Reach Financial Personal Loans: 2024 Review

Reach Financial offers debt consolidation loans to borrowers with good credit. The lender stands out for flexible repayment options, including customizable terms.
Annie Millerbernd
By
Last updated on August 1, 2023
Edited by
✅ Fact checked and reviewed
Kim Lowe
Edited by
✅ Fact checked and reviewed

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Our Take

3.0

NerdWallet rating
The Nerdy headline:

Reach Financial personal loans are suitable for good-credit borrowers looking to consolidate debt. Loans are funded fast, but they lack some key features offered by other lenders.

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Reach Financial Personal Loans
Reach Financial Personal Loans

Est. APR
14.30-35.99%
Loan amount
$3,500 - $40,000
Min. credit score
640
on Reach Financial's website
on NerdWallet

Pros

  • Direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
  • Fast funding.
  • Customizable repayment terms.
  • Hardship program may include payment pause of up to 90 days.

Cons

  • Origination fee.
  • Reports payments to only two of the three major credit bureaus.
  • No joint, co-signed or secured loan options.
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Full Review

Reach Financial provides personal loans to good-credit borrowers exclusively to consolidate credit card and other unsecured debts.

Reach loans can be funded quickly and may come with more flexible repayment terms than other lenders, but repayments aren’t reported to all three credit bureaus. Reach also doesn’t offer co-signed, joint or secured loans.

This lender’s credit and income requirements are somewhat softer than other good-credit lenders, but applicants need a few years’ worth of credit history to qualify.

» MORE: Compare personal loans

Table of Contents

Reach Financial personal loans at a glance

Minimum credit score

640.

APR

14.30% - 35.99%.

Fees

  • Origination: 4% to 8%.

  • Late fee: $15.

  • Nonsufficient funds fee: $25.

Loan amount

$3,500 to $40,000.

Repayment terms

2 to 5 years.

Time to fund after approval

Same day.

Loan availability

Loans not available in CO, CT, ME, NV, NH, TN, VT, WV or WY.

Where Reach Financial personal loans stand out

Direct payment to creditors: Reach personal loans can only be used for debt consolidation, and the lender sends the money directly to your creditors rather than depositing it into your bank account, according to the lender. This feature eliminates the extra step of paying off the debts yourself.

Customizable repayment terms: Reach allows pre-qualified applicants to choose any repayment term from 24 to 60 months — a feature that no other lender offers. This feature allows borrowers to see how different repayment terms affect monthly payments and gives them a preferred timeline to clear their debts. Your first payment is due 15 to 45 days after the day of consolidation.

Fast funding: Reach says it takes about one to two days to approve an application — a little slower than some competitors — and about 90% of loans are funded within one day of approval. Reach sends the funds to your creditors, which can take extra time. Keep repaying your debts until you see the account balances at zero to avoid missed payments while the funds are processing.

Hardship program may include a 90-day payment pause: Borrowers struggling to make payments can request a payment pause for up to 90 days. The lender says borrowers must submit a hardship request and provide documentation to determine whether they qualify. If approved, interest will still accrue on the loan during the pause, according to Reach.

Where Reach Financial personal loans fall short

Charges an origination fee: Reach charges an origination fee from 4% to 8% of the loan amount. Rather than deducting the fee from your loan proceeds, the lender adds it to the total loan amount, and borrowers’ monthly payments include the origination fee.

Reports payments to two of three major credit bureaus: Reach Financial reports personal loan payments to Experian and TransUnion, but not Equifax. This means if you later apply for credit with a lender that only checks Equifax, that lender won’t see your payment history from Reach. Choosing a lender that reports to all three credit bureaus ensures you’ll get credit for on-time payments.

No joint, co-signed or secured loans: Reach only provides unsecured personal loans. Borrowers can’t get a co-signed or joint personal loan with someone who has better credit and income. Reach also doesn’t provide secured loans backed by a vehicle or bank account. Co-signed, joint and secured loans typically have lower rates than unsecured loans.

Limited web and customer service presence: This lender doesn’t take extra steps to help borrowers apply for and manage a loan confidently. Reach’s website includes a sparse FAQ page that doesn’t answer some basic questions about how to apply, eligibility requirements and origination fees. The lender also doesn’t have a mobile app where borrowers can manage loan payments, and customer service representatives are available only on weekdays.

Do you qualify for a Reach Financial personal loan?

Reach says it approves fair-, good- and excellent-credit borrowers, but you may have a better chance of approval with a credit score near 700.

Here’s what you need to qualify for a Reach Financial personal loan. (Meeting these requirements doesn’t guarantee approval.)

  • Must be a U.S. resident or citizen. 

  • Minimum credit score: 640; borrower average is 698. 

  • Minimum income: $1,000 per month after other monthly obligations.This lender accepts income from employment, retirement and Social Security payments. 

  • Minimum credit history: Three years and one account.

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 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. Reach Financial may require pay stubs to prove your income, as well as proof of address and a Social Security number. Having these documents handy can speed the application process.

How to apply for a Reach Financial personal loan

Here are the steps to apply for a Reach Financial loan.

  1. Pre-qualify on Reach Financial’s website. When you click “Apply Now” on Reach’s website, you’ll be taken to a form asking your requested loan amount and if you’re borrowing to refinance credit card debt or consolidate debts. You’ll then enter your name, email, phone number, birth date, address and information about your employment and income. There is no hard credit pull at this stage.

  2. Preview loan offers and accept the one that fits your budget. Pre-qualified applicants will see a loan offer that includes loan amount, repayment term, APR and the monthly payment. At this stage, an applicant can choose any repayment term from 24 to 60 months, as well as whether they’d like to make bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly payments. Once you choose the loan offer that fits your budget, you’re ready to submit a formal loan application, at which time Reach does a hard credit pull.

  3. Stay on top of your loan payments. Reach reports payments to two credit bureaus, meaning on-time payments can still help build your credit score, while 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 on NerdWallet

Compare Reach Financial 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.

Discover and Upgrade accept good-credit borrowers and report payments to all three major credit bureaus. These lenders provide loans for almost any purpose, including debt consolidation.

Reach Financial vs. Discover

Discover has tighter borrower requirements than Reach, but rates may be lower. Like Reach, Discover stands out for debt consolidation because of its direct pay feature and an online consolidation calculator showing your potential savings. Discover doesn’t charge an origination fee and has repayment terms up to seven years.

Discover may be the better option for qualified borrowers looking to consolidate credit card debt at a lower interest rate.

Reach Financial vs. Upgrade

Upgrade’s personal loans stand out for debt consolidation, but they can be used for almost anything. This lender has softer borrower requirements than Reach and offers joint and secured loans. Upgrade’s repayment terms and loan amounts are also wider than Reach’s, which may make it suitable for a home improvement project.

Unlike Reach, Upgrade customers can’t choose their initial payment date, and Upgrade doesn’t have a feature like Reach’s 90-day payment pause.

If you want a personal loan for something other than debt consolidation, Upgrade is worth considering.

How we rate Reach Financial 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? Click the button below to check for offers.

A previous version of this story misstated what Reach Financial personal loans can be used for. This story has been corrected.

on Reach Financial's website

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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.

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