Achieve Personal Loans: 2024 Review

Achieve is a strong option for debt consolidation loans. Borrowers can have funds paid directly to creditors and may qualify for multiple rate discounts.
Ronita Choudhuri-WadeAnnie Millerbernd
By
and
Last updated on September 20, 2023
Edited by
✅ Fact checked and reviewed
Kim Lowe
Edited by
✅ Fact checked and reviewed

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Our Take

4.5

NerdWallet rating
The Nerdy headline:

Achieve personal loans can be a good debt consolidation option for fair- or good-credit borrowers who qualify for one of the lender’s rate discounts.

Jump to:Full Review
Achieve
Achieve Personal Loans

Est. APR
8.99-35.99%
Loan amount
$5,000 - $50,000
Min. credit score
620
on NerdWallet

Pros

  • Multiple rate discounts.
  • Direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
  • Option to pre-qualify with a soft credit check.
  • Joint loan option.

Cons

  • Charges origination fee.
  • No mobile app to manage loan.
  • High minimum loan amount.
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Full Review

Achieve, formerly FreedomPlus, offers personal loans that work well for consolidating large amounts of credit card or other unsecured debt. The lender offers personal loans for borrowers with fair and good credit scores (from 630 to 719). Its average borrowers have good credit and strong household income.

Achieve has an online application, but unlike other online lenders, the process is finalized by email or by phone. With a $5,000 minimum loan amount, Achieve may not be right for people looking to cover small expenses or consolidate a couple of thousand dollars of debt.

» MORE: Compare top personal loan lenders and rates

Table of Contents

Achieve personal loans at a glance

Minimum credit score

620.

APR

8.99% - 35.99%.

Fees

Origination: 1.99% to 6.99%.

Loan amount

$5,000 to $50,000.

Repayment terms

2 to 5 years.

Time to fund after approval

1 to 3 business days.

Loan availability

Loans aren't available in CO, CT, HI, KS, ME, ND, VT, WV, WI and WY.

  • Personal loans available through Achieve.com (NMLS #138464) or Achieve Personal Loans (NMLS ID #227977) are made by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, or Pathward®, N.A., Equal Housing Lenders. Loan applications are subject to credit review, underwriting criteria and approval. Loans are not available in all states and available loan terms/fees may vary by state. Loan amounts range from $5,000 to $50,000. APRs range from 8.99% to 35.99% and include applicable origination fees that vary from 1.99% to 6.99%. Repayment periods range from 24 to 60 months. Example loan: four-year $20,000 loan with an origination fee of 6.99%, a rate of 15.49%, and corresponding APR of 19.54%, would have an estimated monthly payment of $561.60 and a total cost of $26,956.80. To qualify for a 8.99% APR loan, a borrower will need excellent credit, a loan amount less than $12,000.00, and a term of 24 months. Adding a co-borrower with sufficient income; using at least eighty-five percent (85%) of the loan proceeds to pay off qualifying existing debt directly; or showing proof of sufficient retirement savings, could also help you qualify for lower rates. Funding time periods are estimates and can vary for each loan request. Same day decisions assume a completed application with all required supporting documentation submitted early enough on a day that our offices are open. Achieve Personal Loans loan consultants' hours are Monday-Friday 6am-8pm AZ time, and Saturday-Sunday 7am-4pm AZ time.

Where Achieve personal loans stand out

Multiple ways to get rate discounts. Achieve offers three ways to get a rate discount for qualifying borrowers:

  • Joint loan discount: Achieve can take up to 6 percentage points off your rate if you add a co-borrower to your application. Both joint loan applicants must meet Achieve’s minimum loan requirements.

  • Retirement savings discount: Achieve borrowers with sufficient retirement savings can reduce their interest rate by up to 5 percentage points. Borrowers must show proof of funds in a 401(k), individual retirement account (IRA), Roth IRA or thrift savings plan. Your retirement savings aren't used to secure this loan.

  • Direct pay discount: Borrowers using their Achieve loan for debt consolidation can reduce their rate by up to 4 percentage points if the loan proceeds are sent directly to their creditors. To qualify for the full discount, borrowers must have at least 85% of the Achieve funds sent to another creditor.

Fast approval and funding. Most Achieve customers receive a loan decision the same day they apply. Once a borrower is approved, the lender can send the funds within three days.

Pre-qualify with a soft credit pull. Achieve allows borrowers to pre-qualify to preview potential offers — including loan amounts, rates and monthly payments — before making a decision. There is only a soft credit pull to prequalify, so your credit score won’t be impacted.

Option to choose and change your payment date. Borrowers can choose their payment date before signing a loan agreement and change the date twice in a calendar year, or six times throughout the life of the loan. This is a helpful feature if you switch jobs, for example, and get paid on a different date.

Where Achieve personal loans fall short

Origination fee. Achieve charges an origination fee. According to the lender’s website, most borrowers are charged 4.99% of the loan amount. Many banks and some online lenders offer loans without origination fees.

High minimum loan amount. Achieve has a minimum loan amount of $5,000, which makes it a better choice for major expenses or consolidating large amounts of debt. Consider other lenders if you need a smaller personal loan.

No mobile app. Achieve doesn’t have a mobile app, which can make it less convenient for borrowers who prefer managing their loan from their phones.

Do you qualify for an Achieve personal loan?

Most lenders have basic requirements to apply, and some have financial requirements or recommendations to qualify. To apply for an Achieve personal loan, you must be a resident of a state where Achieve’s loans are available.

Here are Achieve’s minimum requirements to qualify for a loan. (Meeting these requirements doesn't guarantee approval.)

  • Minimum credit score: 620.

  • Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 45%, excluding mortgage.

  • Minimum income: None.

  • Minimum credit history: Three years and two accounts.

  • Not actively delinquent on debt.

  • No bankruptcy in the last 24 months.

Here are details about Achieve’s average borrower, according to the lender.

  • Average credit score: 700.

  • Average annual income: $110,000.

  • Average loan amount: $22,000.

  • Average loan term: Three years.

  • Most common loan purpose: Debt consolidation and credit card refinancing.

Before you apply

  • Check your credit. You can get your free credit report on NerdWallet or at AnnualCreditReport.com. Doing so will help you spot and fix any errors before you apply.

  • Calculate your monthly payments. Use a personal loan calculator to determine what annual percentage rate (APR) and repayment term you’d need to get a loan with affordable monthly payments.

  • Make a plan to repay the loan. Review your budget to see how the loan’s monthly payments impact your cash flow. If you have to cut other expenses in order to repay the loan, it’s better to know that before you borrow.

  • Gather your documents. Achieve may ask for pay stubs as proof of income, and other documents proving your employment status, identity and a Social Security number. Having these documents handy can speed the application process.

How to apply for an Achieve personal loan

Here are the steps to apply for an Achieve loan.

  1. Pre-qualify on Achieve’s website. You’ll be asked how much you want to borrow, what the funds are for and whether you own your home. Then, the lender will ask for personal information like name, birthday, phone number and email address. You’ll also be asked to submit information about your income and employment before you can preview loan offers. There’s no hard credit pull at this stage. 

  2. Preview loan offers and accept the one that fits your budget. Once you submit the online application, the process continues over email or by phone with an Achieve loan consultant. This stage could require more documents, like pay stubs and bank statements to confirm the information you gave during pre-qualification. The loan consultant can also help you choose between loan offers, find rate discounts and set payment dates. There is a hard credit check with a formal application, so your credit score could temporarily dip.

  3. Stay on top of your loan payments. Achieve reports payment to all three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) so on-time payments will help build your credit score, but missed payments will hurt it. Setting up automatic payments and keeping an eye on your budget are two ways to manage your loan payments.

Check rates at Achieve

Compare Achieve to other lenders

Compare Achieve with other lenders to decide whether it offers the right personal loan for you. Lenders offer different rates, loan amounts and special features, so it pays to weigh your options. The best personal loan is usually the one with the lowest APR and most affordable monthly payments.

Achieve vs. Happy Money

Like Achieve, Happy Money offers personal loans to fair- and good-credit borrowers. Happy Money specializes in credit card consolidation and provides borrowers with financial health insights, including personality assessments and a free monthly credit score update. Both Happy Money and Achieve also charge origination fees, but Achieve offers joint loans and rate discounts that can lower the overall cost of your loan.

Achieve vs. Best Egg

Best Egg and Achieve are both good options for debt consolidation, although Best Egg has higher origination fees and no rate discounts. Best Egg personal loans start at $2,000, and unlike Achieve, Best Egg offers secured personal loans. Best Egg’s funding time may also be faster than Achieve’s.

How we rate Achieve personal loans

NerdWallet writers rate lenders against a rubric that changes each year based on how personal loan products evolve. Here’s what we prioritized this year.

Category

Star rating

Affordability

Underwriting

Loan flexibility

Transparency

Customer experience

Overall

  • Affordability (30%) An affordable loan has low rates and fees compared to other similar loans and may offer rate discounts.

    Underwriting and eligibility (25%) The lender reviews borrowers credit reports and credit history, and tries to understand their ability to repay a loan, before making a final application decision.

    Loan flexibility (20%) A flexible loan is one that lets users customize terms and payments. That means offering a wide range of repayment term options, allowing the borrower to change their payment date, offering loans in most states and funding it quickly.

    Customer experience (15%) A good customer experience can include a fully online application process, financial education on the lender’s website and a customer service team that’s available most of the time and can be reached multiple ways.

    Transparency (10%) A transparent lender makes information about the loan easy to find on its website, including rates, terms and loan amounts. Transparency also means allowing users to pre-qualify online to preview potential loan offers and reporting payment information with the major credit bureaus.

Ready to apply? Select the button below and head to the Achieve website to pre-qualify.

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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.

Frequently asked questions

  • A minimum FICO score of 620 is required for Achieve personal loan borrowers. However, the average Achieve borrower has a score of 700.

  • Achieve has same-day approval for qualifying applicants who have submitted an online application and have talked to a dedicated Achieve loan consultant. Funds can be deposited within one to three days.

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