Best of

Best Personal Loans for Excellent Credit in 2024

The best personal loans for excellent credit have low rates and amounts from $2,500 to $100,000. Compare multiple loan offers before you choose.

Ronita Choudhuri-Wade
By
Last updated on December 14, 2023
Edited by
✅ Fact checked and reviewed
Kim Lowe
Edited by
✅ Fact checked and reviewed

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

  • 35+ personal loans reviewed and rated by our team of experts.
  • 20+ years of combined experience covering personal loans and financial topics.
  • Objective, comprehensive star rating system assessing 20+ categories and 70+ data points.
  • Governed by NerdWallet's strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
NerdWallet's personal loans content, including articles, reviews and recommendations, is produced by a team of writers and editors who specialize in consumer lending. Their work has appeared in The Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, MarketWatch and many other national, regional and local publications. They have been cited in publications including The Harvard Kennedy School, and appeared on NerdWallet's "Smart Money" podcast as well as local TV and radio.
NerdWallet’s Best-Of Award Winner
Best Personal Loan for Excellent Credit
Discover
Discover® Personal Loans
5.0
NerdWallet rating
Get rateon Discover's website
on Discover's website
WHY OUR NERDS LOVE ITFor borrowers with excellent credit, Discover offers competitive rates, fast funding and special features for debt consolidation. Borrowers have multiple ways to manage their loan.
Read our methodology
See all winners

Best Personal Loans for Excellent Credit in 2024 From Our Partners

Lender
NerdWallet Rating
Est. APR
Loan amount
Min. credit score
Learn more
SoFi

SoFi Personal Loan

Top 3 most visited 🏆
Visit Lender
on SoFi's website
on SoFi's website
Check Rate
on NerdWallet
on NerdWallet
Best for Excellent credit and high loan amounts
Rate discount

8.99-29.99%

$5,000-$100,000

None

Discover

Discover® Personal Loans

5.0
/5
Best for Excellent credit and debt consolidation
Fast funding

7.99-24.99%

$2,500-$40,000

660

Lightstream

LightStream

4.5
/5
Best for Excellent credit and low rates
Rate discount

7.99-25.49%

$5,000-$100,000

660

Our pick for

Excellent credit and high loan amounts

SoFi
Visit Lender
on SoFi's website
on SoFi's website
SoFi

SoFi Personal Loan

5.0
Est. APR

8.99-29.99%

Loan amount

$5,000-$100,000

Min. credit score

None

Our pick for

Excellent credit and low rates

Lightstream
Lightstream

LightStream

4.5
Est. APR

7.99-25.49%

Loan amount

$5,000-$100,000

Min. credit score

660

Our pick for

Excellent credit and debt consolidation

Discover
Discover

Discover® Personal Loans

Est. APR

7.99-24.99%

Loan amount

$2,500-$40,000

Min. credit score

660

» MORE: Personal loans for good credit

What is an excellent credit loan?

Personal loans are unsecured loans, which means you don’t have to put up any collateral, such as your car or house, to get the loan. Instead, lenders assess your ability to repay by considering factors like credit score, debt and income.

Having excellent credit can get you access to the lowest annual percentage rates and the most favorable terms available to borrowers. Personal loans are offered to excellent-credit borrowers by banks, online lenders and credit unions. Compare offers from multiple lenders to get the right loan for you.

What are rates on excellent-credit personal loans?

As with most credit products, the rate you receive on a personal loan depends a lot on your credit score. Borrowers with excellent credit will pay less interest over the life of the loan than borrowers with lower credit scores. The interest rate also affects your total monthly payment, as does the term length; a longer term means lower monthly payments but more interest.

Use our personal loan calculator to see estimated rates, total interest costs and payments for a personal loan.

Here is what interest rates on personal loans look like, on average:

Borrower credit rating

Score range

Estimated APR

Excellent

720-850.

12.42%

Good

690-719.

14.82%.

Fair

630-689.

18.08%.

Bad

300-629.

21.10%.

Source: Average rates are based on aggregate, anonymized offer data from users who pre-qualified in NerdWallet’s lender marketplace from Feb. 1, 2024, through Feb. 29, 2024. Rates are estimates only and not specific to any lender. The lowest credit scores — usually below 500 — are unlikely to qualify. Information in this table applies only to lenders with maximum APRs below 36%.

Best excellent-credit personal loans from banks

Banks that offer personal loans tend to cater to borrowers with excellent credit, and most offer low interest rates compared with other lenders. If you have an existing account with the bank, you could also benefit from an easier application process and discounted rates. The downside is some banks require you to visit a branch to complete the loan application process.

Citibank offers personal loans with rate discounts and no fees, but other lenders may have more customer-friendly features.

Santander offers personal loans without an origination fee, but the loans are best suited for existing customers in states where the bank operates.

TD Bank offers fast funding of personal loans primarily to customers on the East Coast.

Wells Fargo allows existing customers to apply for personal loans online and offers comparatively high borrowing amounts that make it an option for funding home improvements.

Will a personal loan hurt my excellent credit score?

Most online lenders perform a soft inquiry on your credit when you pre-qualify, followed by a hard check during the approval process that can knock some points off your credit score. The setback to your score should be temporary, and making on-time payments helps build credit if the lender reports your borrowing activity to one or more of the credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

A personal loan also diversifies your debt. According to FICO, credit mix contributes 10% toward the calculation of your total credit score (however, you shouldn’t get a personal loan just to improve your credit).

How to choose the best personal loan for excellent credit

Having excellent credit is an advantage, but it can make choosing among multiple loan offers more difficult. Factor the overall cost of the loan and monthly payments against your budget, and carefully weigh the different features offered by each lender.

Here are three considerations to keep in mind:

  1. Compare loans. Shop multiple lenders to compare rates and terms. The loan with the lowest APR is the least expensive and usually the best choice. Use this comparison tool to check rates at multiple online lenders without affecting your credit score.

  2. Loan features. Some lenders will send loan proceeds directly to your creditors if you’re consolidating debt, allow flexible payment schedules or offer rate discounts if you agree to automatic payments.

  3. Perks. Take advantage of resources offered by lenders such as free credit score monitoring, financial planning or hardship assistance plans.

Next step: Pre-qualify for an excellent-credit personal loan

Pre-qualifying for an online loan allows you to see personalized terms, including the loan’s interest rate and monthly payments, before committing to the loan. You can pre-qualify with multiple lenders on NerdWallet to compare offers and find the lowest rate.

PRE-QUALIFY ON NERDWALLET

Last updated on December 14, 2023

Methodology

NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 35 technology companies and financial institutions. We collect over 50 data points from each lender and cross-check company websites, earnings reports and other public documents to confirm product details. We may also go through a lender’s pre-qualification flow and follow up with company representatives. NerdWallet writers and editors conduct a full fact check and update annually, but also make updates throughout the year as necessary.

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.

NerdWallet does not receive compensation for our star ratings. Read more about our ratings methodologies for personal loans and our editorial guidelines.

To recap our selections...

NerdWallet's Best Personal Loans for Excellent Credit in 2024

  • SoFi Personal Loan: Best for Excellent credit and high loan amounts
  • LightStream: Best for Excellent credit and low rates
  • Discover® Personal Loans: Best for Excellent credit and debt consolidation

Frequently asked questions

  • Start by comparing loans from multiple lenders. With excellent credit, you'll likely have options, and pre-qualifying allows you to compare rates, terms and loan features to choose the best loan for you.

  • Interest rates for excellent-credit loans typically start around 6%, with an average APR around 12%. The rate you receive depends on your income and debt as well as your credit score.

  • There could be multiple reasons why you can't get a loan, even if you have excellent credit. Your income may be too low for the amount you want to borrow, or your debt-to-income ratio is too high. Having irregular income can impact your ability to get a personal loan, too.

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