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Best for:
- Debt consolidation
- Home improvement
Prosper is one of the biggest names in personal loans, making about 4,000 loans a week through a peer-to-peer lending platform that matches borrowers with investors. That’s close to 1 million loans to date, with more than $15 billion in loans funded.
Here’s everything you should know before considering a personal loan from Prosper.
In this post:
- Prosper interest rates and loan details
- Prosper personal loans review
- How Prosper compares to other lenders
- How to take out a personal loan with Prosper
Prosper interest rates and loan details
Prosper offers personal loans of up to $40,000 with a choice of a 3- or 5-year repayment term. Although a few lenders offer better rates on personal loans to borrowers with excellent credit, Prosper’s rates can be very competitive if your credit is good, but less than perfect.
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| Fixed rates | 6.95% - 35.99% APR |
| Loan amount | $2,000 to $40,000 |
| Loan terms | 3 or 5 years |
| Min. credit score | 640 |
| Time to get funds | On average, within 5 days of accepting your offer |
| Residency |
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| Fees |
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| Loan use | Debt consolidation, home improvement, bridge loans, car purchase, small business, baby and adoption, engagement ring, special occasions, solar and other “green” projects |
| Key benefits |
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Prosper personal loans review
Prosper operates a peer-to-peer, online loan marketplace where you can borrow money that’s provided by investors who pick and choose the loans they’d like to fund.
If you meet Prosper’s minimum qualifications, your loan request will be evaluated and assigned a Prosper rating — a letter grade indicating how likely Prosper thinks it is that you’ll pay the loan back. The safer Prosper thinks the loan is, the lower the interest rate you’ll be offered.
Learn More: How Personal Loans Affect Your Credit Score
Loan process
After your loan request has been verified, it will be listed until enough investors commit to funding it. If your loan is not funded after being listed for 14 days, no loan will be made. But you can create a new listing. On average, however, the process takes three to five business days from start to origination, according to Prosper.
Prosper says you can’t use one of its loans to pay for college expenses, because of rules governing student loans that aren’t compatible with its platform. With student loans, you have at least 30 days to accept or reject an offer after you’ve been approved. Prosper’s platform requires you to commit to obtaining and paying a loan if it’s funded by the end of the 14-day listing period.
Prosper’s relatively lengthy process means it might not be the best choice for emergencies. But with a little planning, a Prosper loan can be a good choice for debt consolidation or a home improvement project.
How to qualify
To be approved for a personal loan through Prosper’s online marketplace, you’ll need:
- A credit score of at least 640
- Less than five credit bureau inquiries in the last 6 months
- Some form of annual income
- A debt-to-income ratio that does not exceed 50%
- At least three open trade lines on your credit report
- No bankruptcy filings in the last 12 months
You’ll also need to be a U.S. resident, but can’t live in Iowa or West Virginia.
Repayment
Prosper only offers two repayment terms — either three or five years. If you’re taking out a five-figure loan, your monthly payments may be easier to handle if you take five years instead of three to repay your debt. Just keep in mind that you’ll pay more in total interest if your term is longer.
Most borrowers authorize automatic monthly payments from a bank account, but you can also make payments online or over the phone. If you want to make payments by mailing a check, you’ll be assessed a fee of $5 or 5% of your payment, whichever is less.
How Prosper compares to other lenders
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| Fixed rates | 6.95% - 35.99% APR | 5.99% - 29.99% APR | 10.68% - 35.89% APR |
| Loan Amounts | $2,000 to $40,000 | $5,000 to $35,000 | $1,000 up to $40,000 |
How to take out a personal loan with Prosper
If you don’t need the loan immediately, Prosper may be a good fit for you. Keep in mind that every lender uses its own methods to evaluate borrowers, so comparing rates from several lenders is a good way to find a loan that’s right for you.
You can use Credible to fill out a single form in two minutes and request prequalified rates from some of the best personal loan companies, including Prosper, without affecting your credit score.
Credible makes it easy to find the right loan for you.
Find My Rate
Checking rates won’t affect your credit
How Prosper can improve
Prosper’s innovative platform does a good job connecting borrowers to investors who are willing to lend. But you do have to pay an origination fee, and the process can take longer than with other online lenders.
Prosper could improve by:
- Speeding up its matching process for loans
- Waiving origination fees for some borrowers
- Providing larger loans
The company above is one of Credible’s approved partner lenders. Because they compete for your business through Credible, you can request prequalified rates from them by filling out a single form. Then, you can compare your available options side-by-side. Requesting prequalified rates is free and doesn’t affect your credit score. Credible receives compensation if you close a loan with one of our partner lenders. The rates you receive and the fees you pay (if any) are not impacted by this compensation.
About Rates and Terms: Rates for personal loans provided by lenders on the Credible platform range between 4.99-35.99% APR with terms from 12 to 84 months. Rates presented include lender discounts for enrolling in autopay and loyalty programs, where applicable. Actual rates may be different from the rates advertised and/or shown and will be based on the lender’s eligibility criteria, which include factors such as credit score, loan amount, loan term, credit usage and history, and vary based on loan purpose. The lowest rates available typically require excellent credit, and for some lenders, may be reserved for specific loan purposes and/or shorter loan terms. The origination fee charged by the lenders on our platform ranges from 0% to 8%. Each lender has their own qualification criteria with respect to their autopay and loyalty discounts (e.g., some lenders require the borrower to elect autopay prior to loan funding in order to qualify for the autopay discount). All rates are determined by the lender and must be agreed upon between the borrower and the borrower’s chosen lender. For a loan of $10,000 with a three year repayment period, an interest rate of 7.99%, a $350 origination fee and an APR of 11.51%, the borrower will receive $9,650 at the time of loan funding and will make 36 monthly payments of $313.32. Assuming all on-time payments, and full performance of all terms and conditions of the loan contract and any discount programs enrolled in included in the APR/interest rate throughout the life of the loan, the borrower will pay a total of $11,279.43. As of March 12, 2019, none of the lenders on our platform require a down payment nor do they charge any prepayment penalties.
