Ally Personal Loans: Home Improvement Financing and Alternatives

Ally Bank partners with service providers to offer financing for home improvement projects and medical procedures.

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Updated · 1 min read
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Head of Content, Personal & Student Loans
Ally Bank doesn’t offer personal loans directly to consumers. Instead, it provides unsecured financing for home improvement projects and medical treatments through vendors that partner with the bank — general contractors and health care providers, for example.
The funds that Ally lends go to the vendor, rather than the borrower, to cover the costs of the project or procedure. With a personal loan, the money goes directly into your bank account, and you can spend it how you want.
But like personal loans, Ally loans have fixed interest rates and are repaid in monthly installments. Your annual percentage rate is decided the same way it’s decided on a personal loan: Your creditworthiness and credit score are key factors in qualifying.
Borrowers can pre-qualify online with a soft-credit check, which means there’s no impact to your credit score, to see loan offers.
You typically apply for Ally financing when you’re with the vendor — from your phone with the contractor or in your doctor’s office. There are no origination or application fees.

Ally personal loan alternatives

Banks

Some large national banks, including Citibank, Wells Fargo and American Express offer personal loans. You may have to become a banking customer to get a personal loan from a bank.
Snapshot of a typical bank-issued personal loan:
  • Credit scores accepted: Good to excellent.
  • APR range: 6% to 30.49%.
  • Loan amounts: $1,000 to $100,000.

Online lenders

Online lenders like LightStream, LendingClub and Upstart tailor their personal loans to borrowers in different credit bands. It pays to compare lenders to see which one can offer the best rates and terms, as each company uses its own formula to set your rate.
Snapshot of a typical online personal loan:
  • Credit scores accepted: Bad to excellent.
  • APR range: 6% to 36%.
  • Loan amounts: $1,000 to $100,000.
You can pre-qualify for a personal loan with multiple online lenders without affecting your credit score.
NerdWallet rating
NerdWallet rating
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Est. APR

6.49-25.29%

Est. APR

7.90-35.99%

Loan term

2 to 7 years

Loan term

2 to 6 years

Loan amount

$5,000-$100,000

Loan amount

$1,000-$50,000

Min. credit score

660

Min. credit score

600

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Credit unions

Federal credit unions, including PenFed, Navy Federal and First Tech may offer personal loans with lower rates than traditional banks and online lenders because they cap APRs at 18%. Rates at other credit unions, like Alliant, look more like online and bank lenders.
Credit unions typically require you to become a member before applying for a loan. Since credit unions will consider membership and other factors in addition to your credit score when assessing an application, your local credit union is a good first stop for a personal loan, especially if you have fair or bad credit (689 score or lower).
Snapshot of a typical credit union personal loan:
  • Credit scores accepted: Bad to excellent.
  • APR range: 7.99% to 30%.
  • Loan amounts: $500 to $50,000.

Other Ally Bank reviews

Ally offers other financial products, including:
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Affordability 25%

We review lenders’ annual percentage rate offerings at least twice per year and the competitiveness of each lenders’ APR range. We also assess whether a lender charges an origination fee and any opportunity for borrowers to receive a rate discount.


Customer experience 20%

We consider the experience of the consumer trying to manage a personal loan, which means accessibility of customer service representatives, whether borrowers can choose and change their payment due date, and the ability to track their loan on a mobile app.


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Loan flexibility 20%

We assess how flexible lenders can be with borrowers, including whether they offer multiple loan types, personal loan amounts and repayment term options and whether they offer direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans.


Application process 15%

We consider the lender’s full application process, including a borrower’s ability to preview their loan offer via pre-qualification, whether basic loan information such as APR range and repayment terms are available and easy to find online and how quickly a loan can be funded after approval.


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Our star ratings award points to lenders that offer consumer-friendly features, including: soft credit checks to pre-qualify, competitive interest rates and no fees, transparency of rates and terms, flexible payment options, fast funding times, accessible customer service, reporting of payments to credit bureaus and financial education. Our ratings award fewer points to lenders with practices that may make a loan difficult to repay on time, such as charging high annual percentage rates (above 36%), underwriting that does not adequately assess consumers’ ability to repay and lack of credit-building help. We also consider regulatory actions filed by agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We weigh these factors based on our assessment of which are the most important to consumers and how meaningfully they impact consumers’ experiences.

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See if you pre-qualify for a personal loan – without affecting your credit score Just answer a few questions to get personalized rate estimates from multiple lenders.
on NerdWallet
Comparing options? See if you pre-qualify for a personal loan - without affecting your credit score Just answer a few questions to get personalized rate estimates from multiple lenders.
on NerdWallet