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Best For Discounts on Personal Loans
3.9
Best For Discounts on Personal Loans
3.9
Fast Facts
- Minimum credit score: No minimum is publicly disclosed
- Loan amounts: $1,000 to $50,000
- Loan terms: Up to 7 years
- Rates: Starting at 9.99%
- Speedy funding: Funds available as soon as one business day
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Receive funding within one business day
- Prequalification available
- Joint applications allowed
Cons
- Origination fees range from 1.85%-10%
- Charges $10 for late fees, returned payment fees, and insufficient funds fees
Usage Rules
You cannot use an Upgrade personal loan for any of the following:
- Education expenses, including college tuition, supplies and room and board
- Investments and gambling
You can use an Upgrade personal loan for any of the following:
- Debt consolidation, including credit card debt and paying off high-interest debt
- Home improvement
- Covering a large purchase such as a wedding or an adoption
Our Thoughts on Upgrade Personal Loans
MarketWatch Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
With a low minimum borrowing amount of $1,000, Upgrade offers personal loans that fit the needs of many in need of a loan, especially those with bad credit. Once approved for an Upgrade personal loan, borrowers can expect funds to hit their account within one business day.
While there are a few fees — including an origination fee, late fee and returned payment fee — the plethora of discounts from Upgrade might offset those extra costs. It’s one of the few lenders we’ve evaluated that offers cash back when you sign up for other accounts or features.
Pros and Cons of Upgrade Personal Loans
Like all personal loan lenders, Upgrade offers some benefits, as well as some downsides.
Pros
Long repayment terms: Depending on how much you borrow, you can take up to seven years to repay your loan.
Joint applications allowed: If you don’t qualify for an Upgrade loan on your own, you can apply with someone else as a cosigner.
Prequalification available: You can see if you’re eligible for a loan through prequalification, or a soft credit check, which doesn’t impact your credit report or credit score.
Speedy funding: After approval, you can receive funds into your account within one business day.
Cons
Costly origination fee: You could pay an origination fee anywhere from 1.85% to almost 10%, which cuts into the total amount you’ll receive from Upgrade. However, this is often offset by a lower interest rate than you’d receive otherwise.
Other potential fees: You could pay a late fee or a returned payment fee for late or insufficient funds — both are $10 per instance.
High minimum interest: The lowest annual percentage rate (APR) available is higher than some other lenders we’ve evaluated. As of this writing, the Upgrade rates range from 9.99% to 35.99%. However, Upgrade tells MarketWatch Guides that its APRs are generally lower than competitors’ for any given customer profile.
Info from the Upgrade CEO
Renaud Laplanche
Upgrade CEO
While we view a high maximum interest rate as a drawback, Upgrade CEO Renaud Laplanche told MarketWatch Guides that he views it as a benefit. By having a higher maximum rate, the lender is able to offer loans to more customers, he said.
“The question you can ask yourself is this: For consumers who wouldn’t qualify for a rate below 30%, is it a better experience to be offered an interest of, say, 32% APR and make their own decision to either accept or reject the offer, or to be declined outright?” he said.
“We know that we generally have lower rates than other lenders. Upgrade has been the fastest-growing personal loan issuer in the U.S. in the last 6 years, which would have been impossible to achieve if our rates were worse than our competitors since pricing is a key decision criterion for consumers.”
Who Are Upgrade Personal Loans Best For
With so many different personal loan options available, it’s not always easy to figure out which one is the right choice. You might want to get an Upgrade personal loan if:
- You’re consolidating credit cards or managing debt consolidation
- You have a cosigner to help you qualify if you aren’t eligible on your own
- You don’t need to borrow much, but your loan amount is at least $1,000
- You’d prefer a loan with a fixed rate so you pay the same amount every month
- You qualify for enough deals and discounts — such as the autopay discount or opening a checking account with Upgrade — to offset the cost of the high origination fee
You may want to consider other personal loan options if:
- You only need a couple hundred dollars and otherwise aren’t eligible for an Upgrade personal loan
How To Get an Upgrade Personal Loan
The first step to getting a loan with Upgrade is to get prequalified, which will result in a soft credit inquiry. Getting prequalified is less involved than getting preapproved. Although it does not guarantee that you’ll get approved, it will not affect your credit, so it’s a great starting point.
Application Process
After you go through prequalification and Upgrade determines your eligibility, you’ll then start the application process. Gather important documents such as W-2s, pay stubs, tax returns and any other required paperwork.
You can preview different loan offers and select the one that best fits your needs. Pick one that fits your finances so you know you can comfortably make payments. When you complete your application, you’ll get a hard credit inquiry, which causes your credit score to take a temporary dip. But it should rebound after you make on-time payments for a few months.
Approval and Funding
You’ll know almost immediately if you’ve been approved for an Upgrade personal loan. After approval, accept your loan terms and set up banking information so funds can be disbursed into your bank account. You should receive your funds within one business day of setting up your verifiable bank account information. In some cases, it could take a few days for funds to get disbursed.
Upgrade Personal Loans Reviews
Based on nearly 3,000 reviews, Upgrade has a 4.49 out of 5 customer review rating on the Better Business Bureau (BBB). It also has an A+ rating from the BBB, which is based on the company’s business practices and history, not consumer reviews.
Most borrowers seem to be happy with their experiences, noting how fast funding is and how easy the process is. Here are some recent reviews from the BBB and Trustpilot.
The application process was easy, however it was not FAST. Things moved much quicker when I made the phone calls and pushed things along. Once the loan was approved the deposit was almost immediate!!
— Armand M, Aug. 11, 2023, BBB
The application process was unbelievably easy and gave many loan amounts with different payments to fit my monthly budget. The approval process took less than 10 minutes. I’m finally able to consolidate my high interest credit cards and be debt free in 3 years. I’m extremely thankful I found them.
— Vanessa P, Aug. 29 2023, BBB
Some things are really easy, some are really hard, getting help is not so easy especially when you only have a cell phone, customer service could be a little more helpful, especially for seniors and disabled people
— Nadine H, July 16, 2023, Trustpilot
Upgrade CEO Laplanche called the negative reviews “anecdotal,” and said that the speed of Upgrade’s funding, customer service, and ease of use have not been a major area of complaint.
“These are actually three strong suits of the product and our company and often get mentioned by our customers as positives in their reviews,” he told MarketWatch Guides.
Eligibility Requirements for Upgrade Personal Loans
Before you complete a full application, make sure you’re eligible for an Upgrade personal loan.
Credit Score and Financial History
You can have a poor or fair credit score and still qualify for an Upgrade personal loan. While Upgrade doesn’t publicly list its minimum credit score requirements, the higher your credit score, the more likely you are to qualify for a personal loan. Your credit history is one factor in approval, but not the only one.
Upgrade could ask you for some income-specific documents, which include but aren’t limited to bank statements, W-2s, tax returns, pay stubs or other verifiable documents to prove your income or financial history.
Income and Employment
To make sure you’ll responsibly repay your loan, Upgrade will ask you to prove your work status. This could include providing your employer’s name, phone number and when you were hired.
Citizenship and Residency
Upgrade personal loans are available in all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C.:
Upgrade Personal Loans Usage Rules
You can use an Upgrade personal loan for many things, including:
- Debt consolidation, including credit card debt and paying off high-interest debt
- Home improvement, home repairs, renovations or upgrades
- Covering a large purchase such as a wedding or an adoption
But there are some things you can’t use Upgrade for, such as:
- Education expenses, including college tuition, supplies and room and board
- Investments and gambling
- Anything illegal
Upgrade Personal Loans Fees and Penalties
One of the biggest drawbacks of Upgrade are the fees it charges, which can impact your budget and repayment strategy.
Loan Origination Fees
Upgrade charges an origination fee to anyone who gets a loan. This ranges from 1.85% to 9.99%, depending on your credit score, credit history, how much you borrow and other factors. It also charges late payment fees and returned payment fees — both are $10 for every occurrence.
While we prefer lenders that don’t charge origination fees, Upgrade CEO Laplanche said most customers don’t mind. Because Upgrade charges a fee, it is able to offer lower rates than it would otherwise, he said.
“Some lenders choose to offer higher rates and lower origination fees, while others, like Upgrade, do the opposite,” Laplanche told MarketWatch Guides. “We disagree with the notion that we have higher pricing than the competition, and our growth demonstrates this.”
>> Related: Learn more about loan origination fees
Early Repayment Penalties
Upgrade doesn’t charge prepayment fees or early repayment penalties. You can pay off your loan earlier than your repayment terms require without it hurting your loan payments or payoff plan.
How Upgrade Compares to Other Lenders
Upgrade is one of many personal loan lenders. Here’s how it stacks up against comparable loan offerings.
Upgrade vs. LightStream
LightStream doesn’t charge any fees, including origination fees, late fees or prepayment penalties. LightStream targets borrowers with good or excellent credit, while Upgrade is typically best for borrowers who have less-than-stellar credit.
>> Related: Learn more about LightStream personal loans
Upgrade vs. SoFi
SoFi also doesn’t charge any fees, whereas Upgrade does. SoFi has a slightly higher maximum APR than Upgrade but requires borrowers to have decent credit to qualify for a loan. You can also borrow more with SoFi — an upwards of $100,000. Upgrade caps your loan amount at $50,000, depending on what you’re approved for.
>> Related: Learn more about SoFi personal loans
Upgrade vs. PenFed
PenFed Credit Union offers some of the best interest rates among the personal loan lenders we evaluated. You can get shorter loan repayment terms — as little as one year. But it could take you longer to receive your funds, ranging from one to two business days. PenFed doesn’t charge any fees and you could qualify for a PenFed loan with fair credit.
The Bottom Line
Upgrade is one of the leading personal loan lenders out there. With a comparably low threshold to qualify, Upgrade would be a good option for many borrowers. But the fees might be a cause for concern. If the interest rate and additional fees are too high, consider looking elsewhere for a personal loan.
>> Related: Learn more about the best online personal loans
How We Rated Upgrade Personal Loans
Our team put together a comprehensive 100-point rating system to evaluate personal loan companies based on factors that mean the most to you, the potential borrower. We then gathered scores of data points from across the industry, analyzing disclosures, licensing documents, sample loan agreements, marketing materials and websites for more than two dozen of the most prominent personal loan companies in the United States.
Our rating system takes into account four broad categories. Here’s a brief breakdown of each one.
- Affordability (35%): We gauge how expensive each company’s loans are to pay back, taking into account both interest rates and fees. The highest-scoring lenders will have low minimum and maximum annual percentage rates (APRs) and low or no origination fees.
- Loan features (35%): This category measures the breadth of loan terms available to prospective customers. The most points go to lenders with a wide range of loan lengths, small minimum loans, large maximum loans, and fast funding.
- Customer experience (20%): We review each company’s application, prequalification and customer service policies and procedures to create this category score. The best companies will have simple online applications and multiple ways for customers to get their problems solved.
- Company reputation (10%): Our team analyzes each company’s BBB file, customer reviews and any outstanding regulatory actions. The most points will go to companies with an A+ rating with the BBB, a track record of addressing customer complaints and no active regulatory orders.
| Affordability | 22/35 |
|---|---|
| Loan features | 28/35 |
| Customer experience | 18/20 |
| Company reputation | 10/10 |
| Total | 78/100 |
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This rating system is intended to give readers a comprehensive overview of each personal loan company. However, our top-rated lenders may not be the best fit for all borrowers. To learn more, you can read our full personal loans methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions About Upgrade Personal Loans
Yes, Upgrade is a legitimate personal loan company. Upgrade has a 4.5/5 rating on Trustpilot with almost 40,000 customer ratings. It also has an A+ rating from the BBB.
Upgrade doesn’t publicly disclose its minimum credit score requirements. You should be able to qualify for an Upgrade loan with fair or even poor credit. But keep in mind that the lower your credit score, the higher your interest rate will be. The higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate.
You should know almost immediately if you’ve been approved for an Upgrade loan. Once approved, you’ll learn about repayment terms, including your proposed monthly payment, interest rate and first due date. After you accept your loan terms, set up your banking information to get funds disbursed into your account and set up autopay so you never miss a payment.
To get approved for an Upgrade loan, you’ll need to be at least 18 years of age, a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or live in the U.S. with a valid visa. Additionally, you’ll need a verifiable bank account and email address. You’ll need to meet the minimum borrower requirements by borrowing at least $1,000. Upgrade will review your credit score and history when evaluating your loan application, but doesn’t require good credit to qualify for a personal loan.
Learn More About Upgrade
See how Upgrade stands out in our roundups of the best financial institutions and personal loans available today:
- #2 on Best Loans for Bad Credit
- #2 on Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
- #2 on Best Installment Loans for Bad Credit
- #2 on Best Short-Term Loans for Bad Credit
- #5 on Best Joint Personal Loans
- #5 on Best Personal Loans with a Co-Signer
- #7 on Best Personal Loans
- #7 on Best Debt Consolidation Loans
- #7 on Best Fast Personal Loans
- #7 on Best Unsecured Personal Loans
- #7 on Best Low-Interest Personal Loans
- #7 on Best Online Personal Loans
- #7 on Best Personal Loan Rates
- #7 on Best Personal Loans for Good Credit
- #7 on Best Emergency Loans
- #7 on Easiest Personal Loans To Get
- #8 on Best Personal Loans for Veterans
Editor’s Note: Before making significant financial decisions, consider reviewing your options with someoneyou trust, such as a financial adviser, credit counselor or financial professional, since every person’s situation and needs are different.
If you have feedback or questions about this article, please email the MarketWatch Guides team at [email protected].
