Laurel Road Personal Loans: 2024 Review
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- 35+ personal loans reviewed and rated by our team of experts.
- 20+ years of combined experience covering personal loans and financial topics.
- Objective, comprehensive star rating system assessing 20+ categories and 70+ data points.
- Governed by NerdWallet's strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
Our Take
4.5
Laurel Road’s personal loans are a strong fit for good-credit borrowers who qualify for a low rate.
Pros
- No origination fee.
- Rate discount for autopay.
- Option to pre-qualify with a soft credit check.
- Hardship program for borrowers in need.
Cons
- May take up to a week to fund loans.
- No direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans.
- High minimum loan amount.
Lender | Est. APR | Loan amount | Min. credit score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 BEST PERSONAL LOAN OVERALL | 8.99-
29.99% | $5,000-
$100,000 | None | Visit Lenderon SoFi's website on SoFi's website Check Rateson NerdWallet on NerdWallet |
 Visit Lenderon LightStream's website on LightStream's website Check Rateson NerdWallet on NerdWallet | 6.99-
25.29% | $5,000-
$100,000 | 660 | Visit Lenderon LightStream's website on LightStream's website Check Rateson NerdWallet on NerdWallet |
7.99-
24.99% | $2,500-
$40,000 | 660 | Visit Lenderon Discover's website on Discover's website Check Rateson NerdWallet on NerdWallet | |
7.80-
35.99% | $1,000-
$50,000 | None | Visit Lenderon Upstart's website on Upstart's website Check Rateson NerdWallet on NerdWallet | |
9.99-
35.99% | $1,000-
$50,000 | 580 | Visit Lenderon Upgrade's website on Upgrade's website Check Rateson NerdWallet on NerdWallet |
Full Review
Laurel Road is an online lending platform owned by KeyBank that offers personal loans to good- and excellent-credit borrowers (scores above 689). The lender has special personal loan terms for practicing and in-training physicians and dentists.
Laurel Road’s annual percentage rates are competitive with other good-credit lenders, and there’s a rate discount for borrowers who use autopay. Funding time can be up to a week, so borrowers looking for same- or next-day funding should consider other lenders.
» MORE: Fast personal loans
Table of Contents
Laurel Road at a glance
Minimum credit score | 680. |
APR | 8.99% - 23.35%. |
Fees |
|
Loan amount | $5,000 to $45,000. |
Repayment terms | 3 to 5 years. |
Time to fund after approval | Within a week. Approval may take up to 12 days. |
Loan availability | Loans available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
Where Laurel Road personal loans stand out
No origination fee: Laurel Road does not charge an origination fee. Other lenders may charge this fee, which is usually up to 10% of the loan amount that the lender takes before disbursing funds.
Rate discount for autopay: Laurel Road offers a rate discount of 0.25 percentage points for setting up autopay. This discount incentivizes borrowers to make payments on time.
Option to pre-qualify with a soft credit check: Laurel Road allows borrowers to pre-qualify for a personal loan to preview their potential loan offers without a hard credit inquiry. Pre-qualifying lets applicants see their potential APR, repayment term, monthly payment amount and total interest costs and compare them with other loan offers.
Hardship program for borrowers in need: Laurel Road lets borrowers experiencing economic hardship temporarily pause loan payments for a period of up to three months at a time with a maximum forbearance of six months throughout the life of the loan. Borrowers must provide documentation of their financial difficulties, and interest will continue to accrue during the forbearance period.
Loans tailored to health care professionals: Practicing physicians and dentists, or those within one year of completing their training and with a signed employment contract, can borrow up to $80,000 on a personal loan with repayment terms of three, five or seven years.
Full-time interns, residents, fellows or other postgraduate trainees are eligible to make reduced payments on their loans. Any unpaid interest will be added to the loan principal, and regular monthly payments will resume once the borrower has finished training.
Where Laurel Road personal loans fall short
May take up to a week to fund loans: Laurel Road says the average approval time for applicants is 12 days. Funding can take up to one week after approval, which is longer than most other lenders. The lender funds approved loans in batches once a week.
Limited repayment term options: Most borrowers can choose from three repayment options — three, four or five years. Other lenders may offer longer repayment terms, which could make your monthly loan payment more affordable, or shorter repayment terms to reduce the amount of total interest you’ll pay. A seven-year term is available only for health care professionals.
High minimum loan amount: Laurel Road’s minimum loan amount is $5,000, which is high compared to other personal loan lenders, meaning this loan may not be ideal for smaller emergency expenses or consolidating debts of a few thousand dollars.
No direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans: Laurel Road doesn’t directly send loan funds to your other creditors when you get a debt consolidation loan. Direct pay is a common feature among the best debt consolidation lenders because it simplifies the payoff process for the borrower.
How to use Laurel Road personal loans
You can use a Laurel Road personal loan for:
Home improvement projects.
Debt consolidation.
Emergencies.
Medical and dental bills.
Vacations.
Weddings.
Funerals.
Business expenses.
Vehicle financing.
Other large expenses.
Laurel Road prohibits the use of its personal loans for:
Education expenses.
Real estate or property purchases.
Laurel Road personal loan customer reviews
As of September 2024, Laurel Road has 3.2 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, a website that collects consumer reviews. Many of the negative reviews, however, are regarding experiences with Laurel Road’s bank account products and not its personal loans.
The lender’s mobile app received 4.6 stars across over 450 reviews on Google Play and 4.7 stars across 1,800 reviews on Apple’s App Store.
Do you qualify for a Laurel Road personal loan
Laurel Road requires applicants to be either a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident with an I-551 card that is valid for at least 10 years before expiring.
Although Laurel Road does not disclose a minimum income requirement, the lender looks at an applicant’s overall credit history and financial profile to determine eligibility.
Laurel Road’s borrowing requirements
Minimum credit score: 680.
Minimum credit history: Two years and two active accounts.
Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 43%, including housing costs, for most applicants.
Acceptable sources of income: Employment, retirement, alimony, child support, Social Security payments and disability benefits.
- Laurel Road’s average borrower snapshot
Average credit score: 739.
Average annual income: $342,684.
Average debt-to-income ratio: 29%.
Average loan amount: $30,000.
Average APR: 15%.
Most common loan terms: 3 to 4 years.
Most common loan purposes: Debt consolidation.
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 APR 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. Most lenders 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 Laurel Road personal loan
Here are the steps to apply for a Laurel Road loan online.
Pre-qualify on Laurel Road’s website. You’ll be asked for some personal information like your name, birthdate and address. The lender will request information about your income, education and employment history, and then ask for the loan amount and purpose before you can preview loan offers. There’s only a soft credit pull at this stage.
Preview loan offers and accept one that fits your budget. Those who pre-qualify for a Laurel Road personal loan can see multiple loan offers that include the potential APR, repayment term, monthly payment amount and total interest costs. Once you accept a loan offer, you’ll submit a formal personal loan application. This may require supporting documents, like pay stubs and tax documents, to confirm the information you gave during pre-qualification. Laurel Road will also do a hard credit check when you apply, so your credit score could temporarily dip.
Make a plan to repay the loan. Laurel Road reports payments to all three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion), so on-time payments will help build your credit score, but 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 Laurel Road 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.
Like Laurel Road, Santander and SoFi are options for good- to excellent-credit borrowers to get mid-sized personal loans. However, Santander lends in a limited number of states, and SoFi offers larger loans than Laurel Road.
Santander
» MORE: Read our review of Santander
Minimum credit score | 700. |
APR | 7.99% - 24.99%. |
Fees | Late fee: $20 or 10% of loan payment. |
Loan amount | $5,000 to $50,000. |
Repayment terms | 3 to 7 years. |
Time to fund after approval | 1 to 2 days. |
Loan availability | Loans are available in AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA and Washington, D.C. |
SoFi
» MORE: Read our review of SoFi
Minimum credit score | None. |
APR | 8.99% - 29.99%. |
Fees | Optional origination fee: 0% to 7%. |
Loan amount | $5,000 to $100,000. |
Repayment terms | 2 to 7 years. |
Time to fund after approval | Same-day funding. |
Loan availability | Loans available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
How we rate Laurel Road 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 | |
Customer experience | |
Underwriting and eligibility | |
Loan flexibility | |
Application process | |
Overall |
- Category definitions
Affordability An affordable loan has low rates and fees compared to other similar loans and may offer rate discounts. Transparency A transparent lender makes information about the loan easy to find on its website, including rates, terms and loan amounts. Transparency also means allowing users to pre-qualify online to preview potential loan offers and reporting payment information with the major credit bureaus. Loan flexibility A flexible loan is one that lets users customize terms and payments. That means offering a wide range of repayment term options, allowing the borrower to change their payment date, offering loans in most states and funding it quickly. Customer experience A good customer experience can include a fully online application process, financial education on the lender’s website and a customer service team that’s available most of the time and can be reached multiple ways.
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Find the Best Personal Loan
NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 35 financial technology companies and financial institutions. We collect over 50 data points and cross-check company websites, earnings reports and other public documents to confirm product details. We may also go through a lender’s pre-qualification flow and follow up with company representatives. 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. Our ratings award fewer points to lenders with practices that may make a loan difficult to repay on time, such as charging high annual percentage rates (above 36%), underwriting that does not adequately assess consumers’ ability to repay and lack of credit-building help. 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.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for our star ratings. Read more about our ratings methodologies for personal loans and our editorial guidelines.
