How To Get A Personal Loan From An Online Bank

Even the most prepared and responsible savers can’t predict everything.

Emergencies happen. When you need access to money quickly and your credit card limit isn’t enough, personal loans can help you finance large purchases — often at lower interest rates. 

Here are some steps to take towards finding a personal loan:

Check Your Credit Score

Thanks to the Fair Credit Report Act, once every twelve months you can ask for a free credit report from each of the top three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Each might calculate your score a little differently, but they take into account the same major factors:

• Have you made regular on-time payments in the past?

• How much do you currently owe in total?

• How long have you had a line of credit?

• How many different types of credit (student loans, credit cards, auto loans, mortgages) do you have?

• How many accounts have you made inquiries about?

Knowing your credit score will help you determine whether or not your loan application is likely to be approved. While some providers offer loans to people with lower credit scores, they will likely have higher interest rates.

Search For Available Offers

Personal loans are simple: lenders offer you a certain amount and you pay it back over time in fixed monthly installations. 

Often personal loans come with lower annual percentage rates (APRs) than many credit cards, but you should do some research on the best available rate for someone with your credit score. Fiona makes it easy, gathering personal loan offers from top providers and matching you with the best real-time offers in less than a minute.

Fiona offers you pre-approved offers to take the stress out of the application process, and help you find the offers that give you the financial relief you need. 

Get matched with personal loan offers below! 

Select The Provider With The Best Offer For You

Compare personal loan offers to see how they’ll fit into your overall budget and how much interest you’ll also have to pay. Traditionally, personal loan terms can be as short as six months or up to five years. While higher monthly payments might sting, they can also shorten the overall term of a loan and save you money on interest in the long run.

Fill Out An Application

While a few brick-and-mortar banks still require you to show up in person to sign the paperwork, Fiona matches you with top providers through a fully digital experience. Once on the application page, the provider might ask for your current employment information, income, Social Security number and other relevant information that help loan providers assess whether or not you’re a good fit. 

Making an inquiry on a new loan will temporarily bring down your credit score. Applications trigger a hard pull on your background and will appear on your credit history. But don’t worry — as long as you’re not putting in too many applications in a year, your credit score will naturally return to normal.

A search engine like Fiona will only perform a soft pull on your credit score, so you can get matched with pre-approved personal loan offers—before submitting your application.

Get Approved

If you’ve made it to the approval stage, congratulations! The next step is staying on top of your monthly payments and looking towards the future.