LendingClub personal loans review: Good for fair credit borrowers, debt consolidation and more

LendingClub offers personal loans to borrowers with fair or good credit and better. While you could get higher-than-average interest rates and face other types of fees, LendingClub also accepts joint applicants, giving borrowers more access to funds than they might have elsewhere.

LendingClub

Blueprint Rating

Fixed APR

8.98% to 35.99%

Loan amounts

$1,000 to $40,000

More details

• Interest rates: 8.98% to 35.99%.
• Loan amounts: $1,000 to $40,000.
• Repayment terms: 2 to 5 years.
• Min. credit score: No specific minimum.
• Discounts: None.
• Fees: Origination fee (3% to 8%), late fee (5% of outstanding payment amount or $15, whichever is greater) and insufficient funds fee ($15).
• Funding time: Within a few days after approval.

LendingClub overview

You can get loan approval immediately and funds within a few days. However, if you’re worried about approval, LendingClub’s pre-qualification option lets you input credit details without facing a hard inquiry on your credit report.

How to qualify for a LendingClub personal loan

To qualify for a LendingClub personal loan, you’ll need to: 

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Have a verifiable bank account.
• Be a U.S. citizen or resident.
• Have a decent credit score or a co-borrower who does.

LendingClub will pull your credit report when you submit your application. So if you don’t have enough of a credit history to borrow on your own, you might want to enlist the help of a co-borrower. The higher their credit score, the more likely they will help you qualify for a personal loan at the lowest interest rate offered.

How to apply for a LendingClub personal loan

1. See if you’re eligible. Before you complete an application, you can see if you’re eligible through pre-qualification. This lets you enter your details — like how much you want to borrow and your credit score — yourself. Doing this shows you if you’re eligible and if you are, how much you could borrow. 
2. Choose loan options. Continue with a full application by selecting how much you want to borrow and repayment terms. Longer repayment terms mean smaller monthly payments. Shorter terms mean higher monthly payments but less paid in total interest.
3. Provide personal and financial details. Answer some questions about yourself, like where you live, what you do for work and how much you earn. You may need to provide supporting documentation, like bank statements or pay stubs. 
4. Wait for processing. Loan approval happens right away; you’ll know almost immediately if you’re approved. You can expect to receive your funds within a few days after approval.
5. Set up payments. After approval, you’ll add banking information to get your loan disbursement and set up your account to make payments.

Pros of a LendingClub personal loan

• Lower minimum credit score needed: Unlike most lenders, LendingClub has no specific minimum credit score. This means you might qualify even if you have less-than-stellar credit.
• Ability to add a co-applicant: Not all lenders offer personal loans for co-applicants. This is good news for those who don’t have the creditworthiness to stand on their own and need help from someone else to qualify.
• Good for debt consolidation: LendingClub offers loan payment to multiple creditors and lenders. That means you can take out your loan to pay off different forms of outstanding debt and then make payments on your new LendingClub loan. 
• Can pre-qualify: You can check to see if you’re eligible for a LendingClub loan without completing a full application. This matters because if you aren’t eligible, you can move on to other lenders without facing a hard credit inquiry on your report. 

Cons of a LendingClub personal loan

• Lots of fees: LendingClub charges an origination fee — upwards of 8%, depending on how much you borrow and your creditworthiness — which could impact how much you receive. While you could get approved for a $15,000 loan, getting hit with a 8% interest rate would mean you only get $13,800. This lender also charges fees for late and returned payments. So consider fees when determining how much you need to borrow.
• Limited repayment options: You can only choose from two repayment options: three or five years. Unfortunately, there’s no way to customize repayment if you want to pay in between or sooner (although there is no prepayment penalty if you decide to pay off your loan before the due date). 
• High interest rates: The lowest interest rate offered is higher compared to some other personal loan lenders — and many who don’t charge origination or late fees.
• Limited mobile features: There’s no way to manage your loan on LendingClub’s mobile app, which means if you want access to it, you’ll need to use the website through your phone’s mobile browser or get on a computer to manage your account.

LendingClub perks and special features

Savings and discounts

LendingClub doesn’t offer an autopay discount or a bonus for signing yourself up or referring a friend. 

However, one nice perk is that it will initiate payments to up to a dozen different creditors and lenders to help with debt consolidation. This is good if you have a lot of outstanding payments but not necessarily the bandwidth to individually pay them all.

LendingClub doesn’t charge a prepayment penalty, which means if at any point you want to pay off your loan before the due date, you can do so without facing an extra charge. Paying off your loan early could mean saving on total interest paid over the life of your loan.

How LendingClub could improve

While LendingClub is accessible to a lot of potential borrowers, there are some ways it could improve, including:

• Nix the high fees. Origination and late fees could deter some borrowers from applying. 
• Update the mobile app. Make sure borrowers can manage their loans whenever they want and wherever they are.
• Diversify term lengths. Creating more repayment options would be helpful to borrowers.
• Lower interest rates. Even the lowest APR offered is high compared to other lenders. A personal loan with lower interest rates makes the product more competitive among borrowers with good to excellent credit.
• Speed up disbursement. Getting funds in two days might work for some people but many borrowers need their money immediately. So making money more accessible to borrowers would be a good idea.

LendingClub customer service and reviews

LendingClub doesn’t offer an online chat or public-facing email for personal loan inquiries but you can call them at 1-888-596-3157 Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT or Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT. 

On TrustPilot, LendingClub has it at 4.7 out of 5 stars from more than 5,600 reviews. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has a similar customer rating of 4.56 out of 5 and gives LendingClub an A rating.

Even though customer service operations are limited compared to other lenders, many customers share how fast the application, approval and fund disbursement processes are. In addition, some borrowers are repeat customers who have been using LendingClub for years, which means they trust the products enough to use them repeatedly.

LendingClub alternatives: LendingClub vs. Happy Money vs. SoFi

LendingClub is one of many different online lenders that offer personal loans. But you can also compare your options, like Happy Money (formerly Payoff) or SoFi.

	LENDINGCLUB	HAPPY MONEY	SOFI
Fixed APR	8.98% to 35.99%	11.72% to 17.99%	8.99% to 29.49%
Loan amounts	$1,000 to $40,000	$5,000 to $40,000	$5,000 to $100,000
Loan terms (years)	3 or 5	2 to 5	2 to 7
Min. credit score	600	640	680
Best for	Fair credit borrowers	Credit card consolidation	No fees

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^{All interest rates are current and include discounts as applicable as of July 8, 2024.}

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