortest repayment terms you can afford, which pays off the loan quickly and accrues less interest.
- Speed of funding. If you need money quickly, compare lenders based on their standard funding speed. Some may offer same-day or next-day funding, and others take several business days to process your loan.
- Application process. How involved is the application? Does it require phone calls or visits to a branch? Make sure you meet the lender’s minimum requirements before you apply.
- Lender reputation. Check ratings and reviews from the Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot, and ask family members and friends about lenders. You can get feedback about approval, customer service and rates.
- Online loan features. An online loan may come with flexible payment dates as well as options to add a co-signer or co-borrower, to pay off the balance or pay ahead without penalty, and to refinance.
Pros
- Convenience. You can complete the entire loan process from your computer or your phone. Application, approval and funding times are faster than traditional lenders.
- Prequalification. Many online lenders allow you to prequalify with a soft credit inquiry that does not hurt your credit score and estimates your interest rates. Prequalification can help you comparison shop for the best loan offers without damaging your credit.
- Quick comparison shopping. Online loan comparison services or websites can show you loan options and APRs based on your financial situation to help you find the right loan.
- Flexible approval criteria. An online lender could be a good option when you need a loan but are new to credit or have a low score. Some lenders may also look at your bank transactions; consider your education or occupation; or use alternative credit data, such as rent and utility payments, which credit reports typically don’t include.
Cons
- No in-person service. You may not have the option to speak to someone face-to-face if you have an issue.
- Better offers elsewhere. If you have good or excellent credit, your bank could offer a lower rate than online lenders, and even credit unions may offer good rates on loans if you have less-than-perfect credit. Compare rates from both online lenders and traditional financial institutions to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
- Loan minimums. If you need a small loan of $1,000 or less, you might struggle to find it at a good rate. A credit union could be a better choice.
Follow these steps when choosing an online loan:
Decide how much you need, and budget for monthly payments. First, can the lender give you the minimum loan amount you need and can reasonably afford to pay on each month?
Compare online loan companies. Read full reviews of online lenders at U.S. News to find out what to expect.. Make sure you consider lender ratings from the Better Business Bureau, and search for negative reports in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Complaint Database.
Prequalify for loan offers. Prequalifying is a no-risk way to understand the rates you can afford because it does not affect credit scores.
Review costs. Compare rates, terms, loan amounts and other factors. The online lender should disclose loan costs, including interest charges and origination and late fees. Make sure loan terms are clear.
Most online loans are safe, but scams – and bad deals – are out there. Here are signs that you’re dealing with a predatory online lender:
- The offer seems too good to be true.
- Loan costs aren’t clear, or information is limited.
- The lender imposes high interest rates (above 36%) or fees well above average.
- No credit check is required.
- Payments aren’t reported to credit bureaus.
If you’re not certain you want an online loan, explore these options:
- Loan from a family member or friend. Make sure the terms of the loan are clear to avoid relationship problems.
- 0% introductory APR credit card. Pay off the amount you charge before the rate expires.
- Loan with a co-signer who has good credit. The co-signer also assumes liability for the payments, but you have to hold up your end of the bargain in paying the balance.
- Credit union or community bank loan. You might find more flexible credit requirements.
- Payday alternative loan. Some federal credit unions offer these small, short-term loans.
One main benefit of online loans compared with traditional loans is speed. You can obtain online loans fast because application, approval and review happen quickly.
Some online lenders say they can approve your online loan application in five minutes or less. You might be able to get funds as soon as the next business day or even the same day in some cases.
Many types of lenders let you borrow money online: traditional banks, credit unions and financial technology, or fintech, companies. The latter issues almost half of all unsecured personal loans, according to the most recent data from the credit bureau Experian.
Some of the largest online loan companies for personal loans include SoFi, LightStream, Prosper and Upstart. Like traditional lenders, they require a hard credit check and have minimum annual income and other eligibility criteria, such as good to excellent credit.
Online lenders use automated underwriting for quick and easy loan approval. Chances are you won’t have to visit a bank branch or make a phone call to get a loan.
Look for online lenders that work with bad-credit borrowers. You can also try online lending networks that connect borrowers with lenders specializing in bad credit.
Online loan lenders fall into two camps: companies that rely on credit checks before they approve your loan and no-credit-check lenders. A no-credit-check loan is risky for the lender because your credit history is unknown, and that means paying high interest rates.
A consumer will pay much higher interest rates for not going through a credit check, says Pete Klipa, director of loan servicing for Boston’s Stride Funding, an education funding startup. “As much as the consolidation loans have been growing, the payday lenders have also been growing,” Klipa says.
If an offer seems too good to be true, such as fast funding with no minimum credit score, it probably is.
Getting a no-credit-check loan online is rarely a good choice because the cost of borrowing can quickly become overwhelming. Maybe your loan is a few thousand dollars, but you have to pay it off in several weeks or months and struggle to make the payments.
Plenty of online lenders accept borrowers with bad credit and may look at not only credit history but income and employment to approve your loan. Don’t limit yourself to no-credit-check lenders.
U.S. News selects the Best Loan Companies by evaluating affordability, borrower eligibility criteria and customer service. Those with the highest overall scores are considered the best lenders.
To calculate each score, we use data about the lender and its loan offerings, giving greater weight to factors that matter most to borrowers. Personal loan companies are evaluated based on customer service ratings, interest rates, maximum loan term, minimum and maximum loan amounts, minimum FICO score, online features, and origination fees.
The weight each scoring factor receives is based on a nationwide survey on what borrowers look for in a lender.
To receive a rating, lenders must offer qualifying loans nationwide and have a good reputation within the industry. Read more about our methodology.
Advertising Disclosure: Some of the loan offers on this site are from companies
who are advertising clients of U.S. News. Advertising considerations may impact
where offers appear on the site but do not affect any editorial decisions,
such as which loan products we write about and how we evaluate them. This site
does not include all loan companies or all loan offers available in the marketplace.
