Upgrade Personal Loans: 2024 Review - NerdWallet (2024)

Pros

• Multiple rate discounts.
• Secured and joint loans.
• Mobile app to manage loan payments.
• Direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
• Long repayment terms on home improvement loans.

Cons

• Origination fee.
• No option to choose initial payment date.

Upgrade loans at a glance

Where Upgrade personal loans stand out and fall short

Do you qualify for an Upgrade personal loan?

How to apply for an Upgrade personal loan

How Upgrade personal loans compare

How we rate Upgrade personal loans

• Disclosure from Upgrade

  See Also

  Upgrade Personal Loans: 2023 Review

  Personal loans made through Upgrade feature Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) of 9.99%-35.99%. All personal loans have a 1.85% to 9.99% origination fee, which is deducted from the loan proceeds. Lowest rates require Autopay and paying off a portion of existing debt directly. Loans feature repayment terms of 24 to 84 months. For example, if you receive a $10,000 loan with a 36-month term and a 17.59% APR (which includes a 13.94% yearly interest rate and a 5% one-time origination fee), you would receive $9,500 in your account and would have a required monthly payment of $341.48. Over the life of the loan, your payments would total $12,293.46. The APR on your loan may be higher or lower and your loan offers may not have multiple term lengths available. Actual rate depends on credit score, credit usage history, loan term, and other factors. Late payments or subsequent charges and fees may increase the cost of your fixed rate loan. There is no fee or penalty for repaying a loan early. Personal loans issued by Upgrade's bank partners. Information on Upgrade's bank partners can be found at https://www.upgrade.com/bank-partners/.

• Autopay discount: The lender offers a 0.5 percentage point discount for setting up automatic loan payments. Some lenders offer an autopay discount between 0.25 and 0.5 percentage points. This is a low-effort way to lower your APR slightly.

• Direct pay discount: For debt consolidation, Upgrade offers a rate reduction of 1 to 3 percentage points when you have the lender pay off your debts directly. You must have at least half the loan funds sent to other creditors to get the discount. Not all lenders offer direct payment to creditors, which simplifies the consolidation process, and a discount for using the feature is unique.

• Rewards checking discount: Upgrade says customers with multiple Upgrade products (such as a checking account) may get up to 20% off of their personal loan rate. So if you qualify for a 30% APR, your rate could be as low as 24%.

» COMPARE: Best debt consolidation loans

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• U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or living in the U.S. on a valid visa.

• At least 18 years old in most states.

• A verifiable bank account.

• A valid email address.

• Minimum credit score: 560. Upgrade uses FICO score version 9 from TransUnion.

• Minimum number of accounts on credit history: One account.

• Minimum length of credit history: Two years.

• Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 75%, including mortgage and the loan you’re applying for.

• Minimum annual income: None; this lender accepts income from a partner, alimony, retirement, child support, Social Security payments and other sources.

• Average credit score: 672.

• Average annual income: $80,000.

• Average loan amount: $11,500.

• Average loan term: Five years.

• Most common loan purpose: Credit card refinancing and debt consolidation.

• Check your credit. You can get your free credit report on NerdWallet or at AnnualCreditReport.com. Doing so will help you spot and fix any errors before you apply.

• Calculate your monthly payments. Use a personal loan calculator to determine what APR and repayment term you’d need to get a loan with affordable monthly payments.

• Make a plan to repay the loan. Review your budget to see how the loan’s monthly payments impact your cash flow. If you have to cut other expenses in order to repay the loan, it’s better to know that before you borrow.

• Gather your documents. Upgrade may require proof of income, which can be a W-2, pay stubs or tax documents. Having these documents handy can speed the application process.

1. Pre-qualify on Upgrade’s website. Start by entering a loan amount and purpose on Upgrade’s website to get to the lender’s pre-qualify form. Next, choose a joint or individual application and provide basic information like your name, address, birth date and income. Finally, create an account with your email and a password and enter your Social Security number. There’s no hard credit inquiry at this stage.

2. Preview loan offers. Qualified borrowers are shown multiple offers, including loan amounts, rates, repayment terms and monthly payments. Choose the offer that fits your budget to start a formal personal loan application.

3. Finish applying. The application may require certain documents, like W-2s and pay stubs to confirm the information you gave during pre-qualification. Upgrade will also do a hard credit check when you apply, so your credit score will temporarily dip.

4. Get approved and receive your funds. It typically takes Upgrade one to a few business days to approve applications. The lender says it sends loan funds the day after approval. This process may take longer if you’re having Upgrade directly pay off other debts.

5. Make a plan to repay the loan. Upgrade reports payments to all three major credit bureaus, so on-time payments will help build your credit score, but missed payments will hurt it. Setting up automatic payments and keeping an eye on your budget are two ways to manage your loan payments.

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• Category definitions

  Affordability (25%)

  An affordable loan has low rates and fees compared to other similar loans and may offer rate discounts.

  Customer experience (20%)

  A good customer experience includes allowing borrowers to choose and change their repayment date, a fully online application process, a mobile app to manage the loan and a customer service team with wide availability.

  Underwriting and eligibility (20%)

  The lender reviews borrowers’ credit reports and credit history and tries to understand their ability to repay a loan. It offers loans in most states and doesn’t restrict eligibility by requiring a pre-existing relationship.

  Application process (20%)

  Borrowers can pre-qualify to check their potential rate, loan amount, repayment term and APR without affecting their credit score. They can easily find answers to questions about the personal loan on the lender’s website. The application process is fast enough to allow funding within a couple of days or less.

  Loan flexibility (15%)

  A flexible loan is one that offers a wide range of loan amounts and repayment term options. It includes common features like additional loan types and direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans.

  Discretionary

  A lender’s star rating can be reduced if the lender is sued by a state or federal regulator for unfair consumer practices or has been accused by a reputable source of suspicious business practices.

on Upgrade's website