Best Personal Loans

This will vary based on the lender, but many personal loan companies require at least a 640 credit score or higher. Compare the top personal loan companies to see what credit score they require as well as other offerings, such as their APR range, max loan amount, and max loan length.

Yes and no. Taking out a personal loan will show up as a hard inquiry on your credit report, which will drop your credit score by a few points. However, if you pay your loan payments on time and create a positive payment history, this will boost your credit score and demonstrate to future lenders you are responsible with your debt. Ultimately, whether or not a personal loan positively or negatively affects your credit score, in the long run, is determined by how responsibly you complete your loan repayment, how good your credit history is, and what the rest of your financial history looks like.

However, only applying for a personal loan without accepting will not yet hurt your credit if you apply through lenders that do a “soft credit check” of your credit report rather than a “hard credit check.” Especially if you plan to apply for personal loans from a variety of different companies, make sure the loan providers do soft inquiries of your credit report until you choose to officially accept the loan.

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This varies based on the personal loan company and your bank. Online personal loan lender Best Egg, for example, has an instant decision process, and you can receive funds into your savings or checking account in as little as one business day after required documents are received and approved.

The most common personal loans typically last between one to five years, depending on the lender you choose.

Unless a lender specifies otherwise, you can spend your personal loan on whatever you’d like. Different from mortgages or auto loans, there is not a fixed purpose for the loan. Common reasons for taking out a personal loan are for funding home renovations, paying off a student loan or medical debt, debt consolidation, or any other pressing expenses.

Loan amounts will vary based on the lending provider. Typically, personal loans can range anywhere from $2,000 to $50,000. However, some personal loan companies, such as SoFi, offer as much as $100,000. Make note that just because you’re accepted for a large personal loan, that doesn’t mean you should take the entire offered amount. Consult your budget and your financial history to determine which loan amounts will work best for your situation. You don’t want to agree to a monthly amount you can’t afford to pay. This could lead to a late payment or other complications.

Typically, yes. The majority of personal loan companies require an origination fee. However, most lenders take the origination fee from the borrowed amount, so the fee is taken out before you receive the loan funds. For example, if you applied for a $5,000 loan and the lender required a 3 percent origination fee, you would receive a total of $4,850.

The origination fee is the upfront fee most personal loan companies charge when you take out a personal loan. It typically ranges from 1 percent to 6 percent of the total loan amount. The origination fee varies based on the personal loan company and your credit profile. However, if you have good credit and are still required to pay a high origination fee, you may want to look into other personal loan providers that do not require such high fees.

No, the majority of personal loan companies do not require a loan application fee. If you apply for a loan and are denied or you decide not to take the offer, most likely no fees will apply.

Prepayment fees are when a lender charges for paying off a loan more quickly than the agreed upon time.

No, the majority of personal loan companies do not charge prepayment fees or have any sort of prepayment penalty. However, be sure to consult the loan provider, as not every lender is the same.

Personal loan companies are ranked according to customer reviews and important criteria related to the personal loan industry.

Factors taken into account when ranking a lending company include consumer review star-rating (most heavily weighted metric), max loan amount, max length of the loan, APR percentage range, state availability, and time in business.

You should seriously consider these factors when selecting a personal loan company. On BestCompany.com, we have already gathered these crucial data points and have ranked each personal loan provider based on these factors. To read specific personal loan reviews from real consumers, check out our personal loans home page and see a list of our top-ranked and best personal loan companies.

Want to see our highest-ranked personal loan company, Best Egg? Visit Best Egg's Review Page.