Bank of America Personal Loan Alternatives

Bank of America offers a small-dollar loan, but borrowers seeking large personal loans have options with other lenders.

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Updated · 1 min read
Written by 
Contributing Writer
Edited by 
Head of Content, Personal & Student Loans
Bank of America doesn’t offer large unsecured personal loans. For customers with a Bank of America checking account for at least one year, the bank provides Balance Assist loans which are short-term, small-dollar loans of up to $500 for a flat fee.
If you're looking for a larger personal loan, consider options at other banks, online lenders and credit unions.

Personal loan alternatives to Bank of America

Banks

Citibank, Wells Fargo and PNC are some banks that offer personal loans. You typically have to be a bank customer, and there are minimum credit and income requirements to qualify for a loan.
Snapshot of a typical bank-issued personal loan:
  • Credit scores accepted: Good to excellent (mid-600s or higher).
  • APR range: 11.66% at national banks for a two-year loan.
  • Loan amounts: $1,000 to $100,000.

Online lenders

Online lenders cater to all credit profiles. Most give you estimated rates without a hard inquiry on your credit. It pays to shop around because each company has its own formula to set your interest rate. NerdWallet’s comparison tool lets you check rates at multiple online lenders without affecting your credit.
Snapshot of a typical online personal loan:
  • Credit scores accepted: Bad (high 500s or lower) to excellent (mid-700s or higher).
  • APR range: 6% to 36%.
  • Loan amounts: $1,000 to $100,000.

Compare personal loans

Here are three online lenders to consider as alternatives to Bank of America. NerdWallet recommends pre-qualifying for multiple loans.
NerdWallet rating
NerdWallet rating
Get rate Get rate
Est. APR

6.70-35.99%

Est. APR

6.49-25.29%

Loan term

3 to 5 years

Loan term

2 to 7 years

Loan amount

$1,000-$50,000

Loan amount

$5,000-$100,000

Min. credit score

None

Min. credit score

660

Credit unions

Most credit unions offer personal loans at lower rates than traditional banks and online lenders. Credit unions don’t require good credit scores to qualify but you’ll need to become a member before applying. Your local credit union is a good first choice for a personal loan.
Snapshot of a typical credit union personal loan:
  • Credit scores accepted: Bad to excellent.
  • APR range: Average 10.75% at federal credit unions for a three-year loan.
  • Loan amounts: $250 to $50,000.

Other Bank of America loans

Bank of America offers other types of loans, including:
Article sources
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary, trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high standards for journalism by reading our editorial guidelines.

Methodology

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How we chose the best personal loans

Our team of consumer lending experts follow an objective and robust methodology to rate lenders and pick the best.

35+

Lenders reviewed

We review over 35 lenders, including major banks, top credit unions, leading digital platforms, and high interest installment lenders operating across multiple states.

25+

Categories assessed

Each lender is evaluated across five weighted categories and 27 subcategories, covering affordability, eligibility, consumer experience, flexibility, and application process.

70+

Data points analyzed

Our team tracks and reassesses hundreds of data points annually, including APR ranges, fees, credit requirements, and borrower tools, ensuring up to date, accurate comparisons.

Star rating categories

We evaluate more categories than competitors and carefully weigh how each factor impacts your experience.

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.


Underwriting and eligibility 20%

We consider the rigorousness of each lender’s underwriting practices and how widely available their loans are. This category includes whether a lender does a hard credit check before providing a loan, the range of credit profiles they accept and how many states their loans are offered in.


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.


5.0
Overall score

NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 35 financial technology companies and financial institutions. We collect over 70 data points 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.

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