Achieve Personal Loans Review

Online personal loans offer a quick and easy way to fund a major expense or consolidate debt. If a digital application process appeals to you but you're nervous that customer service may be lacking, Achieve personal loans may be a good fit. The finance company gives you the option of working with a dedicated loan consultant for customized support. It also has a strong track record of customer satisfaction based on thousands of online reviews.

Achieve may be a great option, especially if you're looking for a debt consolidation loan, but the company won't be the best fit for everyone. Here's what you need to know about the benefits and drawbacks, qualification requirements, and features of Achieve personal loans.

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Who are Achieve personal loans best for?

Best for debt consolidation

Achieve offers direct payment to your creditors, and you may even qualify for a lower rate if you use the majority of the loan funds to pay off qualifying debt directly. Achieve also welcomes applicants with a credit score as low as 620, so you may qualify even if your outstanding debt is impacting your credit score. If you don't qualify on your own, you can apply with a co-borrower. Achieve also offers a debt resolution program for borrowers who don't qualify for a traditional loan.

Great for personalized customer support

If you're pre-approved for an Achieve personal loan, you can ask to be contacted by a dedicated loan consultant or complete the application process by email. Achieve also has a great reputation for customer service, with a 4.8/5-star Trustpilot rating based on over 11,000 customer reviews and a 4.6/5 star rating with ConsumerAffairs. The financial company is also BBB-accredited with an A+ rating and a 4.72/5-star average customer rating.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Multiple discount opportunities: You may get a rate discount for applying with a qualified co-borrower, showing proof of sufficient retirement savings, or opting for Achieve to pay your creditors directly if you're using the loan for debt consolidation.
• Excellent digital tools: The Achieve MoLO app is highly rated and includes money management features.
• Flexible repayment options: You may have the option to choose a repayment term of 2, 3, 4, or 5 years, and the lender offers flexible payment dates and allows you to repay your loan early without penalty.
• Fast funding: Achieve can offer same-day loan approval if you complete your application early enough on a business day, and loans are generally funded in 24-72 hours.

Cons

• Origination fee: Achieve charges an origination fee between 1.99% and 8.99% that is deducted upfront from the loan proceeds. Origination fees aren't uncommon, but borrowers with good or excellent credit may qualify for a personal loan with no origination fee from other lenders, such as LightStream or Citi.
• $5,000 minimum loan amount: Achieve's minimum borrowing amount is $5,000, so the company isn't ideal for people who need a small loan.
• Not available in all states: Achieve doesn't lend to residents of eight states.

How to qualify for an Achieve personal loan

Your credit score and financial history

Achieve requires a minimum credit score of 620 for all loans, and you'll need at least a 660 credit score to qualify for loan amounts of $35,000 or greater. If you don't meet the minimum requirements, approval may still be possible if you apply with a co-borrower who has a strong credit score. Achieve will also evaluate your outstanding debt balance. While the company doesn't publish a maximum debt-to-income ratio (DTI), most lenders won't approve borrowers with a DTI greater than 36%.

Your income and employment

Achieve doesn't disclose a specific minimum income requirement, but the company requires applicants to provide proof of income and employment status. You'll need sufficient income to manage repaying your loan, but you don't necessarily need to be a W-2 employee — Achieve works with self-employed individuals and may accept alternative sources of income, such as alimony, pension payments, and rental income.

Achieve personal loan purposes

You can use an Achieve personal loan for almost any household expense, including:

• Credit card refinancing
• Debt consolidation
• Major purchases
• Home improvement
• Travel and moving expenses
• Medical bills
• Weddings

While Achieve doesn't publish any loan restrictions, you should always read your loan agreement carefully to determine whether the lender allows you to use the funds for your intended purpose.

Achieve personal loans fees and penalties

Loan origination fees

Many lenders charge origination fees to cover their costs when issuing a personal loan, including Achieve's lending partner, Cross River Bank. Depending on your credit score and other financial factors, you may be charged an origination fee between 1.99% and 8.99% of the loan amount, deducted upfront. Note that the origination fee is included in the APR, which is the annual borrowing cost as a percentage of the loan amount, including the interest rate and upfront fees.

Early repayment penalties

Achieve doesn't charge prepayment penalties. You can make extra payments on your loan or repay the entire balance early to save money on interest.

Other fees

Achieve doesn't disclose incidental fees like late fees and insufficient funds fees. These fees may vary by state. Be sure to check your loan agreement for potential charges.

How Achieve compares to other lenders

Achieve's track record of customer satisfaction is impressive relative to many of its competitors, and the company offers unique rate discounts. While Achieve's APR range is competitive, borrowers with excellent credit may find lower personal loan rates and low or no fees elsewhere. On the other hand, borrowers with bad credit won't qualify for a loan from Achieve.

Here's how Achieve compares to two similar lenders, SoFi and Upgrade.

How Achieve compares to more lenders: Best Personal Loans

How to contact Achieve

If you need help with your existing loan or have questions about your application, you can contact an Achieve loan expert at 1-800-920-0045 or send a message online.

About Achieve personal loans

Achieve, formerly known as FreedomPlus, is a digital finance company founded in 2002 by Brad Stroh and Andrew Housser. The company has served more than 1.5 million customers and helped fund more than $13 billion in loans. In addition to personal loans, which are originated by Cross River Bank, Achieve offers home equity loans, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), debt resolution services, and free digital tools.

Rating Achieve personal loans

Credible reviewed 31 lenders across 899 data points and assigned star ratings to each lender based on an evaluation of its relative performance across the categories below.

We further evaluated partner lenders based on proprietary Credible personal loans data over the past 12 months. We considered each lender's approval rates, average interest rates, average FICO scores, average loan amounts, and approved loan purposes.

We chose the best lenders based on the following weighted categories:

• Rates and fees: 18%
• Loan terms: 18%
• Customer experience: 17%
• Eligibility: 14%
• Customer satisfaction: 10%
• Efficiency: 10%
• Options for poor credit and no credit: 9%
• Discounts: 4%

Our team of experts gathered information from each lender's website and directly from our partners. Each data point was verified by a senior editor to make sure it was accurate and up to date. Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our personal loans lender rating methodology.

*Timothy Moore contributed to the writing of this article