A personal loan generally is not hard to get as long as you have enough income to repay the loan. You can get personal loans from banks, online lenders, and credit unions, and you should be able to get approved with a credit score of 580 or higher.
Some unsecured personal loans are available to people with lower credit scores, but you have to watch out for predatory interest rates. For example, one good unsecured personal loan provider for bad credit is Avant, whose interest rates will only be as high as 35.99%. In contrast, a company like OppLoans could charge as much as 160%.
A secured personal loan is a lot easier to get than an unsecured personal loan, as the collateral that you provide greatly reduces the lender’s risk. Even people with bad credit should have little trouble getting approved. The tradeoff is that the lender can take ownership of the collateral if you are unable to pay back your loan. So there’s a lot more risk for you as the borrower. You’ll have to decide if you have any collateral you’re willing to put on the line, such as an auto title, stocks, money in a certificate of deposit, or valuable art.
A decisive factor when determining how hard it is to get a personal loan is your income, as you need to show that you are capable of making monthly payments. However, you don’t necessarily have to be employed. Your income can come from other sources like a retirement account, alimony, disability payments and more.
This answer was first published on 06/14/19 and it was last updated on 03/12/24. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.
