Best Egg Personal Loans: 2022 Review

Best Egg is an online lender that offers personal loans for borrowers with fair or good credit.

Best Egg personal loan amounts range from $2,000 to $50,000 (although some states have different minimum amounts), and repayment terms are three or five years. Borrowers can use their loan to consolidate debt or refinance credit cards, but you can also use the loan to cover major expenses.

Offers direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans: Best Egg sends loan payments directly to creditors on debt consolidation loans for committed borrowers. This feature takes the work of repaying individual creditors out of the hands of borrowers and eliminates the temptation to spend the money elsewhere.

Wide range of loan amount: Borrowers have the option of taking out loans from $2,000 to $50,000, giving you the flexibility to cover smaller or larger expenses associated with events like moving, home improvement projects, or weddings.

Guaranteed loans: Best Egg offers both unsecured and secured personal loans. The guaranteed loan is similar to a home equity loan, but it uses appliances permanently attached to your home, like your water heater, ceiling fans, or window shutters, as collateral instead of your entire home. Once approved, you can receive funding in one to three days. If a borrower defaults on the loan, Best Egg can repossess the collateral.

Free access to credit score: Personal loan customers can access their credit score through their Best Egg account, allowing borrowers to see how on-time payments are benefiting their credit score over time.

No discounts: Unlike other lenders, Best Egg does not offer an additional rate reduction for setting up automatic payments. Other lenders generally reduce interest rates by 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points to encourage borrowers to choose automatic payments.

Creation costs: Best Egg charges setup fees ranging from 0.99% to 5.99%. Not all lenders charge an origination fee, but Best Egg’s fee is low compared to other lenders who charge one.

No mobile app: Best Egg does not offer a mobile application to manage your loan. Many online lenders have mobile apps where borrowers can make payments and track the progress of their loans.

• Minimum credit score: 600.

• Minimum annual income: $3,500.

• Minimum debt ratio: 40% or 65% including a mortgage.

• Employment: Must provide proof of income; part-time employees are eligible.

• Must provide a valid US address and social security number.

Here are the steps to apply for a Best Egg loan.

1. Pre-qualified on the Best Egg website. You will be asked how much you want to borrow and what the funds are used for, along with personal information such as your name, date of birth and address. Next, the lender will ask you for information about your income, employment, and whether you own your home before they can preview loan offers. There is no hard credit at this point.

2. Preview loan offers and accept the one that fits your budget. Once you are ready to accept a loan offer, you will submit a formal application personal loan application. This might require more documentation, like W-2s, pay stubs, and bank statements to confirm the information you provided during pre-qualification. Best Egg will also perform a rigorous credit check when you apply, so your credit score may temporarily drop.

3. Make a plan to repay the loan. Best Egg reports payment to the three major credit bureaus, so on-time payments will help build your credit score, but missed payments will hurt it. Setting up automatic payments and keeping tabs on your budget are two ways to manage your loan repayments.

Compare Best Egg with other lenders to decide which is right for you. Lenders offer different rates, loan amounts, and special features, so it pays to weigh the alternatives.

Like Best Egg, Prosper personal loans are suitable for borrowers with fair or good credit (630 to 719 FICO). Prosper offers similar loan amounts and repayment term options, but may take longer to fund a loan. Unlike Best Egg, Prosper doesn’t directly pay your other creditors when you get a debt consolidation loan.

A Marcus personal loan is ideal for debt consolidation. Unlike Best Egg, Marcus charges no fees, offers a rate discount for setting up automatic payments, and offers nine different repayment term options. Marcus is looking for a borrower with slightly better credit than Best Egg.

NerdWallet’s editorial team evaluates and ranks traditional lenders in four categories. The maximum score a lender can obtain in each category is five. Here’s how Best Egg ranks in each category: