Advertisement

How to Get a Personal Loan With a 600 Credit Score

Personal loans for 600 credit score
Personal loans for 600 credit score

Content provided by Credible. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own.

This article first appeared on the Credible blog.

Having a fair credit score could make it more difficult to qualify for a personal loan. But some personal loan lenders provide options for borrowers with fair credit.

If you have fair credit and are looking for a personal loan, you can visit Credible to compare personal loan rates from various lenders.

15 personal loans for a 600 credit score

Several personal loan lenders are willing to work with borrowers who have a fair credit score — generally meaning a score between 640 and 699.

ADVERTISEMENT

These Credible partner lenders offer personal loans to borrowers with credit scores in the 600s:

Avant

Avant personal loans range from $2,000 up to $35,000, with repayment terms from two to five years. If you’re approved, you might get your funds as soon as the next business day.

Best Egg

With Best Egg, you can take out a $2,000 loan up to a $50,000 loan. You can use a Best Egg loan for a wide variety of purposes, including debt consolidation and home improvement.

Discover

Discover could be a good choice if you’re looking for a longer repayment term — you’ll have up to seven years to repay a Discover loan.

Also keep in mind that Discover provides a 30-day guarantee: If you decide within 30 days that you don’t want your Discover loan, you can return the funds via check with no interest.

FreedomPlus

With FreedomPlus, you can borrow up $50,000 with a term of two to five years.

Keep in mind that you might qualify for a lower interest rate if you use 85% of your loan to pay off existing debt — which could make FreedomPlus a good option if you want to consolidate high-interest debt.

LendingClub

LendingClub offers personal loans up to $40,000 and is one of the few lenders that allow cosigners on personal loans. If you’re having a hard time qualifying for a loan, applying with a cosigner could improve your chances of getting approved.

LendingPoint

LendingPoint primarily offers personal loans to borrowers with fair credit, which might make a LendingPoint loan easier to qualify for if you have less-than-perfect credit. With LendingPoint, you can borrow $2,000 to $36,500.

LightStream

With LightStream, you can borrow up to $100,000. Most LightStream loans come with a term ranging from two to seven years, but you might have up to 12 years if you take out a personal loan specifically for home improvements.

Marcus

Marcus offers personal loans up to $40,000 with flexible repayment options. Also, if you make consecutive, on-time payments for 12 months on your Marcus loan, you can defer your payment for a month with no interest.

OneMain Financial

If you don’t need to borrow very much money, OneMain Financial might be a good option. You can borrow $1,500 up to $20,000 — just keep in mind that higher loan amounts might require collateral.

Payoff

If you want to consolidate high-interest credit card debt, a Payoff personal loan could help. You can borrow up to $40,000 and will have up to five years to repay the loan.

PenFed

PenFed could be a good choice if you’re looking for small loans — you can borrow as little as $600 all the way up to $50,000, with terms ranging from one to five years.

You can use a PenFed loan for debt consolidation, home improvement, and more.

Prosper

Prosper operates a peer-to-peer, online marketplace, with loans available from $2,000 up to $40,000.

Keep in mind that investors will have to commit to funding your loan, which could take up to 14 days. Your loan might also not be funded, in which case you’ll have to create a new listing.

SoFi

SoFi offers personal loans ranging from $5,000 up to $1000,000, making it a good choice for larger loan amounts. If you take out a loan with SoFi, you’ll also enjoy member perks like unemployment protection.

Upgrade

If you need money quickly, Upgrade could be a good option — if you’re approved, you could have your Upgrade loan funds within a day of clearing necessary verification. You’ll also get access to free credit monitoring and educational resources.

Upstart

With Upstart, you can borrow $1,000 to $50,000. Keep in mind that Upstart will also consider your education and job history in addition to your credit score, meaning you might qualify even if you have little to no credit history.

How to apply for a personal loan with a 600 credit score

If you’re ready to apply for a fair credit personal loan, follow these four steps:

  1. Review your credit. Lenders will check your credit to determine your likelihood of repaying the loan. It’s a good idea to double-check your credit report ahead of time to make sure there are no errors. You can check your credit report for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.

  2. Compare lenders and choose your loan option. Be sure to compare as many lenders as possible to find the right loan for you. Consider not only rates but also repayment terms and any fees charged by the lender. After researching lenders, choose the loan that best fits your needs.

  3. Fill out the application. After deciding on the lender, you’ll need to complete the full application and submit any required documentation, such as tax returns or bank statements.

  4. Get your funds. If you’re approved, the lender will have you sign for the loan so it can release the funds to you (often through direct deposit). The time to fund for personal loans is typically a week or less — though some lenders will get you your money as soon as the next business day.

It’s also a good idea to consider how much a low interest personal loan will cost you over time. You can estimate how much you’ll pay for a loan using Credible’s personal loan calculator.

Can you get a personal loan with a 600 credit score?

Yes, you can get a personal loan with a 600 credit score — some lenders specialize in offering fair credit personal loans.

But keep in mind that if you have a credit score between 580 and 669, you’ll generally be considered a “subprime” borrower — meaning lenders might see you as a more risky investment.

Because of this, you’ll likely pay a higher interest rate than borrowers with good to excellent credit.

Tip: If you’re struggling to qualify for a personal loan, one option is to add a cosigner to your application. While most personal loan lenders don’t allow cosigners, some do. Having a cosigner with good or excellent credit can make you less of a risk to the lender, which could help you get approved. Even if you don’t need a cosigner to qualify, having one might get you a lower interest rate than you’d get on your own.

These Credible partner lenders offer cosigned personal loans:

  • FreedomPlus

  • LendingClub

  • LightStream

  • OneMain Financial

  • SoFi

If you decide to take out a personal loan, remember to consider as many lenders as possible to find a loan that fits your needs. Credible makes this easy — you can compare your prequalified rates from multiple lenders in two minutes.

How to raise your credit score

If you can wait to take out a loan, spending some time improving your credit score first could help you qualify for lower interest rates and better loan terms.

Keep in mind that having a lower interest rate could help you save money on your loan over time.

Here are several ways to potentially build credit:

  • Pay your bills on time. Your payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score. Paying all your bills — such as utility and credit card bills — on time could help improve your credit over time, especially if you’ve missed payments in the past.

  • Reduce existing debt. Your credit utilization (the amount of credit you use compared to your total available credit) makes up 30% of your credit score. If you can pay down the balances on your accounts, you might see a boost to your credit.

  • Dispute issues on your credit report. One in five people have errors on their credit reports, according to the Federal Trade Commission. If you’re one of these people, you could end up with less favorable loan terms — or even damaged credit. Take some time to review your credit report and dispute any issues with the major credit bureaus.

What credit score should you aim for? Generally, borrowers with good to excellent credit get better loan terms. If you want to improve your fair credit score, aiming for a score anywhere from 670 to 739 is a good place to start — this will put you in the good credit range and will likely qualify you for better rates and terms.

If you decide to apply for a personal loan, visit Credible to see your prequalified personal loan rates in minutes.


About the author: Kat Tretina is a freelance writer who covers everything from student loans to personal loans to mortgages. Her work has appeared in publications like the Huffington Post, Money Magazine, MarketWatch, Business Insider, and more.