Stress less with low-interest online Personal Loans

A personal loan is a sum of money that you borrow and pay back over time. You may choose to borrow this money from a lender by yourself or with someone (a co-borrower). A personal loan is considered unsecured because it’s not backed by collateral. In other words, unlike a mortgage which is secured by your home, a personal loan is not tied to any of your assets.

If you choose to get a personal loan through Prosper, you’ll receive a lump sum cash deposit ranging from $2,000–$40,000¹ directly in your bank account. Over the next 3 or 5 years, you’ll repay your loan in fixed monthly payments thatcover the money you’ve borrowed plus interest. Keep in mind that there are no prepayment penalties on a personal loan through Prosper, so you can choose to pay your loan off early at any time to reduce the total amount of interest that you end up paying. Visit our blog to learn more about how a personal loan works.

You can use a personal loan for just about anything you choose. Many people with personal loans through Prosper use their funds to save money and simplify their finances by consolidating debt. Other popular uses include renovating a home, paying for a wedding, or taking a dream vacation.

You might even choose to use your personal loan to refinance a personal loan. Come again? That’s right—if you can qualify for a personal loan with a lower interest rate, then you might choose to take the personal loan with a lower rate to pay down another. Other borrowers choose to use their personal loans as “personal financing loans.” In other words, they use their personal loan like a cash pool to help manage expenses without having to draw from their investments. But really, when it comes to your personal loan, it’s up to you how you’ll spend it.

When you apply for a personal loan through Prosper, it might be forlittle as $2,000 or as much as $40,000.³

When you apply for a personal loan through Prosper, your qualification and the terms of the personal loan are based on an assessment of your “creditworthiness.” Creditworthiness includes everything from employment status to debt-to-income ratio. In other words, a bunch of different financial factors are evaluated when you apply for a personal loan through Prosper. A credit score of 600 or higher is required to qualify.

If you don't qualify for a personal loan through Prosper on your own, you may still be able to get a personal loan by applying with someone else. We refer to this second personal loan applicant as a co-applicant or co-borrower. Your co-applicant should be someone you trust with strong credit and a steady job. Together, you could qualify for a larger loan amount and possibly save money by securing a lower interest rate.

The Prosper platform lets you check your personal loan’s rate and loan amount without affecting your credit score. To give you a clear picture of what your official online personal loan through Prosper might look like, a “soft credit inquiry” is made. If you review your credit report, you may see that an inquiry was made, but the inquiry will not affect your credit score. This soft pull lets you check your options while still safeguarding your credit score.

If you decide to accept your personal loan offer and proceed with your application, then a “hard credit inquiry” is conducted as part of your personal loan’s approval. This inquiry may temporarily lower your credit score by a few points. In the long term, though, making on-time payments on a personal loan may actually be a great way to improve your credit score.

In most cases you can expect next-day funding⁴ on your personal loan through Prosper. This means that the day after you submit a successful personal loan application, you could see the money deposited directly in your bank account. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, occasionally it can take a little longer to secure investors for your loan. But an even more common delay might come if you applied over the weekend or on a Friday. In that case, you would expect next-business-day funding.

Applying is 100% free, but if you end up taking the loan, you’ll pay a one-time “origination fee.” This fee is for 2.41–5% of your total loan value, and will be calculated during your application process before you agree to the terms of your loan.⁵ You should keep in mind when you make your loan request that the amount you request will need to be enough to cover both your personal needs and your origination fee—that’s because the origination fee is deducted from your total loan amount before your personal loan funds are deposited.