Navy Federal Personal Loans: 2024 Review

Navy Federal Credit Union offers a wide range of personal loan amounts and numerous repayment terms to choose from, making it a flexible option for borrowers. Personal loans are available only to existing Navy Federal members, which include military members and their families.

To be eligible for membership at Navy Federal, you must be one of the following:

• Active duty, retired or a veteran in any branch of the military.

• Immediate family or a household member of a service member.

• Department of Defense civilians.

» MORE: Top credit unions for personal loans

Table of Contents

Navy Federal personal loans at a glance

Where Navy Federal personal loans stand out and fall short

How to use Navy Federal personal loans

Navy Federal personal loan customer reviews

Do you qualify for a Navy Federal personal loan?

How to apply for a Navy Federal personal loan

Compare Navy Federal to other lenders

How we rate Navy Federal personal loans

Navy Federal personal loans at a glance

^ Back to table of contents

Where Navy Federal personal loans stand out

Wide range of loan amounts: Borrowers can choose loan amounts from $250 to $50,000 when applying for a personal loan at Navy Federal. This is an especially wide range among lenders and could make the loan a fit for a small expense like an emergency repair or something larger like a home improvement project.

» MORE: Best home improvement loans

Term availability: For most loans, repayment terms range from one to five years, but borrowers funding home improvement projects have more choices. With a $25,000 minimum loan amount, you could qualify for a term from five to seven years. With a $30,000 minimum, you could qualify for a term of up to 15 years.

Co-signed, joint and secured loans: Members can add a co-signer or co-borrower to their application. Adding someone with better credit or higher income can help your chances of getting a lower rate or a higher loan amount. While both co-signers and co-borrowers are responsible for missed payments, co-signers do not have access to the funds.

Borrowers can also secure their loan with a Navy Federal savings account or CD, which could help them qualify for a lower rate. Depending on the account you choose and your loan term, your APR would be the share (savings) rate or certificate rate, plus 2% to 3%.

Rate discount for military members: If you’re active duty or retired military, you may qualify for a 0.25 percentage point discount on your loan’s APR, which lowers the interest you’ll pay on the loan. You must apply at a branch or by phone to receive the discount.

Fast funding: According to the lender, most Navy Federal members receive their loan funds the same day they’re approved, making the lender a strong fit for borrowers who need quick cash.

Where Navy Federal personal loans fall short

No option to pre-qualify: Navy Federal does not offer the option to pre-qualify for its loan. Pre-qualification used to be harder to come by with bank and credit union personal loans, but these days most lenders let you check your rate with no hard credit pull. Pre-qualifying with multiple lenders allows you to compare potential loan offers before formally applying.

» COMPARE: Best online personal loans

No option to change payment date: Navy Federal allows borrowers to choose their payment date before signing the loan agreement. However, you can't change the date after signing. Payment flexibility is helpful for borrowers if their payday or monthly obligations change over the life of the loan.

May need to call to finish your application: If you’re applying for a home improvement, debt consolidation or secured loan, you’ll need to call Navy Federal to submit your application, which may be an inconvenience. You also have the option to visit a branch. Applications for general personal expense loans can be submitted online or through the lender’s mobile app.

^ Back to table of contents

How to use Navy Federal personal loans

^ Back to table of contents

Navy Federal personal loan customer reviews

As of August, 2024, Navy Federal has 4.5 stars on Trustpilot, a website that collects consumer reviews. The Trustpilot rating includes reviews across Navy Federal’s suite of financial products, including mortgages and bank accounts. The lender’s mobile app received 4.2 stars across 94,800 reviews on Google Play and 4.9 stars across 767,200 reviews on the Apple App Store.

^ Back to table of contents

Do you qualify for a Navy Federal personal loan?

Navy Federal says its loans are available to borrowers across the credit spectrum, including borrowers with bad credit or thin credit histories, and there’s no minimum credit score requirement. You must be a member of Navy Federal to apply.

Here’s what you need for your application:

• Desired loan amount and term.

• Current employment details and income.

• Contact information, including phone number and email address.

• Personal details of your co-applicant or co-borrower, if applicable.

^ Back to table of contents

How to apply for a Navy Federal personal loan

Here are the steps to apply for a Navy Federal loan.

1. Apply on Navy Federal’s website, call or visit a branch. Since Navy Federal doesn’t let you pre-qualify, your first step is to submit a formal personal loan application. Depending on the loan’s purpose, you can complete the application online, by phone or by visiting a Navy Federal branch. This may require documentation, like W-2s, pay stubs and tax returns, to confirm your information. Navy Federal will do a hard credit check when you apply, so your credit score could temporarily dip. 

2. Make a plan to repay the loan. Navy Federal reports payments to the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian 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.

^ Back to table of contents

Compare Navy Federal to other lenders

Personal loan lenders offer different rates, loan amounts and special features, so it pays to weigh your options. The best personal loan is usually the one with the lowest APR.

Similar to Navy Federal, LightStream and Upgrade offer flexible personal loans with extended terms for large loan amounts and home improvement projects.

LightStream

» MORE: Read our review of LightStream

Upgrade

» MORE: Read our review of Upgrade

^ Back to table of contents

How we rate Navy Federal 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 definitions

  Affordability (30%)

  An affordable loan has low rates and fees compared to other similar loans and may offer rate discounts.

  Underwriting and eligibility (25%)

  The lender reviews borrowers credit reports and credit history, and tries to understand their ability to repay a loan, before making a final application decision.

  Loan flexibility (20%)

  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 (15%)

  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.

  Transparency (10%)

  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.

^ Back to table of contents