USAA 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
USAA offers fast personal loans to members and includes a wide range of loan amounts and terms to choose from.
Pros
- Wide range of loan amounts.
- Wide variety of repayment term options.
- Fast funding.
- Rate discount for autopay.
- Joint loan option.
Cons
- Exclusive to USAA members.
- No option to pre-qualify with a soft credit check.
- No direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
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
USAA provides quickly funded personal loans that can be customized for almost any purpose, thanks to flexible amounts and terms. However, you need to be a USAA member to apply.
To be eligible for membership, you must meet one of the following criteria:
Active duty, guard or reserve military in the U.S. armed forces.
Veterans who have separated or retired with an honorable discharge.
Contracted cadets or midshipmen at U.S. service academies, affiliated academy preparatory schools or advanced ROTC programs, and officer or warrant officer candidates within 24 months of commissioning.
Spouses, widowed and former spouses (who have not remarried) of USAA members who joined USAA before or during the marriage, and children of members.
» MORE: Best personal loans for veterans
Table of Contents
USAA personal loans at a glance
Minimum credit score | Not disclosed. |
APR | 10.19% - 17.74%. |
Fees |
|
Loan amount | $1,000 to $100,000. |
Repayment terms | 1 to 7 years. |
Time to fund after approval | Within one business day. |
Loan availability | Loans available in 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
Where USAA personal loans stand out
Wide variety of loan amounts and terms: Members can borrow between $1,000 and $100,000, making USAA a fit for most financing needs. There’s also a wide range of repayment terms — between one and seven years — depending on the amount you borrow.
For 12- to 36-month terms, you must apply for a $1,000 loan or larger. To receive a 48-month term, you must apply for a $5,000 loan or larger. Financing for 60-, 72- and 84-month terms requires a loan amount of at least $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000, respectively.
Fast funding: USAA offers a fully online process and can fund a loan through ACH within one business day after an application is approved. Fast funding is common among lenders, but some of USAA’s competitors may require an in-person visit or take a few days to deposit the funds in your account.
Option to add a co-borrower: USAA borrowers can apply for a joint loan by adding a co-borrower — someone who has access to the loan proceeds and is equally responsible for repayments. A co-borrower can help you qualify for the loan and potentially receive a lower rate.
Autopay discount: USAA offers a discount of 0.25 percentage points on its annual percentage rate to borrowers who set up automatic payments. This discount encourages borrowers to pay on time.
» MORE: Best bank loans
Where USAA personal loans fall short
No soft credit check: Unlike most lenders, USAA does not offer the option to pre-qualify. Pre-qualifying lets you see your potential loan amounts, rates and terms without affecting your credit score.
No direct payment to creditors: If borrowers want to consolidate credit card or other high-interest debt, they’ll need to send the funds themselves. USAA does not send money directly to creditors, which is a feature offered by many of the best debt consolidation lenders.
How to use USAA personal loans
You can use a USAA personal loan for:
Home improvement projects.
Debt consolidation.
Emergencies.
Medical bills.
Vacations.
Weddings.
Funerals.
Vehicle financing.
USAA prohibits the use of its personal loans for:
College expenses.
USAA personal loan customer reviews
As of September, 2024, USAA has 1.2 stars on Trustpilot, a website that collects consumer reviews. The rating encompasses customer reviews about many products the bank offers, including credit cards and auto insurance. Customer service is a focus of many negative reviews on the site. The bank’s mobile app received 4.8 stars across 234,000 reviews on Google Play and 4.8 stars across 1.6 million reviews on the Apple App Store.
Do you qualify for a USAA personal loan?
USAA does not publicly disclose many of its borrower requirements, but USAA members with good and excellent credit scores (690 credit score or higher) will likely qualify for the lowest rates. USAA also considers debt-to-income ratio when making an approval decision.
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 USAA personal loan
Here are the steps to apply for a USAA loan.
Apply on USAA’s website. Since USAA doesn’t let you pre-qualify, your first step is to submit a formal personal loan application. This could require documentation, like W-2s, pay stubs and tax documents to confirm your information. USAA will also do a hard credit check when you apply, so your credit score could temporarily dip.
Stay on top of your loan payments. USAA reports payments to the three main credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion), so on-time payments will help build your credit, 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 USAA 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.
SoFi and LightStream are two online lenders that offer a wide range loan amounts and repayment terms, similar to USAA.
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. |
LightStream
» MORE: Read our review of LightStream
Minimum credit score | 660. |
APR | 6.99% - 25.29%. |
Fees | No fees. |
Loan amount | $5,000 to $100,000. |
Repayment terms |
|
Time to fund after approval | Same-day funding. |
Loan availability | Loans available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
How we rate USAA 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 (25%)
An affordable loan has low rates and fees compared to other similar loans and may offer rate discounts.
Customer experience (20%)
A good customer experience includes allowing borrowers to choose and change their repayment date, a fully online application process, a mobile app to manage the loan and a customer service team with wide availability.
Underwriting and eligibility (20%)
The lender reviews borrowers’ credit reports and credit history and tries to understand their ability to repay a loan. It offers loans in most states and doesn’t restrict eligibility by requiring a pre-existing relationship.
Application process (20%)
Borrowers can pre-qualify to check their potential rate, loan amount, repayment term and APR without affecting their credit score. They can easily find answers to questions about the personal loan on the lender’s website. The application process is fast enough to allow funding within a couple of days or less.
Loan flexibility (15%)
A flexible loan is one that offers a wide range of loan amounts and repayment term options. It includes common features like additional loan types and direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans.
Discretionary
A lender’s star rating can be reduced if the lender is sued by a state or federal regulator for unfair consumer practices or has been accused by a reputable source of suspicious business practices.
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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.
