A personal loan is a type of installment loan that’s usually unsecured. This means that you borrow a lump sum of money and make fixed payments, with interest, in installments until your loan is paid in full. An unsecured loan doesn’t require collateral. This means primarily your credit score, credit history, income, and current debts are used to determine your eligibility.

How Personal Loans Work: The Process

You can use a personal loan for almost anything—that’s what makes them personal. You can use it to pay off outstanding debt, like medical bills, or make upfront payments on a big purchase, like a house or a car. Personal loans are commonly offered at banks, credit unions, and online lenders.

Before you get a personal loan, there’s a bit of work involved first.

Preparing for a Personal Loan

In order to be ready to apply for a personal loan, you’ll need to have your paperwork in order. This includes:

• Recent pay stubs: You’ll need to prove you have a job with a steady income so that you can pay back a loan. You might also need recent tax returns if you’ve recently changed jobs or don’t have access to your pay stubs.
• Personal information: A lender is going to ask about where you live, how much you want to borrow, what you’re planning to use the money for, and other details. You might need to provide your driver’s license, Social Security number (SSN), passport, and possibly some utility bills that have your name and address on them.
• Financial accounts: To get money into your account, you’ll need to share your bank account information. This may also be where you make payments from each month when you begin your loan repayment.

You’ll also want to check your credit score and history before completing a full application. This allows you to be aware of what lenders will see and can also help you narrow down options. If you have excellent credit, you’ll have an easier time qualifying for a personal loan with a low interest rate and fewer fees. However, a fair or bad credit score may limit your options.

Personal loans also have a few fees that you need to be prepared to pay, including an origination fee, which is used to cover the cost of processing your loan.

The Application Process

Some lenders will let you pre-qualify for a loan before submitting an actual application. Pre-qualification is when you input some credit and financial details and your potential lender lets you know if you might be eligible for a loan based on that information. This is not a hard credit pull, and your credit score and history aren’t impacted.

A pre-qualification can help you weed out lenders that won’t give you a loan, but not all lenders offer this option. You can compare as many lenders as you’d like through pre-qualification, that way you only have to complete an actual application with the lender that’s most likely going to approve you for a personal loan.

Interest rates vary by lender and your creditworthiness. The higher your credit score, the more likely you are to qualify for the lowest interest rate offered. The lower your score, the harder it’ll be for you to qualify for a loan, and even if you do, you could end up with an interest rate on the higher end of what’s offered.

There’s no universal standard for credit requirements across all lenders. There’s also no standard for repayment terms or the amount you can borrow. Try to compare lenders based on your needs along with your likelihood to qualify. If you need to borrow a small sum of money (or a very large sum), make sure your potential lender offers that amount before completing an application.

Once you have all your documents and details in order, completing an application can still take a little bit of time. Afterward, however, you should find out within a few moments if you’ve been approved for a personal loan.

Receiving a Personal Loan

Paying Back a Personal Loan

Many lenders give you the option to set up autopay and, in some cases, offer an interest rate discount for doing so. Autopay lets you set it and forget it so you never have to worry about missing a loan payment. Payment history is the biggest factor when calculating your credit score, and falling behind on loan payments can negatively impact your score. Setting up autopay or a calendar reminder are great tactics to consistently pay on time and keep your credit strong.

Your loan terms, interest rate, and how much you borrowed all determine your monthly payment. You can use a calculator to see which variables fit best into your budget. Many lenders don’t have prepayment penalties, so you likely won't have to worry about getting charged a fee if you pay off your loan early.

A personal loan does not count as part of the borrower's income in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The borrower does not have to report the amount received on the loan when filing taxes. However, if the loan is forgiven, it is considered a canceled debt and can be taxed. 

How Do People Use Personal Loans?

venuscurves.commissioned a national survey of 962 U.S. adults between Aug. 14, 2023, to Sept. 15, 2023, who had taken out a personal loan to learn how they used their loan proceeds and how they might use future personal loans. Debt consolidation was the most common reason people borrowed money, followed by home improvement and other large expenditures.

The Bottom Line

Personal loans are a great resource if you need to borrow money and qualify for one. But they aren’t for everyone. If you don’t have great credit, you might need to get the help of a co-signer who agrees to your loan terms alongside you, taking on the legal obligation to pay down the debt if you're unable to. If you don’t have a co-signer, you might qualify for a personal loan with bad or fair credit, but you may not have as many options compared to someone with good or excellent credit. Consider alternatives, like a credit card, a home equity loan (if eligible), or borrowing from friends and/or family.