Pros
- APRs as low as 4.99%
- Loans up to $35,000
- $0 origination fee
- $0 late fee
- High customer satisfaction
Cons
- 700+ credit score requirement
- No joint applications
- Can only apply if invited
Barclays Personal Loan Review Summary
Barclays personal loans offer one of the cheapest minimum APRs on the market, at 4.99%. Their maximum APR of 20.99% is lower than what many other lenders offer, too. The one downside is that these low rates aren’t available to everyone. Though Barclays doesn’t disclose a minimum credit score requirement, the consensus from third-party sources is that you will generally need a 700+ score. In addition, you can currently only apply for a Barclays personal loan if the company invites you to do so.
Another drawback to Barclays personal loans is that they don’t allow joint applications. But other than that, everything else is very desirable. For example, there aren’t any fees whatsoever, not even late fees. Below you can see how WalletHub’s editors rate Barclays personal loans in our three major categories: Terms, Requirements & Application, and Reviews & Transparency. You’ll also see how Barclays loans compare to other lenders’ offers.
Barclays Bank US Personal Loan Terms
 | |
| APRs | 4.99% - 20.99% |
| Loan Amount | $5,000 - $35,000 |
| Loan Terms | 36 - 60 months |
| Origination Fee | $0 |
| Prepayment Fee | $0 |
| Late Fee | $0 |
| Minimum Credit Score | Good* |
| Minimum Income | Not disclosed |
| Loan Purpose | Debt Consolidation, Big Purchase, Other |
| Time to Receive Loan Money | 2 - 3 business days |
| Other Requirements |
|
Barclays Bank Personal Loan Rates, Fees & Other Terms
Category Rating: 92% (4.6 out of 5)
- APR: Barclays Bank personal loan rates start very low, at 4.99%, and only go as high as 20.99%. Where a customer’s APR falls within that range depends on their credit, income, debts and a number of other factors. Barclays’ maximum APR is a lot lower than the 25% - 36% caps that many other lenders use. Your Barclays personal loan APR will always be fixed, so it will not change over the years.
- Origination fee: The Barclays personal loan origination fee is $0.
- Other fees: The prepayment fee is $0 and the late fee is $0. Barclays will report late payments to the credit bureaus, which will damage your credit score.
- Loan sizes and payoff periods: Barclays personal loans range from $5,000 - $35,000, with payoff periods of 36 - 60 months.
Barclays gets a very high score in this category because of their incredibly competitive personal loan rates and lack of fees.
Barclays Personal Loan Requirements & Application Info
Category Rating: 50% (2.5 out of 5)
- Invitation: Right now, Barclays personal loan applications are invitation-only.
- Credit score: Barclays does not explicitly state requirements for their personal loans. However, third-party sources put the Barclays personal loan credit score requirement at around 700. That’s high, considering most other lenders’ minimum credit score requirements are in the 600-680 range.
- Age: You must be at least 18 years old to qualify for a Barclays personal loan.
- Citizenship: You have to be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident.
- Identification: You must have a Social Security number.
- Pre-qualification: Barclays allows people to prequalify for personal loans on their website, but only people who have received an invitation code from Barclays. Checking your rates will not affect your credit score, but actually applying for a loan will
- Ways to apply: The only way to apply for a Barclays personal loan is online.
- Joint loans: You cannot file a joint application; you can only apply as an individual.
Barclays loses points in this category for their loans’ limited availability, as well as the fact that you can’t apply jointly with another person or substitute an ITIN or passport for an SSN.
Barclays Personal Loan Reviews & Transparency
Category Rating: 66% (3.3 out of 5)
- Better Business Bureau: Barclays Bank has been accredited with the BBB since 2001. They receive a perfect A+ score from the bureau.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Barclays Bank Delaware, the U.S. division of Barclays, has around 50 complaints about personal loans filed against them by consumers. Some of the complaints include seeing an unauthorized credit inquiry and being improperly charged a late fee. Barclays has a good track record of providing “timely” responses to the complaints.
- WalletHub: Barclays’ average user rating is 3.7/5, with over 22,000 reviews submitted.
- Transparency: Barclays is clear about their personal loan terms, even if loans are not available to everyone at the moment. Barclays isn’t very transparent about what their minimum credit score and income requirements are, however.
Barclays Bank has a fantastic reputation overall, both from their own customers and from agencies that monitor lenders like the Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While their transparency is decent, there is room for improvement.
Summary: Barclays Personal Loan Scores by Review Category
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Rates, Fees & Other Terms | 4.6/5 |
| Requirements & Application Info | 2.5/5 |
| Reviews & Transparency | 3.3/5 |
| OVERALL | 10.4/15 |
Barclays Personal Loan vs. Popular Competitors
| Info | Barclays | SoFi | Discover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | |||
| APRs | 4.99% - 20.99% | 8.99% - 25.81% | 6.99% - 24.99% |
| Loan Amounts | $5,000 - $35,000 | $5,000 - $100,000 | $2,500 - $40,000 |
| Loan Terms | 36 - 60 months | 24 - 84 months | 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 months |
| Minimum Credit Score | Good* | Fair* | Fair* |
| Winner |  Discover | ||
Methodology
In order to provide the most accurate review of Barclays personal loans, WalletHub used 17 key metrics grouped into three overall sections: Terms, Requirements & Application, and Reviews & Transparency. We rated each section on a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being the best, and then averaged the scores of the three sections to produce an overall rating for the loan.
- The “Terms” section includes information about how expensive the loan is, including rates and fees. It also takes into consideration how much consumers can borrow and how quickly they must pay it back. For companies where APR and fee ranges differ greatly by state, we used data from the most populous state serviced by the company. Terms on Barclays personal loans do not fluctuate significantly by state, however.
- The “Requirements & Application” section examines how easy it is to apply for a loan and how long it takes to receive the money. It also looks at exactly who is eligible to apply.
- The “Reviews & Transparency” section measures the loan provider’s reputation as well as how clearly the lender discloses its terms and requirements. This takes into account user reviews and information from watchdog organizations.
The average of these three scores reflects how close a loan offer is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star loan. For more information, please read WalletHub’s full methodology.
