Does Mariner Finance offer small personal loans?

Yes, a Mariner Finance personal loan does affect your credit score, both when you apply and during the entire time that you are paying the loan off. Initially, a Mariner Finance personal loan will affect your credit score in a negative way, but the long-term impact can be very positive, assuming you repay the loan on schedule.... read full answer

How a Mariner Finance Personal Loan Affects Your Credit Score

Hard pull: When you apply for a Mariner Finance personal loan, Mariner Finance will do a hard inquiry into your credit history, which will temporarily drop your credit score by about 5-10 points in most cases.

Increased debt level: Taking out a Mariner Finance personal loan will naturally increase the amount of debt that you have. Since your debt level is one of the components of your credit score, you can expect that to have a negative impact initially.

Account diversity: One positive way that getting a Mariner Finance personal loan can impact your score right away is by adding more diversity to the types of accounts you have open. Your "credit mix" is one of the components of your credit score, and the more types of accounts you have, the better - as long as you handle them responsibly.

Payments: The biggest factor in how a Mariner Finance personal loan affects your credit score is whether you pay on time. If you make on-time payments, your score should steadily increase as a result. If you pay late or fail to make payments altogether, you can expect your credit score to drop.

The bottom line is that while a Mariner Finance personal loan does affect your credit score, most of the way that your score changes depends on how responsible you are with the loan. If you'd like to estimate how certain actions might affect your credit score, you can use WalletHub's free credit score simulator.

The best place to get a small personal loan is Discover. Personal loans from Discover let you borrow as little as $2,500, have APRs of 6.99% - 24.99% (depending on your creditworthiness), and have repayment periods of 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 months. Applicants generally receive a decision the same day they apply and can get the funds as soon as one business day after approval. You’ll need at least a 660 credit score to qualify, according to third-party sources.... read full answer

Best Places to Get a Small Personal Loan

• Discover. Loans as small as $2,500. APRs of 6.99% - 24.99%. Repayment periods of 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 months.
• Citibank. Loans as small as $2,000. APRs of 8.99% - 23.99%. Repayment periods of 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months.
• PNC. Loans as small as $1,000. APRs of 5.99% - 32.24%. Repayment periods of 12 - 60 months.
• TD Bank. Loans as small as $2,000. APRs of 8.99% - 21.99%. Repayment periods of 12 - 60 months.
• Avant. Loans as small as $2,000. APRs of 9.95% - 35.99%. Repayment periods of 24 - 60 months.
• Best Egg. Loans as small as $2,000. APRs of 8.99% - 35.99%. Repayment periods of Up to 60 months.
• LendingClub. Loans as small as $1,000. APRs of 8.05% - 35.89%. Repayment periods of 36 or 60 months.
• LendingPoint. Loans as small as $2,000. APRs of 7.99% - 35.99%. Repayment periods of 24 - 72 months.
• Prosper. Loans as small as $2,000. APRs of 6.99% - 35.99%. Repayment periods of 24 or 36 or 48 or 60 months.

To read more about the top-ranked offers, check out WalletHub’s complete picks for the best small personal loans. Then, you can estimate your potential rates with our free pre-qualification tool.

Other Places to Look for Small Personal Loans

Local credit unions are a good option if you’re looking for a loan below $1,000, as credit unions tend to be more willing to lend small amounts of money. Even people with bad credit may be able to get a small unsecured personal loan from a credit union.

You will need to be a member to qualify, but you should be able to join a credit union where you live for free. Alternatively, several large credit unions, such as Alliant, Connexus and PenFed, offer memberships to anyone in the U.S. who makes a small donation. This assumes the applicant doesn’t already qualify for a free membership.

Banks and online lenders may also offer small personal loans. However, some lenders offer minimum loan amounts of $3,000+, which may be too large of a loan for you.

The minimum credit score for personal loan approval is 580, depending on the lender. That means it is possible to get an unsecured personal loan with a bad credit score, though such a loan will likely have an origination fee.

For your reference, WalletHub researched some of the most popular lenders to find out more about their specific loan requirements.... read full answer

Credit Score for Personal Loan Approval by Lender

*According to multiple third-party sources.

Your credit score is a measure of how risky it is for lenders to let you borrow money. The higher your score is, the better your chances of approval are and the better terms you’re likely to receive. Your credit score comes from a combination of factors that include your payment history, credit utilization, length of credit history, recent inquiries, and diversity of accounts.

But your credit score is far from the only thing that matters when it comes to personal loan approval. Lenders consider many other factors, including your income, existing debts, monthly expenses and more.

The minimum credit score needed for a personal loan with no origination fee and no collateral requirement is 660, which is fair credit. And borrowers will need good credit or excellent credit – a credit score of 700 or higher – to get the best personal loan rates. Personal loans for credit scores under 700 tend to be for relatively low amounts and have high APRs.

If your credit score is below 585, lower in the bad credit range, you still have options. For example, you could opt for a secured loan, where you put up something valuable as collateral. If you fail to pay back the loan, the lender can take the collateral as compensation. Because this greatly reduces the risk for the lender, people with any credit score may be considered for secured loans.

You can check your credit score for free on WalletHub. You’ll also get personalized advice for how to improve your score. The best way to estimate your odds of approval for a personal loan is to check to see if you’re pre-qualified for any offers before submitting an official application.