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Easiest personal loans to get
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Borrowing money can be challenging amid today’s elevated interest rates, which have made it more expensive to finance a home, car and everyday purchases. Persistent inflation has kept interest rates high over the past couple of years, with prices rising nearly 17% from 2021 to 2023.
Fortunately, inflation is beginning to cool, and interest rates are starting to drop on various loans, including personal loans. These loans provide a large lump-sum payment you can use to consolidate debt, improve your home or for nearly any other purpose. Personal loans typically come with lower interest rates than other credit options, like credit cards, and also carry fixed interest rates and monthly payments that make it easy to budget.
Like other loans, qualifying for a personal loan may depend on your credit, income and a host of other factors. If you’re looking for a personal loan you qualify for, it’s important to know where to start and what objectives you aim to achieve. Here are our picks for the best personal loans for different scenarios.
Start comparing your top personal loan options online now.
Easiest personal loans to get
To help you get started, we’ve listed some easiest personal loans to get, broken down into six categories.
Best overall: SoFi
SoFi is our choice for the best overall personal loan lender because of its solid mix of valuable features. It provides loans big and small up to $100,000 with fixed repayment terms ranging from two to seven years. Loans come with low interest rates between 8.99% and 29.99% (including rate discounts).
SoFi also checks the no fees box, with no origination or late fees and no penalty for paying off your loan early. SoFi personal loans could also be a good option if you need fast funding. The lender claims 82% of typical SoFi personal loan applications signed before 7 p.m. EST on a business day were funded the same day. You could also have SoFi pay your credit card lenders for you and receive a 0.25% discount.
Learn more about SoFi personal loans here.
Best for good credit borrowers: LightStream
LightStream transparently states on its website it only approves “good-to-excellent credit profiles.” According to FICO credit score ranges, the “good” credit score range begins at 670, so your credit score should generally be at least that or higher to qualify. Of course, higher credit scores improve your approval odds and chances of receiving the best interest rates.
LightStream’s APR on personal loans starts at 8.49%, which includes a 0.50% discount if you enroll in automatic payments before the funding of your loan. Personal loan amounts range from $5,000 to $100,000.
Learn more about LightStream personal loans here.
Best for bad or low credit borrowers: Upstart
If you’re looking for a personal loan but your credit score is less than ideal, you might consider a personal loan from Upstart. The online lender claims its model differs from the traditional one by considering education, employment and other factors in addition to credit to determine your eligibility.
You may qualify for a loan between $1,000 and $50,000 with a fixed rate ranging from 7.8% to 35.99 APR. Your payment will remain the same during your three- or five-year repayment term, and you can pay off your loan early without incurring a prepayment penalty.
Best for low rates: Discover
Discover Bank offers personal loans with competitive rates ranging from 7.99% to 24.99% on loans between $2,500 and $40,000. Use the funds to consolidate debt, renovate your home or for virtually any other purpose and pay back the funds in terms from three to seven years.
Be careful when comparing lender rates on personal loans, as many offset low APRs with high fees. However, Discover personal loans don’t charge upfront fees as long as you submit your payments on time. If approved, Discover may fund your loan as soon as the next business day.
Best for low or no fees: PenFed
While low rates are a prime consideration for any loan, so too are low or no fees. Consider that many personal loans include an origination fee ranging from 1% to 5% of the loan amount. That means a $20,000 personal loan with a 5% origination fee would cost you $1,000 in addition to your interest charges.
PenFed personal loans have no such origination fees, helping you save money upfront. You also won’t incur a prepayment penalty if you pay off your loan before its term ends. Loan rates start at 8.99% on loans up to $50,000 with next-day funding available. It’s worth noting, PenFed has a 4.2 TrustPilot rating with nearly 1,500 reviews.
Best for fast funding: U.S. Bank
U.S. Bank offers unsecured personal loans with a strong balance of competitive rates — which start at 8.74% — and valuable features. This includes fast funding, often within one business day of approval, but it could take up to four days depending on your circumstances.
If you want a personal loan from U.S. Bank, opening one of the bank’s checking or savings account first could be wise, as existing customers may qualify for larger loan amounts and longer repayment terms. Loan amounts range from $1,000 to $50,000 (or $25,000 if you’re not an existing account holder). Similarly, you can choose a loan term from one to seven years (maximum five-year term for non-customers). U.S. Bank doesn’t charge an origination fee or prepayment penalty on its personal loans.
The bottom line
Personal loans can be valuable tools to access cash for a wide variety of purposes, but other affordable lending options may be worth considering. If you want to consolidate debt, a 0% introductory APR balance transfer credit card can help you pay down debt interest-free for a period of up to 21 months. Bear in mind that this option includes a balance transfer fee — usually 3% or 5% of the transfer amount. Home equity loans and HELOCs can also help you tap into your home’s equity for cash at lower interest rates. Be aware, however, that these mortgage options require you to secure the loan with your home, meaning you could be putting it at risk if you default.
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Interest rates are heading down again, according to the Federal Reserve. On Thursday, the Fed issued another cut to its federal funds rate, the second in the last three months. Now at a range between 4.50% and 4.75%, the rate is down 75 basis points from where it was in early September and it could fall further again when the Fed meets for the final time in 2024 on December 17.
While these cuts will reduce what savers can earn with high-yield savings and certificates of deposit accounts (CDs), they will help borrowers who have been contending with higher rates on a variety of loan products. For those who are considering accessing their home equity now, or for those who already have a home equity line of credit (HELOC), this can be particularly advantageous. So what does the new Fed rate cut mean for HELOC interest rates? That’s what we’ll break down below.
See how low of a HELOC interest rate you’d qualify for here.
What the Fed rate cut means for HELOC interest rates
In short: The latest Fed rate cut is good news for HELOC interest rates and for those borrowers who have already decided to access their home equity with the line of credit. That’s because HELOC rates tend to follow the Fed more closely than other products. Mortgage rates, for example, influenced by factors like the 10-year Treasury yield, have not dropped as significantly as home equity loan rates have in recent months. But home equity rates more closely match the path that the federal funds rate takes, so if that’s declining HELOC rates will, too.
This can be seen clearly because HELOC rates change daily and are variable, meaning that the HELOC rate you saw listed on lender websites early this week is likely lower now and could be even lower next week. With an additional cut in December pegged at an almost 65% likelihood by the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, rates on HELOCs could fall further still. And if that likelihood increases based on additional economic considerations, lenders may start pricing in that reduction in advance of it being formally issued.
This is all positive news for both those who have yet to apply for a HELOC and for those who already have one. Since HELOC rates change monthly, current borrowers will likely see reductions in their upcoming payments and, unlike home equity loans, they won’t need to refinance to secure the lower, prevailing rate as HELOCs adjust independently with no action required on behalf of the borrower. For all of these reasons, then, and with the average amount of home equity particularly high currently, right now is a great time to open a HELOC.
What about home equity loan rates?
Home equity loan rates will also fall with this latest Fed cut, but it’s unlikely to be by the same increment the federal funds rate was cut by. Still, home equity loan rates are slightly lower than HELOCs now (8.41% versus the HELOC’s average of 8.70%). And home equity loan rates are fixed, meaning borrowers who take out a loan now won’t have to worry about any future rate volatility. At the same time, they won’t be able to capitalize on any additional rate cuts that are issued, either. So borrowers will need to weigh the risks of waiting versus the low rate they can lock in now to determine which is the best option for their unique financial situation.
The bottom line
A Fed rate cut, even in a small amount, is good news for all types of borrowers, but particularly for those who have or are considering a HELOC. Still, it’s critical to remember that rates on home equity products are lower than most alternatives because the home in question serves as collateral – and you could lose it if you don’t repay all that you’ve withdrawn. So go into the home equity borrowing situation clear-eyed and focused to avoid overborrowing from one of your most critical assets.
Have more HELOC questions? Learn more here now.
