Best Egg Personal Loans: 2022 Review
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Our Take
4.5
The bottom line:
Best Egg personal loans are available to borrowers who want to consolidate debt and secure a loan, but they lack some features offered by other lenders.
Full Review
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Offers wide range of loan amounts.
- Provides secured loan option for homeowners.
- Offers direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
Cons
- Charges origination fee.
- No rate discount for autopay.
Compare to Other Lenders
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
Est. APR4.99-35.99% | Est. APR5.74-20.28% | Est. APR6.99-19.99% |
Loan term2 to 5 years | Loan term2 to 7 years | Loan term3 to 6 years |
Loan amount$2,000-$50,000 | Loan amount$5,000-$100,000 | Loan amount$3,500-$40,000 |
Min. credit score600 | Min. credit score680 | Min. credit score660 |
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Full Review
Best Egg is an online lender that offers personal loans for borrowers with fair or good credit.
Best Egg personal loan amounts range from $2,000 to $50,000, though some states have different minimums, and repayment terms are three or five years. Borrowers can use their loan to consolidate debt or refinance credit cards, but you can also use the loan to cover large expenses.
Best Egg is best for borrowers who:
Have fair or good credit (640 FICO or higher).
Are homeowners who want a secured loan.
Want to consolidate debt and qualify for a rate that lowers their interest costs.
Best Egg at a glance
Affordability |
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Key terms to know about personal loans
» COMPARE: Best online lenders
Where Best Egg stands out
Direct payment to creditors: Best Egg sends loan payments directly to creditors if you’re consolidating debt. As with other lenders that emphasize debt consolidation, this feature takes the work of paying back individual creditors out of borrowers' hands and eliminates the temptation of spending the money elsewhere.
Wide range of loan amounts: Borrowers have the option to take out loans from $2,000 to $50,000, which gives you the flexibility to cover smaller expenses or larger costs associated with events like moving, home improvement projects or weddings.
Unsecured and secured loan options: Best Egg offers both unsecured and secured personal loans. The secured loan is similar to a home equity loan, but it uses fixtures permanently attached to your home, like your water heater, ceiling fans or window shutters, as collateral instead of your entire house. Once approved, you can receive funding in one to three days. If a borrower fails to repay the loan, Best Egg can repossess the collateral.
Free credit score: Personal loan customers can access their credit score through their Best Egg account, which allows borrowers to see how on-time payments benefit their credit scores over time.
» MORE: Best good-credit lenders
Where Best Egg falls short
No rate discount for autopay: Unlike other lenders, Best Egg doesn't offer an additional rate discount for setting up autopayments. Other lenders typically discount interest rates 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points to incentivize borrowers to set up autopayments.
Origination fee: Best Egg charges an origination fee ranging from 0.99% to 5.99%. Not all lenders charge an origination fee, but Best Egg’s fee is low compared with other lenders that charge one.
Does not offer a mobile app: Contrary to other online lenders, Best Egg does not offer a mobile app to manage your loan.
What to know about Best Egg
In August 2020, Marlette, the parent company of Best Egg, settled with the Colorado attorney general’s office after the state alleged that the company partnered with out-of-state banks to offer rates above the state-mandated maximum.
How to qualify for a Best Egg loan
Minimum credit score: 600.
Minimum annual income: $3,500.
Minimum debt-to-income ratio: 40% or 65% including a mortgage.
Employment: Must provide proof of income; part-time employees are eligible.
Must provide valid U.S. address and Social Security number.
Loan example: A three-year, $10,000 loan with a 15.5% APR would cost $349 in monthly payments. You’d pay $2,564 in total interest on that loan.
How to get a Best Egg loan
Pre-qualify on NerdWallet
NerdWallet recommends comparing loans to find the best rate for you. Pre-qualifying may get you personalized rates from multiple lenders that partner with us, including Best Egg. Pre-qualifying won't impact your credit.
Apply on Best Egg
You can fill out an application on Best Egg’s website. After entering some personal information, you’ll be presented with loan options for which you pre-qualify.
on Best Egg's website
Personal Loans Rating Methodology
NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 35 financial institutions. We collect over 45 data points from each lender, interview company representatives and compare the lender with others that seek the same customer or offer a similar personal loan product. 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. 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.
This methodology applies only to lenders that cap interest rates at 36%, the maximum rate most financial experts and consumer advocates agree is the acceptable limit for a loan to be affordable. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for our star ratings. Read more about our ratings methodologies for personal loans and our editorial guidelines.
