Reach Financial Personal Loans: 2023 Review
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Our Take
4.0
The bottom line:
Reach Financial personal loans are suitable for good-credit borrowers looking to consolidate credit card debt. Loans are funded fast, but they lack some key features offered by other lenders.
Full Review
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Pros & Cons
Pros
- Direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
- Fast funding.
- Customizable repayment terms.
- Hardship program may include 90-day payment pause.
Cons
- May charge an origination fee.
- Reports payments to only one of the three major credit bureaus.
- No joint, co-signed or secured loan options.
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Full Review of Reach Financial Personal Loans
Reach Financial currently offers personal loans only for credit card consolidation.
Reach loans have fast funding and more flexible repayment terms than many other lenders, but repayments aren’t reported to all three credit bureaus. Reach also doesn’t offer loan types other than unsecured.
This lender’s credit and income requirements are somewhat softer than other good-credit lenders — its minimum income requirement is $1,000 per month — but applicants still need a solid history of on-time payments toward credit cards and other debts to qualify.
» MORE: Compare personal loans
Table of Contents
Reach Financial personal loans at a glance
Minimum credit score | 640. |
APR | 5.99% - 35.99%. |
Fees |
|
Loan amount | $3,500 to $40,000. |
Repayment terms | 2 to 5 years. |
Time to fund after approval | 1 to 2 business days. |
Loan availability | Loans not available in CO, CT, ME, NV, NH, OR, RI, TN, UT, VT, WV or WY. |
Where Reach Financial personal loans stand out
Direct payment to creditors: Reach personal loans can only be used for credit card consolidation, and the lender sends the money directly to your creditors rather than depositing it into your bank account, according to the lender. This feature eliminates the extra step of paying off the debts yourself.
Customizable repayment terms: Reach allows pre-qualified applicants to choose any repayment term from 24 to 60 months — a feature that no other lender offers. This feature allows borrowers to see how different repayment terms affect monthly payments and gives them a preferred timeline to clear their debts. Your first payment is due 15 to 45 days after the day of consolidation.
Fast funding: Reach says it takes about one to two days to approve an application — a little slower than some competitors — and about 90% of loans are funded within one day of approval. Reach sends the funds to your creditors, which can take extra time. Keep repaying your debts until you see the account balances at zero to avoid missed payments while the funds are processing.
» MORE: Personal loans with fast funding
Hardship program may include a 90-day payment pause: Borrowers struggling to make payments can request a payment pause for up to 90 days. The lender says borrowers must submit a hardship request and provide documentation to determine whether they qualify. If approved, interest will still accrue on the loan during the pause, according to Reach.
Where Reach Financial personal loans fall short
May charge an origination fee: Borrowers may be charged an origination fee up to 8% of the loan amount. This is a fee that a lender takes from the loan after you’re approved but before the loan is funded. It reduces your total loan amount, so be sure what’s left over is enough to pay off your other debts.
Reports payments to one of three major credit bureaus: Reach Financial reports personal loan payments to Experian, but not Equifax or TransUnion. This means if you later apply for credit with a lender that only checks TransUnion, that lender won’t see your payment history from Reach. Choosing a lender that reports to all three credit bureaus ensures you’ll get credit for on-time payments.
No joint, co-signed or secured loans: Reach only provides unsecured personal loans. Borrowers can’t get a co-signed or joint personal loan with someone who has better credit and income. Reach also doesn’t provide secured loans backed by a vehicle or bank account. Co-signed, joint and secured loans typically have lower rates than unsecured loans.
How to qualify for a Reach Financial personal loan
Most lenders have basic requirements to apply, and some have financial requirements or recommendations to qualify.
To apply for a Reach Financial personal loan, you must:
Be a U.S. citizen.
Be at least 21 years old.
Have a Social Security number.
Here are the lender’s minimum requirements to qualify for a loan. (Meeting these requirements doesn’t guarantee approval.)
Minimum credit score: 640. Reach Financial uses FICO version 9 and VantageScore version 4.
Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 50% with a strong credit history, but Reach prefers a DTI of 40% or less.
Minimum monthly income: $1,000. This lender accepts income from employment, retirement and Social Security payments.
Minimum credit history: Three years and one account.
Here are details about Reach Financial’s average borrower, according to the lender:
Average credit score: 685 to 700.
Average annual income: $70,000.
Average loan amount: $19,000.
Typical repayment term: 3 to 5 years.
Average APR: 13% to 15%.
Before you apply
Check your credit. You can get your free credit report on NerdWallet or at AnnualCreditReport.com. Doing so will help you spot and fix any errors before you apply.
Calculate your monthly payments. Use a personal loan calculator to determine what annual percentage rate and repayment term you’d need to get a loan with affordable monthly payments.
Make a plan to repay the loan. Review your budget to see how the loan’s monthly payments impact your cash flow. If you have to cut other expenses in order to repay the loan, it’s better to know that before you borrow.
Gather your documents. Reach Financial may require proof of income, which can be a W-2 or paystub, as well as proof of address and a Social Security number. Having these documents handy can speed the application process.
How to apply for a Reach Financial personal loan
Here are the steps to apply for a Reach Financial loan.
Pre-qualify on Reach Financial’s website. To pre-qualify, you’ll enter your name, email, phone number, birth date, address and information about your employment and income. Reach’s pre-qualification process is shorter than many other lenders’. There is no hard credit pull at this stage.
Preview loan offers and accept the one that fits your budget. Pre-qualified applicants will see a loan offer that includes loan amount, repayment term, APR and the monthly payment. At this stage, an applicant can choose any repayment term from 24 to 60 months, as well as whether they’d like to make bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly payments. Once you choose the loan offer that fits your budget, you’re ready to submit a formal loan application, at which time there is a hard credit pull.
Stay on top of your loan payments. Reach Financial reports payments to just one credit bureau, but on-time payments can still help build your credit score, while missed payments will hurt it. Setting up automatic payments and keeping an eye on your budget are two ways to manage your loan payments.
Compare Reach Financial to other lenders
Personal loan lenders offer different rates, loan amounts and special features, so it pays to weigh other options. The best personal loan is usually the one with the lowest APR.
Discover and Upgrade accept good-credit borrowers and report payments to all three major credit bureaus. These lenders provide loans for almost any purpose, including debt consolidation.
Reach Financial vs. Discover
Discover’s borrower requirements are higher than Reach’s, but rates may be lower. Like Reach, Discover stands out for debt consolidation because of its direct pay feature and an online consolidation calculator showing your potential savings. Discover doesn’t charge an origination fee and has repayment terms up to seven years.
If you’re choosing a personal loan to consolidate debt and can qualify for a better rate, Discover may be the better option.
» MORE: NerdWallet’s Discover review
Reach Financial vs. Upgrade
Upgrade’s personal loans stand out for debt consolidation, but they can be used for almost anything. This lender has softer borrower requirements than Reach and offers joint and secured loans. Upgrade’s repayment terms and loan amounts are also wider than Reach’s, which may make it suitable for a home improvement project.
Unlike Reach, Upgrade customers can’t choose their initial payment date, and Upgrade doesn’t have a feature like Reach’s 90-day payment pause.
If you want a personal loan for something other than debt consolidation, Upgrade is worth considering.
» MORE: NerdWallet’s Upgrade review
How we rate Reach Financial personal loans
NerdWallet writers rate lenders against a rubric that changes each year based on how personal loan products evolve. Here’s what we prioritized this year:
Category | Star rating |
|---|---|
Affordability | |
Transparency | |
Loan flexibility | |
Customer experience | |
Overall |
Ready to apply? Click the button below and head to Reach Financial's website to pre-qualify.
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Methodology
Personal Loans Rating Methodology
NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 35 financial institutions. We collect over 45 data points from each lender, interview company representatives and compare the lender with others that seek the same customer or offer a similar personal loan product. NerdWallet writers and editors conduct a full fact check and update annually, but also make updates throughout the year as necessary.
Our star ratings award points to lenders that offer consumer-friendly features, including: soft credit checks to pre-qualify, competitive interest rates and no fees, transparency of rates and terms, flexible payment options, fast funding times, accessible customer service, reporting of payments to credit bureaus and financial education. We also consider regulatory actions filed by agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We weigh these factors based on our assessment of which are the most important to consumers and how meaningfully they impact consumers’ experiences.
This methodology applies only to lenders that cap interest rates at 36%, the maximum rate most financial experts and consumer advocates agree is the acceptable limit for a loan to be affordable. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for our star ratings. Read more about our ratings methodologies for personal loans and our editorial guidelines.
