Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we receive compensation from our partner lenders, whom we will always identify, all opinions are our own. Credible Operations, Inc. NMLS # 1681276, is referred to here as "Credible."
The personal loan industry has changed drastically in the past few years. Now, you can apply for a personal loan from the comfort of your home and get approved in minutes. Even better, your loan can be disbursed to you in just a few days.
How to get a personal loan in four simple steps:
- Review your credit report
- Meet the minimum requirements to qualify
- Compare multiple personal loan lenders
- Choose your loan
1. Review your credit report
Personal loans and debt consolidation loans are unsecured, meaning you don’t have to put up any property as collateral. Because no collateral is needed, lenders will look at your credit score and income to decide whether or not to offer you a loan. This will also help them decide which interest rate you qualify for.
It’s a good idea to review your credit report ahead of time and look for any errors or inaccuracies on it that may be damaging your credit. You can view your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus once a year for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Tip: If your credit report or credit score has issues, focus on improving your credit before moving forward with the loan process.
2. Meet minimum requirements to qualify
Next, review common requirements from personal loan lenders to ensure you meet their minimum qualifications. In general, you’ll need to have a credit score of at least 620 to qualify for a loan. However, the lowest interest rates on an unsecured loan are reserved for borrowers with good credit or excellent credit.
Lenders will also look at your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) to see if you can comfortably afford your payments. Although each lender has their own eligibility criteria they take into consideration when deciding whether to approve your loan application, in general, they look for borrowers to have a DTI ratio under 40%.
To calculate your DTI, add up all of your monthly debt payments, including credit card minimums, student loan payments, and rent, and divide the total by your monthly income. The total you’ll get is a decimal, so multiply it by 100 to get your DTI percentage.
Check Out:
- Personal Loans With 550 Credit Score: Can I Get One?
- How to Get a Personal Loan With a 600 Credit Score
3. Compare multiple personal loan lenders
If you intend to take out a personal loan, it’s a good idea to compare offers from multiple personal loan lenders. You can see your rates from our partner lenders in the table below in two minutes.
| Lender | Fixed rates | Loan amounts |
|---|---|---|
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 9.95% - 35.99% APR | $2,000 to $35,000** |
|
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Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 6.79% - 17.99% APR | $5,000 to $35,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 4.99% - 35.99% APR | $5,000 to $50,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 5.99% - 24.99% APR | $2,500 to $35,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 7.99% - 29.99% APR | $7,500 to $50,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 7.04% - 35.89% APR | $1,000 to $40,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 15.49% - 35.99% APR | $2,000 to $36,500 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 2.49% - 19.99% APR | $5,000 to $100,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 6.99% - 19.99% APR1 | $3,500 to $40,0002 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 18.0% - 35.99% APR | $1,500 to $20,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 5.99% - 24.99% APR | $5,000 to $40,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 5.99% - 17.99% APR | $600 to $50,000 (depending on loan term) |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 6.95% - 35.99% APR | $2,000 to $40,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 5.99% - 18.83% APR | $5,000 to $100,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 8.93% - 35.93% APR7 | $1,000 to $20,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 5.94% - 35.97% APR | $1,000 to $50,000 |
|
||
Credible Rating
Credible lender ratings are evaluated by our editorial team with the help of our loan operations team. The rating criteria for lenders encompass 78 data points spanning interest rates, loan terms, eligibility requirement transparency, repayment options, fees, discounts, customer service, cosigner options, and more. Read our full methodology.
| 4.37% - 35.99% APR4 | $1,000 to $50,0005 |
|
||
When comparing lenders, consider the following:
- Pay attention to loan amounts: Some lenders offer loans as low as $1,000 and as large as $100,000, while others are more limited.
- Keep an eye on fees: Some common fees to keep in mind are origination fees, application fees, late payment fees, and prepayment penalties. Not all lenders charge these fees, so read the fine print and look for a no-fee or low-fee lender to save money.
- Know which terms you need: Some personal loan lenders offer loan terms as long as seven years, giving you a more affordable monthly payment. You’ll pay more in interest with a longer repayment term, but that drawback may be worth it to get a lower payment.
- Compare interest rates: Interest rates vary from lender to lender, and you may be able to qualify for a much lower rate by choosing one lender over another. Get quotes from multiple lenders to ensure you get the lowest rate, and see if they offer autopay discounts to get an even lower interest rate.
- Consider a cosigner: If you have bad credit or don’t have an established credit history, adding a cosigner to your application can help you qualify for a loan. However, not all lenders allow you to do so, so check with each lender.
- Decide how soon you need your money: Some lenders can take days to process your application and disburse your loans, while others will issue you the money the next business day after you apply.
Before you borrow, estimate how much you’ll pay for a loan using our personal loan calculator below.
Enter your loan information to calculate how much you could pay
?
Enter the total amount borrowed
$
?
Enter your annual interest rate
%
or
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Enter the amount of time you have to repay your loan
years
Total Payment
$
Total Interest
$
Monthly Payment
$
With a $ loan, you will pay $ monthly and a total of $ in interest over the life of your loan. You will pay a total of $ over the life of the loan.
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4. Choose your loan
Once you’ve found a lender that works for you, you can move forward with the loan application process. In most cases, you can apply for online personal loans in just a few minutes.
Generally, you’ll have to provide the following information:
- Name
- Address
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Social Security number
- Employer name
- Income
- Monthly rent or mortgage payment
Some lenders will ask you for documentation of your income, such as a W-2 or recent paystub. And, you will usually have to submit a copy of your driver’s license (or passport) and enter your account number and routing number for your bank account, as well.
Most online lenders will give you a decision right away. If approved, you can have the funds deposited into your account within a few business days.
Find Out: Refinancing a Personal Loan: Can It Be Done?
Applying for a personal loan
If you need to take out an unsecured personal loan for consolidating credit card debt or to finance a major purchase, the application process is typically quick and easy. If you need help finding a lender, Credible allows you to compare offers from multiple lenders at once, so you can find the best personal loans with interest rates and repayment terms that work for you.
