Best Military Personal Loans in 2025
Personal loans with low rates, better terms and perks for military members
| Lender | Best for | APR | Term | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Military loans overall | 8.74% – 18.00% | Up to 60 months |
$250 – $50k |
|
|
Bank military loans | 9.64% – 18.51% (with autopay) | 12 to 84 months |
$2.5k – $100k |
|
|
Joint military loans | 8.99% – 29.99% | 24 to 60 months |
$5k – $50k |
|
|
Military loans with repayment assistance | 7.99% – 24.99% | 36 to 84 months |
$2.5k – $40k |
|
|
Military loans for excellent credit | 6.24% – 24.89% (with autopay) | 24 to 84 months | Not specified | |
|
Quick military loans | 8.99% – 35.49% (with discounts) | 24 to 84 months |
$5k – $100k |
|
|
Military loans for bad credit | 6.70% – 35.99% | 36 to 60 months |
$1k – $75k |
Best for: Military personal loans overall – Navy Federal Credit Union
- 0.25% interest rate discount for eligible active duty and retired military
- Borrow as little as $250.00 (most loans start at $1,000)
- Eligible cadets and midshipmen can get an ultra-low interest rate of 1.25% with a Career Kickoff Loan
- Can’t check your eligibility or rates without taking a ding to your credit
- No payment extensions
- People with excellent credit may get lower rates with another lender
Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) is our pick for best military personal loans because it offers competitive rates and discounts exclusively to military members and their relatives. For instance, active-duty and retired military members can get an APR discount as long as they also receive direct deposit.
If you have excellent credit, you may be able to qualify for lower rates with a lender like LightStream. Also note that NFCU doesn’t let you prequalify for a personal loan. You’ll have to agree to a hard credit pull to see if you’re eligible.
Read our full {partner_name} personal loan review.
NFCU is only available to:
- Active-duty members of the military (regardless of branch)
- Veterans, retirees and annuitants
- Those in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP)
- DoD Officer Candidates and ROTC
- DoD Reservists
- Immediate family of military members, as well as household members
Best for: Bank military personal loans – USAA Bank
- Offers membership perks
- Insurance, banking and investing available
- Short- and long-term loan options
- Can’t get your loan the same day that you apply
- Can’t see rates without affecting credit score
USAA Bank is a good choice for borrowers with military affiliations who want to bank, borrow and get insured all with the same company. As a member of USAA, you’ll get access to special deals and discounts on rental cars, theme park tickets and more. Plus, you can choose between stretching out your payments over several years and paying off your USAA loan in just 12 months.
Look elsewhere if you need a quick loan, since USAA usually takes two business days to send your money.
Read our full USAA Bank personal loan review.
You must be a USAA member before you can get a personal loan, and USAA has strict eligibility requirements. It only accepts active-duty military members, veterans, precommissioned officers or eligible family members. Veterans must also have an honorable discharge status at the time of separation.
Once you are a member, you can apply for a loan online. Unfortunately, USAA doesn’t have a prequalification process, so you must fill out an application and take a hard credit hit to see if you’re eligible.
Best for: Joint military personal loans – Achieve
- Can get a 5.50% rate discount for adding a second person to your loan
- Offers two more discounts: one for debt consolidation and one for having a healthy retirement account
- Dedicated consultant available to help you apply
- Must take out at least $5,000.00
- Will keep 1.99% – 8.99% of your loan for itself as an origination fee
Taking out a joint loan with a lender like Achieve can boost your odds of getting a personal loan. Not all lenders allow joint loans, but Achieve does — and it offers discounted interest rates when you add a qualified co-borrower to your application.
Achieve’s credit score requirements are on the low side, so qualifying is possible if you have fair credit. But regardless of your credit score, prepare to pay an origination fee — Achieve charges one on every loan. This is an amount that Achieve deducts from your loan funds before sending them to you.
Read our full Achieve personal loan review.
Other than a credit score of at least 640, Achieve typically asks for the following documents and information:
- Proof of income
- Social Security number
- Government-issued ID
- Employment status
Best for: Military personal loans with repayment assistance – Discover
- Willing to work with you if you’re having trouble making payments
- No upfront (origination) fees
- Customer service is based in the U.S. and is available seven days a week
- Hard to qualify for
- Can’t get a loan with another person
Discover offers repayment assistance programs to get you back on track if you’re having trouble making payments on your military loan. For instance, its short-term assistance program will temporarily lower your payments to make them easier to handle. Plus, its U.S.-based loan specialists are available until 11 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays and 6 p.m. Eastern time on weekends if you have questions.
Borrowers with bad credit are typically not eligible for a Discover loan, and you can’t add a co-borrower, either.
Read our full Discover personal loan review.
You’ll need to meet these eligibility criteria to get a Discover loan:
- Age: Be at least 18
- Citizenship: Have a Social Security number
- Administrative: Have a physical address, an email address and internet access
- Income: Minimum income of $40,000 (individually or as a household)
- Credit score: 720+
Best for: Military personal loans for excellent credit – LightStream
- Low rates for borrowers with excellent credit
- Offers up to Not specified (many loans max out at $50,000)
- Has a satisfaction guarantee
- Must take out at least Not specified
- Won’t qualify if you have fair or bad credit
- Can’t check rates without damaging your credit
Military members with excellent credit can qualify for some of the lowest rates on the market with LightStream. You can borrow up to Not specified without paying any upfront fees, making LightStream a good choice for a large expense. What’s more, LightStream may send you $100 if you’re not satisfied with your loan experience.
Note that LightStream only approves borrowers with good to excellent credit, you can’t prequalify to see if you’re eligible.
Read our full LightStream personal loan review.
LightStream doesn’t specify its exact credit score requirements, but you must have good to excellent credit to qualify. Most of the applicants that LightStream approves have the following in common:
- At least five years of on-time payments under a variety of accounts (credit cards, auto loans, etc.)
- Stable income and the ability to handle paying their current debt obligations
- Savings, whether in a bank account, an investment account or a retirement account
Best for: Quick military personal loans – SoFi
- Can get money the day you sign
- Borrow up to $100,000.00 (many loans max out at $50,000)
- No late payment fees
- Must take out at least $5,000.00
- Must have at least good credit to qualify
- May need to pay upfront fee to get lowest rates
SoFi is ideal for military members who need a quick loan, as long as they have good credit or better. Same-day loans aren’t terribly uncommon, but most lenders have a mid-afternoon application cutoff time. Any later than the cutoff, you’ll have to wait until the next day to get your loan. At SoFi, you’ll have until 6 p.m. Eastern time to sign your documents.
SoFi doesn’t charge any required fees, but you can choose to pay an upfront loan processing fee called an origination fee to get a lower interest rate. Also, look elsewhere if you need a small loan, since the smallest loan SoFi offers is $5,000.00.
Read our full SoFi personal loan review.
You must meet the requirements below in order to get a loan from SoFi:
- Age: Be the age of majority in your state (typically 18)
- Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen, an eligible permanent resident or a non-permanent resident (a DACA recipient or an asylum-seeker, for instance)
- Employment: Have a job or job offer with a start date within 90 days, or have regular income from another source
- Credit score: 680+
Best for: Military personal loans for bad credit – Upstart
- One of the lowest credit score requirements on the market
- If you graduated from college, you might not need a credit score at all to qualify
- Borrow as little as $1,000.00
- May charge a high upfront fee
- Bad-credit loans can be helpful, but they usually have high rates
- Only offers two repayment lengths (36 or 60 months)
Upstart isn’t military-specific, but this lending platform does serve non-traditional borrowers, including those with lower credit scores. If you need a bad-credit loan, you can qualify with Upstart with a score as low as 300 — one of the lowest thresholds on the market. But watch out for Upstart’s rates. If you have bad credit, you’ll likely pay rates close to 36%.
If you have excellent credit, lenders on the Upstart platform offer some of the most competitive starting interest rates. That said, Upstart may charge you a high upfront loan processing fee called an origination fee.
Read our full Upstart personal loan review.
Upstart has transparent eligibility requirements, including:
- Age: Be 18 or older
- Administrative: Have a U.S. address, personal banking account, email address and Social Security number
- Income: Have a valid source of income, including a job, job offer or another regular income source
- Credit-related factors: No bankruptcies within the last three years, reasonable number of recent inquiries on your credit report and no current delinquencies
- Credit score: 300+ (unless you’re an eligible college student or graduate, in which case Upstart could approve you with no credit)
What to know about military personal loans
Whether you’re looking to consolidate debt or you need cash for an unexpected expense, a personal loan can help you get back on your feet (when used responsibly).Lenders like Navy Federal Credit Union and USAA Bank specialize in serving military members, but members of the armed forces can get loans from any lender as long as they follow the rules in the Military Lending Act (MLA).
Some special rules and benefits apply to loans for military members and their eligible dependents. Here’s what you need to know:
| Loans opened during service | Loans opened pre-service |
|---|---|
Under the MLA, loans offered to active-duty military members, their spouses and certain dependents must not:
| The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) can help active-duty military (and at times, their dependents) by:
|
The MLA applies to installment loans, including unsecured personal loans. This list of benefits and protections is just a general guideline. For more information regarding your specific situation, contact a legal professional who is well-versed in military law.
Applying for a military personal loan
Although the process of applying for a personal loan is similar for military members and civilians, there are two key differences:
- Some loans will not be available to you because of MLA restrictions, so your pool of potential lenders may be smaller. For instance, many no-credit-check loans come with APRs above 36%, making them unavailable to active military members.
- You’ll need to provide proof of service if you’re applying for a loan only open to military members. This may include providing information about your branch, rank and date of service.
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Grants for veterans and other financial assistance
The MLA and SCRA provide protections for active-duty military, but they don’t apply to personal loans for veterans. For that reason, it’s especially important for veterans to ensure they aren’t taking out a loan with predatory rates and terms.
When personal loans aren’t an option, veterans can find financial help through nonprofit organizations and government programs.
If you think you may be eligible for VA benefits but are having a hard time navigating the system, make an appointment with your local Veteran Service Officer (VSO). A VSO’s main duty is to help veterans find and use their benefits, all for free.
Operation First Response
Open to: Disabled veterans, first responders and their families
Disabled veterans and their families can get financial assistance through Operation First Response. This charity’s Family Assistance Program provides funds for groceries, utility bills, mortgage payments and other everyday items.
USA Cares
Open to: Post-9/11 military members and their families
USA Cares provides emergency financial assistance for military members who served after 9/11. This organization also focuses on getting veterans set up for a successful post-military life by providing career transition training.
VFW’s Unmet Needs
Open to: Active-duty servicemembers and their families
Active-duty servicemembers experiencing financial hardship due to deployment or military-related injury could qualify for a grant of up to $2,500 through VFW’s Unmet Needs program. These funds can be used for “daily necessities,” which could include mortgage payments, child care, vehicle repairs and other expenses.
HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing
Open to: Homeless veterans and their families
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has partnered with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to create the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, otherwise known as HUD-VASH.
HUD-VASH helps homeless veterans and their families by providing housing assistance through a dedicated case manager.
Frequently asked questions
You can get a loan in the military, as long as the lender follows the MLA. That means you aren’t allowed to get a loan that has a rate higher than 36%, and lenders can’t charge you prepayment penalties.
If you’re looking to get a loan from the military, note that the VA itself doesn’t provide personal loans (just home loans).
Regardless of your military status, the credit score you need for a personal loan varies from lender to lender. Upstart is a good lender to start with if you have bad credit. It only requires a credit score of 300, and it waives its credit requirements for eligible college students and grads. Upstart also caps its rates at 35.99%, so it falls under MLA guidelines.
The Military Lending Act makes it illegal for lenders to offer loans with interest rates above 36% to members of the military. Since payday loans come with high rates, military members can’t get them.
Our methodology
We reviewed more than 30 lenders to determine the overall best seven personal loans. To make our list, lenders must offer personal loans with competitive APRs. From there, we prioritized lenders that cater to military members. We also based our ranking decision on the following factors:
Accessibility. Lenders are ranked higher if their personal loans are available to more people and require fewer conditions. This may include lower credit requirements, wider geographic availability, faster funding and easier and more transparent prequalification and application processes.
Rates and terms. We prioritize lenders with more competitive fixed rates, fewer fees and greater options for repayment terms, loan amounts and APR discounts.
Repayment experience. For starters, we consider each lender’s reputation and business practices. We also favor lenders that report to all major credit bureaus, offer reliable customer service and provide any unique perks to customers, like free wealth coaching.
Based on our systematic rating and review process, the best military loans come from Navy Federal Credit Union, USAA, Achieve, Discover, LightStream, SoFi and Upstart.
While they didn’t make our shortlist, Omni Military Loans, Armed Forces Bank and Service Credit Union offer loans specifically for military members.