Tier list for Personal Loans. Detailed Review and Ranking of 14 Personal Loan Lenders.
We have spent years in the lending industry and we track dozens of the most popular lenders. Today, I am going to pull all that information together to give you the ultimate personal loan tier list. In order to put these lenders into tiers, I looked at the APRs, loan amounts, fees, offered discounts, and features. I also included anything that might be unusual for a particular lender.
This is a list of lenders for people with fair-to-excellent credit scores. If you have damaged or poor credit, you might struggle to be approved by any of these lenders. I made this list for people who are looking for a personal loan and have a reasonable expectation of being approved for what they need. Given that situation, which lenders are the best out there…and why?
S-Tier For Personal Loans
Sofi: Sofi lends between $5,000 and $100,000. Their top APR is a little higher than some of the other lenders on this list. One important thing about them is that they don’t charge an origination fee or late fees. They do offer a discount for autopay and one for being a SoFi bank customer. They will even pay off your other loans if you are using them for debt consolidation. If you want to strengthen you application, they allow you to include a cosigner. I am putting Sofi in the S-tier because of their no fees and loan features. The only thing that gave me pause was the fact that their APRs stretch a little higher than many on this list.
Citibank: Citibank it a great overall option. Their highest APR is less than 20% (19.49%) which is really good in this day and age. I like how they don’t have any origination fees or late fees. They offer a couple of discounts for signing up for autopay and another one if you are already a Citi customer. They will pay off your other debts for you if you are consolidating, but they won’t let you strengthen your application with a cosigner. They will lend as little as $2,000 and their maximum loan amount is $30,000. They could increase your interest rate if you default on a payment. I put Citibank in the S-tier. I do worry a little bit about what can trigger that the interest rate can change.
LightStream: Lightstream’s got pretty standard APRs and don’t charge any origination fees or late fees. They give you an interest rate discount if you sign up for autopay. They also let you strengthen your application with a coapplicant. But, if you are using the loan to consolidate other debt, they won’t pay off your other debts for you. They won’t lend less than $5,000 and their maximum loan amount is a whopping $100,000. That probably explains why their longest term is 12 years. No matter what your loan amount is, that’s a long time to be paying interest. You would want to make as many extra payments in the first year as you possibly can. Lightstream belongs in the S-tier even though there are a couple of features that I would love to see them implement.
A-Tier For Personal Loans
Penfed: Penfed is a credit union and so their APRs are pretty low. They are also one of the few lenders on this list that will lend amounts as small as $500. That makes them a good option if you just need short-term liquidity. If you miss a payment, they will hit you with a higher-than-average late fee. If you need to strengthen your application, they will accept cosigners. I don’t love the late fee, but I like the fact that Penfed might be one of the few places for people looking for just a little money. They are a solid A-tier lender and probably one good feature away from being S-tier.
Navy Federal CU: As a credit union, Navy Federal Credit Union offers one of the lowest top annual percentage rates (18%). They don’t charge an origination fee, but they will hit you with a fee when a payment is late. You can strengthen your application with a cosigner or putting up some collateral. If you are using the loan to consolidate other debt, they won’t pay off your other creditors directly. NFCU will actually lend as little as $250, so they are a great option to help you fill short-term problems. The one big sticking point is that you have to be a member of the credit union to apply. Membership is only open to members of the armed forces, veterans, employees of the Department of Defense, or family members of any of these groups. They are a really good option, but I am going to put them in the A-tier because of their late fees and membership restrictions.
USAA: USAA have very competitive APRs and provides loans as small as $1,000 and as much as $100,000. They don’t charge an origination fee and will give you a small interest rate discount if you sign up for autopay. They will charge a fee if you are late on your payment. If you need to strengthen you application, they allow you to add a cosigner. If you are going to use the loan for consolidation, they will not pay off your other debts for you. In order to apply, you must be a qualifying USAA member, which means you need to be an active members of the military, veteran, Department of Defense employee, or a family member of someone in one of those groups. USAA is a really respected company and customers love them, but the membership restriction, late fees, and the fact that they don’t offer to pay off your other debts keeps me from putting them in the S-tier.
Upgrade: Upgrade will lend to people with fair credit and claim to even lend down to 620 on the credit score band. While their lowest APR is competitive, their highest is 35.99%. They will lend as little as $1000, which is good if you just need a little bit of money. They do charge an origination fee that could be as high as 10%, which is quite high. If you need to strengthen your application, they will accept collateral or a cosigner. They do charge a late fee and a failed payment fee. I must admit that I figure if you’re going to get it with one of those fees, you’re likely to get hit with both of them. They will pay your creditors directly if you are using the loan for debt consolidation. And they offer a few different discounts that can help to lower the interest rate. Upgrade has a couple of negatives, but they also have more features than most, so, I am going to put Upgrade in the A-tier.
B-Tier For Personal Loans
Happy Money: Happy Money is a bit unique because they are a network of banks and credit unions that lend under the Happy Money brand. They can have competitive APRs with the top rate being just under 18%. They do have a meaningful origination fee. But, they don’t charge any late fees. They will pay off your other debts for you if you are using them for debt consolidation. They do not accept cosigners. And it might take a few more days to get approved compared to others on this list. Overall, they are a solid B-tier lender.
Best Egg: Best Egg will lend to people with fair credit, which means that their APRs can stretch all the way up to 35.99%. They will lend only $2,000 if you only need a little money. One potential downside is that they have an origination fee that can be as high as 9%. That can be especially painful if you plan to pay off your loan early because you won’t be reimbursed for it. If you need a little extra help to be approved, they do offer a secured version of their loan, but they won’t let you add a cosigner. If you plan on using the loan for consolidation, they will pay off your other debts for you. I am going to put Best Egg in the B-tier. They don’t have a lot of negatives, but they also don’t have many of the positive features I’d like to see.
Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo offers loans between $3,000 and $100,000 with pretty standard APRs. They don’t charge origination fees, but they charge one of the highest late payment fees in the business. If you’re going to use the loan for consolidation, they will pay off your other debts for you and they also accept cosigners. The real downside to Wells Fargo is that you have to have an open Wells Fargo account for at least 12 months to apply. Wells Fargo offers some good features, but they have a high late fee and the fact that they restrict their loans to current customers means I am going to stick them in the B-tier.
C-Tier For Personal Loans
Discover: Discover has some pretty standard APRs for personal loans. They don’t charge an origination fee on their loans, but they have one of the highest late fees I’ve seen for any lender. They will pay off your other debts for you if you are consolidating, but you can’t consolidate Discover Card balances. They also won’t let you include a cosigner to strengthen your application. They do have a mobile app that can make managing your loan pretty slick. I am going to put Discover in the D-tier because of the lack of features, high late fee, and the exclusions for debt consolidation.
Truist: Truit has all the hallmarks of a good personal loan from a bank for people with good to excellent credit with a low APR range. The only thing is that its hard to do research upfront because they don’t offer the details. I don’t love their lack of transparency and I refuse to rank them too high. I just can’t be sure what their maximum loan amount is, what term length they offer, whether they charge late fees, or if they will accept a cosigner on your application. I think they expect you to talk with a loan officer which will tailor a loan for you…but, again, I’m not even sure of that. Sorry, Truist, you don’t just get the benefit of the doubt. If I can’t figure out what your policies are, I can only assume they aren’t great. So, I can’t put you any higher than the C-tier.
D-Tier For Personal Loans
Rocket Loans: Rocket Loans will lend to people with fair credit and their top APR is a bit higher than others on this list. I don’t love the fact that they have an origination fee that can be as high as 9%. They also charge a fairly reasonable $15 late fee, but that could be compounded with a bounced check fee. They also don’t offer the option of paying off your loans for you if you are consolidating credit. And they won’t accept cosigners on the loan. So, if you need a little help getting approved, you’re on your own. Rocket Loans isn’t a bad company, but I am going to put it in the D-tier because they have a couple of negatives and not very many off-setting positives.
Axos: Axos has an okay APR range. They do have a modest origination fee. If you’re late on your payment they will hit you with a late fee and maybe even a return payment fee if you are signed up for ACH, so you could get hit with a $35 whammy. They won’t pay off your other creditors if you are consolidating debt and it’s not clear whether they will accept cosigners on your application. They only lend to people with FICO scores above 730 and won’t lend less than $7,000. So, it’s not an all-purpose loan. Axos is just a middle-of-the-road kind of lender that have fees and few features. That might be okay in other industries, but there are too many companies that offer more. So, they’re going in the D-tier.
None of these companies are bad, but some of them have certainly tried harder than others to be customer-centric. But, of course, one of the biggest factors in whether the loan will be good for you is what APR they offer you. That’s why you shouldn’t just apply to the top lender on this list and be done with it. You really need to shop around and make sure you’re getting the best deal you can. At The Yukon Project, we’ve tried to make shopping around easy. If you go to our marketplace page, you can apply to any one of our featured lenders and we will check your rate with up to 40 other lenders behind the scenes. Our partners do a soft credit check initially, so applying won’t hurt your credit score. We will show you all the approvals so you can pick the right offer for you.
What do you guys think? Do you think I put any of these brands in the wrong tier? Leave a comment below and let us know how you might rank them differently and why. And if you have any specific experience with any of these brands, tell us how it went so others can benefit from your experience.
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