Citizens Bank Personal Loan Review
While Citizens Bank still oversees its currently existing personal loans, this lender no longer offers new personal loans to consumers. Formerly, Citizens Bank offered personal loans for a variety of purposes. However, a few years ago, the lender decided to stop originating new loans. If you’re shopping around for a personal loan, read on to learn about other alternatives to consider.
Alternatives to Citizens Bank personal loans
Because Citizens Bank no longer offers personal loans, it’s important to shop around and compare other lenders. Here are several similar personal loan lenders that may serve as good alternatives.
| Best Egg | Discover | SoFi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LendingTree’s Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.5/5 |
| Minimum credit score | 580 | 720 | 680 |
| APRs | 6.99% - 35.99% | 7.99% - 24.99% | 8.99% - 29.99% (with discounts) |
| Loan amounts | $2,000 - $50,000 | $2,500 - $40,000 | $5,000 - $100,000 |
| Repayment term | 36 to 60 months | 36 to 84 months | 24 to 84 months |
| Origination fee | 0.99% - 9.99% | None | 0.00% - 7.00% (optional) |
| Funding timeline | Receive funds within one to three business days | Receive funds as soon as one business day | As soon as the same business day |
| Bottom line | Best Egg offers borrowers competitive rates and a flexible loan range, but its limited repayment terms and origination fee may give some consumers pause. | Discover's quick funding and flexible loan terms may make this a good contender for good-credit borrowers. However, its low loan amounts may not be a good fit for borrowers looking for large loans. | With its option for same-day funding, high borrowing cap, and flexible terms, SoFi could be a strong option. However, since its loan amounts start at $5,000, it may not be a fit if you only need to finance a small amount. |
Best Egg
With amounts ranging from $2,000 – $50,000, Best Egg offers a similar loan range to what Citizens Bank previously offered. While Best Egg’s repayment terms are limited to either 36 to 60 months, you can receive funds as soon as one business day after loan approval. Best Egg customers may have to pay an origination fee of 6.99% to 35.99%.
Read our Best Egg personal loan review to learn more.
Discover
With Discover, you won’t have to worry about paying an origination fee, which sometimes comes with personal loans. However, you may be charged a late fee if you don’t pay on time. While Discover doesn’t have as flexible of a loan amount range as Citizens Bank once did — $2,500 to $40,000 — this lender does provide repayment terms that stretch out longer than some other lenders (36 to 84 months).
Read our Discover personal loan review to learn more.
SoFi
SoFi only charges personal loan borrowers an optional 0.00% - 7.00% origination fee they can accept in exchange for lower rates. On top of that, this lender also offers borrowers fast funding and large loan amounts. However, Sofi has a higher minimum credit score requirement (680), so those with lower scores may not qualify.
Read our SoFi personal loan review to learn more.
How we rate our lenders
To come up with our star rating for personal loan companies, LendingTree considered 22 data points across three categories:
- Accessibility: We paid attention to whether lenders offered loans to nontraditional borrowers, as well as those without excellent credit scores. We also checked if lenders offered soft-credit pulls, and whether they were transparent about eligibility criteria other than credit scores.
- Rates and terms: We wanted to know if lender rates, terms, amounts and fees were not only transparent, but competitive.
- Repayment experience: We based this category on lenders’ reputations, customer support availability and unique benefits.
The data points reflect every step of the process to shop and apply for, borrow and repay personal loans. A five-star lender, for instance, has flexible eligibility requirements, offers you the chance to prequalify without commitment and supports you in zeroing your balance.
The 22 data points, culled from the lenders themselves, determine the overall rating. We score lenders consistently, sometimes awarding partial points, so that you can make apples-to-apples comparisons when shopping around.
LendingTree isn’t paid for conducting these reviews, and lenders don’t have control over their content. With our reviews and ratings, we aim to give our users the objective and exhaustive information they need to make the best possible decisions.
Frequently asked questions
No — Citizens Bank previously offered consumers personal loans. The company has since ended its personal loan product, though it still services its existing personal loans.
The relative ease to which you can get a personal loan depends on the lender and its personal loan borrowing requirements. Banks such as PNC Bank, TD Bank and Wells Fargo all offer personal loans to eligible borrowers.
To pay off your Citizens Bank loan, you’ll need to log-in to your account on the lender’s website. Citizens Bank does not charge a prepayment penalty, so you won’t be charged a fee if you repay your loan early.