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Citibank 2025 Personal Loan Review

Last updated on September 4, 2025
Jackie Veling
Written by 
Lead Writer & Content Strategist
Kim Lowe
Edited by 
Head of Content, Personal & Student Loans
Fact Checked
Jackie Veling
Written by 
Lead Writer & Content Strategist
Kim Lowe
Edited by 
Head of Content, Personal & Student Loans
Fact Checked

Many or all of the products on this page are from partners who compensate us when you click to or take an action on their website, but this does not influence our evaluations or ratings. Our opinions are our own.

Our Take

4.5

NerdWallet rating
The Nerdy headline:

Citibank personal loans come with no fees and multiple rate discounts, but borrowers with strong credit may have more flexible options.

Jump to:Full Review
Citibank
Citibank

Est. APR
7.99-19.49%
Loan amount
$2,000 - $30,000
Min. credit score
720

Pros

  • Multiple rate discounts.
  • No fees.
  • Same- or next-day funding.
  • Option to pre-qualify with a soft credit check.

Cons

  • Does not offer large loans.
  • No co-signed, joint or secured loan option.
  • No option to choose or change your payment date.
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Est. APR
Loan amount
Min. credit score
SoFi
8.99- 35.49%
$5,000- $100,000
None
Lightstream
6.49- 24.89%
$5,000- $100,000
660
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7.90- 35.99%
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7.99- 35.99%
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Full Review

Citibank provides unsecured personal loans up to $30,000, and existing Citibank customers will see the most benefits, including faster funding and potential rate discounts.

Though Citibank doesn’t disclose its qualification criteria, good- to excellent-credit borrowers (mid-600s credit score or higher) are the most likely to be approved.

Citibank personal loans at a glance

Minimum credit score

Undisclosed.

APR

7.99% - 19.49%.

Fees

None.

Loan amount

$2,000 to $30,000.

Repayment terms

1 to 5 years.

Time to fund after approval

Same-day funding for borrowers with a Citi deposit account. Up to 2 business days for non-customers.

  • Terms, conditions, and fees for accounts, products, programs and services are subject to change at any time. You must be at least 18 years of age (21 years of age in Puerto Rico). Co-applicants are not permitted. Existing Citi deposit and credit card customers who have been a Citi customer for less than 12 months are not eligible for a Citi® Personal Loan. If you apply online, you must agree to receive the loan note and all other account disclosures provided with your loan origination in an electronic format and provide your signature electronically. Rates as of 7-30-2025. Your APR may be as low as 7.99% or as high as 19.49% for the term of your loan. The lowest rate quoted assumes excellent credit and a loan term of 24 or 36 months. Your APR will depend on a variety of factors including your creditworthiness, term of loan, and existing relationship with Citi. Citi offers personal loans with a period of repayment between 12 and 60-month terms. For example, if you borrow $10,000 for 36 months at 15.99% APR, to repay your loan you will have to make 36 monthly payments of approximately $351.52. There is a 0.5% APR discount if you enroll in automatic payments at loan origination. Additionally, existing Citigold and Citi Priority customers will receive a 0.25% discount to the APR. If you are in default, your APR may increase by 2.00%. Rates subject to change without notice. To check for offers you may qualify for, Citi conducts a soft credit inquiry. If you are presented with an offer and choose to proceed with the application process, Citi will conduct a hard credit inquiry which may have an impact on your credit score. Citi® Personal Loan proceeds cannot be used to pay for post-secondary education expenses or for business purposes. Credit cards issued by Citibank, N.A. or its affiliates, as well as Checking Plus and Ready Credit accounts, are not eligible for debt consolidation, and Citibank will not issue payoff checks for these accounts. If you are unsure of the issuer on the account, please visit https://www.citi.com/affiliatesproducts for a list of Citi products and affiliates. If you are approved for a personal loan with Citi, you can get your funds the same day with a Citi deposit account, or up to 2 business days for a non-Citi account when using direct deposit. Or, you can select to receive a check by mail in approximately 5 business days. Personal loans are made available by Citibank, N.A., Equal Housing lender

Where Citibank personal loans stand out

Multiple rate discounts: Citibank offers two opportunities to get a discounted annual percentage rate. Borrowers who set up automatic payments at the loan’s origination will receive a 0.50 percentage point discount. Existing Citigold and Citi Priority customers get an additional 0.25 percentage point discount.

No fees: Citibank doesn’t charge any fees for its personal loan, including no origination fee, late fee or prepayment fee. Though it’s common for banks not to charge an origination or prepayment fee, it’s much harder to find a lender — bank or otherwise — that doesn’t charge a late fee for missed payments.

Fast funding: Customers with a Citi deposit account can get their funds the same day they’re approved. Otherwise, borrowers need to wait up to two business days to receive funds through direct deposit. A mailed check takes about five business days.

Soft credit check to pre-qualify: Both Citi customers and non-customers can pre-qualify for a personal loan on Citi’s website. This process lets borrowers preview their potential loan amount, rate, repayment term and monthly payment. Because the process only involves a soft credit pull, borrowers can check their rates with multiple lenders to find the most competitive offer.

Where Citibank personal loans fall short

No large loan amounts: Citibank’s maximum personal loan amount is $30,000, which may be enough for some borrowers. But if you’re looking to fund a large expense, like a home improvement project, other lenders offer personal loans as high as $50,000 or $100,000.

No co-sign, joint or secured loan options: Citibank doesn’t offer joint, co-signed or secured loans. These types of loans allow you to add another borrower to your application or secure the loan with collateral, like your car, which can help you get approved for a larger loan amount.

No option to choose or change your payment date: Borrowers are given a payment date when they accept a Citibank loan, and that date can't be changed. The option to change your payment date, which is offered by some other lenders, is useful if you get a new payday or want to balance the loan with other monthly obligations.

How to use Citibank personal loans

You can use a Citibank personal loan for:

  • Debt consolidation.

  • Home improvement.

  • Emergency expenses (car repair, vet bill, etc).

  • Wedding.

  • Other large purchases.

Citibank prohibits the use of its personal loans for:

  • Higher education/college tuition.

  • Business expenses.

Do you qualify for a Citibank personal loan?

Borrowers must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in their state) to apply for a Citibank personal loan. Co-applicants are not permitted.

Citibank doesn't publicly disclose many of its borrower requirements, but the majority of borrowers who get a personal, small business or other type of loan have FICO scores of 660 or higher, according to a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Citibank personal loans are available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

How we rate Citibank

NerdWallet writers and editors rate lenders against a rubric that changes each year based on how personal loan products evolve. Here’s how we scored Citibank this year:

Category

Star rating

Affordability

Underwriting and eligibility

Application process

Loan flexibility

Customer experience

Overall

How we chose the best personal loans

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

30+

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.

60+

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 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 30 financial technology companies and financial institutions. We collect over 60 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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