Best Personal Loans for Good Credit

What is a personal loan for good credit?

A personal loan gives you a lump sum of money which can range from $1,000 to $50,000. Having good credit often means you’ll get lower annual percentage rates and better terms on personal loans. Personal loans for good credit are usually unsecured – in other words, you’re not required to put up collateral like your savings, car, or home. Instead, lenders evaluate your ability to repay by looking at things like your credit, income, and any existing debt.

What is considered a good credit score?

That depends on which score you’re looking at. A good credit score is:

• 670 – 739 for FICO
• 661 – 780 for VantageScore

Can you get a personal loan with good credit?

A good credit score puts you in good standing to secure a personal loan. You’ll be able to get average-to-good rates and borrow more (depending on your income), though it does depend on your current credit utilization. Credit utilization is how much of the available credit you have in total you’ve used.

For example, if you have $10,000 credit available across all your credit cards, and you’ve only got a balance totaling $1,000, your credit utilization is 10%. It’s recommended to keep your utilization close to 30%. If your utilization is high, especially in tandem with your income, you may struggle to secure an additional loan.

What are the best personal loans for borrowers with good credit?

Here are a few examples of some well-known lenders and their personal loan rates for those with good credit:

Marcus by Goldman Sachs’ current APR range is 6.99%–19.99% with autopay over 3 to 6 years. Their loan amount ranges from $3,500–$40,000

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

✔ Funding: Borrow $3,500 - $40,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 660
✔ APR: 6.99-19.99%
✔ Loan term: 3 - 6 years
✔ Funding turnaround: typically within one week

Marcus offers loans that are best for debt consolidation and has attractive customizable loan repayment options. While funding may take up to a week, there are no hidden fees and you may obtain competitive interest rates.

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SoFi’s current APR range is 4.99%–19.63% with autopay. Their loan amount ranges from $5,000 and $100,000 and borrowers must have a minimum credit score of 680

SoFi

✔ Funding: Borrow $5,000 - $100,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 680
✔ APR: 4.99% to 19.53%
✔ Loan term: 2 - 7 years
✔ Funding turnaround: 1 - 3 business days

With SoFi personal loans, borrowers can get access to up to $100,000 with APR starting as low as 4.99% with extra bonus perks ($500 for each funded loan) and fast turnaround time. 24/7 customer support available.

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Lightstream’s current APR range is 2.49%–19.99% with autopay for loans between $5,000 and $100,000

LightStream

✔ Funding: Borrow $5,000 - $100,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 660
✔ APR: 2.49% - 19.99%
✔ Loan term: 2 - 7 years
✔ Funding turnaround: as soon as same business day

LightStream offers up to $100k personal loans as soon as same business day without origination fees and easy to use mobile app.

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Discover’s current APR range is 6.99%–24.99%. They provide loans from $2,500 to $35,000 for borrowers with a minimum credit score of 660 with a range of repayment terms

Discover

✔ Funding: Borrow $2,500 - $35,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 660
✔ APR: 5.99% - 24.99%
✔ Loan term: 3 - 7 years
✔ Funding turnaround: within 24 hours

With Discover personal loans, borrowers can apply up to $35K in funding as fast as next business day. Best for those who want to consolidate debt and have a good credit score.

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You can expect to get a rate of 5-20%, though there are some exceptions.

What are the pros and cons of personal loans for good credit?

PROS

• It’s flexible: some loans, like motor and mortgage loans, can only be used for specific purposes. You can use personal loans for many purposes, whether you need to pay off a medical bill or cover a major purchase. The main draw here is that you can use the money how you like without becoming locked into how you use it.
• Personal loans often incur a lower interest rate than credit cards. As of February this year, the average personal loan rate was as low as 11.84 percent, whereas the average credit card rate was 04 percent. If you have an excellent credit history, you may qualify for personal loan rates between six and eight percent.
• Personal loans are easier to manage than a few credit cards with different interest rates and payment due dates. If you qualify for a personal loan with a lower interest rate than your credit cards, you can streamline your monthly payments and save some money in the process.
• You’ll pay off the loan in the defined timeframe – one of the biggest pros of a personal loan is if your terms are to pay it off in 5 years, you will pay it off in 5 years. Credit cards can quickly become a trap of paying off and reusing, so you’re never out of debt, but personal loans ensure you pay it off.
• You know exactly what it’s going to cost you – you know upfront how much the loan will cost you over the lifetime of the loan.

CONS

• You don’t have payment flexibility ­– the pro and con of a credit card is you can choose what to pay above the minimum, and the minimum payment is usually affordable (unless you’ve got yourself into some trouble). A personal loan has a fixed fee, which if you’ve stretched yourself financially for the loan, can be a lot of money to find when you need it.
• You need to be strict if you consolidate debt – using a personal loan to consolidate credit card debt can be the key to getting debt-free in the future, but only if you put those credit cards somewhere you can’t access them. Many people end up using credit cards again and dig themselves deep into debt.
• Personal loans sometimes involve fees and penalties, such as origination fees of one to six percent of the total loan amount. These fees cover loan processing and can be included in the loan total or subtracted from the amount you get as the borrower. Surprisingly, certain lenders also charge prepayment penalties if you pay off the full balance before your loan term ends.

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