LendingClub Personal Loans: 2023 Review
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Our Take
4.5
The bottom line:
LendingClub loans have limited term lengths, but you can add a co-borrower to help your chances of qualifying for a lower rate.
Full Review
on NerdWallet's secure website
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Joint loan option.
- Direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
- Option to pre-qualify with a soft credit check.
- Option to change your payment date.
Cons
- Origination fee.
- Late fee.
- No mobile app to manage loan.
Compare to Other Lenders
 |  |
Est. APR6.50-35.99% | Est. APR8.99-35.99% |
Loan term3 to 5 years | Loan term3 to 5 years |
Loan amount$1,000-$50,000 | Loan amount$2,000-$50,000 |
Min. credit scoreNone | Min. credit score600 |
Compare estimated rates from multiple lenders
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Full Review of LendingClub
LendingClub personal loans are a fit for good- or fair-credit borrowers looking to consolidate debt or finance large purchases. Though not the lowest-cost lender, LendingClub offers flexible payments and is transparent about rates and fees.
» COMPARE: Best online lenders
Table of Contents
LendingClub personal loans at a glance
Minimum credit score | 600. |
APR | 9.57% - 36.00%. |
Fees | Origination: 3% to 6%. Late fee: 5% of payment or $15 after 15-day grace period. |
Loan amount | $1,000 to $40,000. |
Repayment terms | 3 or 5 years. |
Time to fund after approval | Minimum one business day; two business days on average. |
Loan availability | Loans available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
Where LendingClub personal loans stand out
Help with debt consolidation: LendingClub’s balance transfer loan helps borrowers pay off credit cards and consolidate debt. LendingClub will send your loan proceeds to up to 12 creditors, paying off your balances and simplifying the debt consolidation process. The balance transfer loan’s rate can be up to five percentage points lower than other LendingClub loans, but the terms and qualifications are the same.
» MORE: Best debt consolidation loans
Joint loan options: LendingClub allows joint loan applications. The two borrowers' maximum combined debt-to-income ratio, or DTI, on a joint loan must be under 40%. Applying for a personal loan with a co-borrower who has strong credit may boost your chances of qualifying and getting a lower rate or larger loan amount.
Soft credit pull: You can pre-qualify to check your rate on LendingClub’s website. Pre-qualifying generates a soft credit pull, which doesn’t impact your credit score. If you qualify, the company does a hard credit pull as part of the formal application process.
Member Center: LendingClub’s Member Center helps customers manage their money and credit. Members have access to information like their debt-to-income ratio, credit utilization and credit score.
Where LendingClub personal loans fall short
Fees: LendingClub loans come with origination fees from 1% to 6% and late fees. There's no rate discount for setting up autopay, which some lenders offer to encourage borrowers to make on-time payments.
Limited term lengths: Borrowers can choose between a three- or five-year loan repayment term. Some lenders offer shorter- or longer-term loans. A longer term lowers your monthly payment but costs more in overall interest.
How to qualify for a LendingClub personal loan
Most lenders have basic requirements to apply, and some have financial requirements or recommendations to qualify.
To apply for a LendingClub personal loan, you must be:
A U.S. citizen or permanent resident or living in the U.S. on a valid visa.
At least 18 years old in most states.
Able to provide a verifiable bank account.
Here are the lender’s minimum requirements to qualify for a loan. (Meeting these requirements doesn’t guarantee approval.)
Minimum credit score: 600. LendingClub uses FICO 8 and VantageScore 2.0, in addition to a proprietary scoring system.
Minimum credit history: 37 months and two accounts.
Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 60% for individual applications, 40% for joint applications.
Minimum annual income: None, but must show proof of income.
Here are details about LendingClub’s average borrower, according to the lender:
Average credit score: 700.
Average annual income: $85,000.
Average loan amount: $13,000.
Average APR: 18%
Average loan term: Four years.
Most common loan purpose: Credit card refinancing and debt consolidation.
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 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. LendingClub requires proof of income, which can be a W-2 or paystub, as well as proof of address and a Social Security number. Having these documents handy can speed up the application process.
How to apply for a LendingClub personal loan
Here are the steps to apply for a LendingClub loan.
Pre-qualify on LendingClub’s website. You’ll be asked how much you want to borrow and what the funds are for, as well as some personal information like your name, birth date and address. Then, LendingClub will ask for information about your income before you can preview loan offers. There’s no hard credit pull at this stage.
Preview loan offers and accept the one that fits your budget. Once you accept a loan offer, you’ll submit a formal personal loan application. This could require more documents, like W-2s, pay stubs and bank statements to confirm the information you gave during pre-qualification. LendingClub will also do a hard credit check when you apply, so your credit score could temporarily dip.
Make a plan to repay the loan. LendingClub reports payment to all three major credit bureaus, 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.
Compare LendingClub to other lenders
Personal loan lenders offer different rates, loan amounts and special features, so it pays to weigh other options. The best personal loan is usually the one with the lowest APR.
Like LendingClub, SoFi and Best Egg are great options for debt consolidation. But fees and rates can differ between lenders, so pre-qualifying on NerdWallet can be a good way to compare multiple lenders at once.
LendingClub vs. SoFi
LendingClub and SoFi are online lenders for good credit borrowers. SoFi does not have any fees for personal loans, while LendingClub charges origination and late fees. However, SoFi doesn’t accept co-borrowers, which can help borrowers get better terms.
» MORE: Read our review of SoFi
LendingClub vs. Best Egg
Best Egg and LendingClub are good choices for debt consolidation and offer a wide range of loan amounts. Both lenders also charge origination fees. But with a lower starting APR, LendingClub may be a cheaper option.
» MORE: Read our review of Best Egg
How we rate LendingClub 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 | |
Transparency | |
Loan flexibility | |
Customer experience | |
Overall |
Ready to apply? Click the button below and head to LendingClub's website to pre-qualify.
on NerdWallet's secure website
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.
Find the Best Personal Loan
Frequently asked questions
The minimum credit score needed for a LendingClub loan is 600, the company says. However, the average qualified borrower's credit score is 700.
LendingClub is a legitimate online lender. It offers personal loans with annual percentage rates that don't exceed 36%, which is a rate cap that most consumer advocates recommend.
LendingClub says that on average personal loan applications are approved within 24 hours. It then takes 24 hours on average to fund the loan. But the timeframe is not guaranteed and differs on a case-to-case basis.
