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Best Egg Personal Loans Review
Juggling more payments than three circus clowns? It’s time to consider a debt consolidation loan from Best Egg.
- Quick funding
- Can change payment date
- Soft credit pull to check rates
- Origination fee applies
With over $10 billion in loans given out to more than half a million customers, Best Egg is a leader in the fin-tech space. Started in 2014 by financial industry veterans, it has steadily grown throughout the years.
Best Egg makes it easy to apply for a loan in just minutes; you can literally apply on your tablet while waiting in line for your lunch. And more than half of Best Egg loan reviews state that successful applicants received the money that same day. Best Egg loans are geared towards those with good credit, and the lender is transparent about associated fees.We used our proprietary SimpleScore methodology to compare it to other personal loans based on five factors: interest rates, fees, loan terms, customer satisfaction and customer support.
Best Egg at a glance
APR | 5.99%–29.99% |
Loan amount | $2,000–$35,000 |
Terms | 36 to 60 months |
Eligibility Requirements | Legal U.S. citizen or permanent residentOf legal age to have a loanBank account with a routing number that can be verifiedEmail addressPhysical address (does not include a PO Box) |
Best for | People with multiple debts that they want to consolidate into one payment |
Not for | Borrowers with bad credit |
[ Read: Best Credit Reporting Sites of 2020 ]
What we like about it
Quick funding
Completing an application takes just minutes, and you’ll only have a soft pull on your credit report. Typically, Best Egg personal loans are funded same-day or next-day after acceptance, which is faster than some of the competition.
Option to change your payment date
A huge perk of a consolidation loan is not having to juggle half a dozen payment dates, but that doesn’t mean the one Best Egg gives you will be convenient. Its customer service team is happy to reschedule your date so it works for you.
Things to consider
Origination fee
Best Egg personal loan reviews state it charges an origination fee, which some debt consolidation loans don’t charge. Best Egg’s origination fee ranges between 0.99% to 5.99% of the value of the loan. The amount of the fee will be deducted from the amount of your loan, so a $5,000 loan at 4.99% interest $249.50 will be deducted from the $5,000 loan amount and $4750.50 will be deposited into your bank account.
Best Egg vs. the competition
Marcus by Goldman Sachs
SimpleScore: 5/5
Before Marcus, it was nearly impossible to find the words “no fees, ever” anywhere near a personal loan product. But it has introduced a personal loan that is fee-free. This perk comes at a cost: your APR will be higher than comparable loans with modest fees. However, after 12 on-time payments, you have the ability to defer a monthly payment. This could come in handy the next time life throws you an unexpected curveball. Read our full Marcus by Goldman Sachs review to learn more.
One Main Financial
SimpleScore: 3/5
A huge advantage of OneMain is that you can have the funds same-day if you apply and are approved before noon. This is truly great for those emergencies where you need cash ASAP and more traditional personal loans would take too much time. Since anyone can apply, and these are geared towards those on the lower end of the credit score spectrum (read: bad credit), you will find better interest rates elsewhere if you have very good to excellent credit. Read our full One Main Financial review.
SoFi
SimpleScore: 4.6/5
A pioneer in the fin-tech space, SoFi has been around since 2011 and is great for those with similar or better credit scores than someone who qualifies for a Best Egg loan. SoFi requires a minimum credit score of 680, but with that comes a potentially higher line of credit, up to $100,000 for lucky borrowers. The application is fast, and there is no origination fee or late fees. Read our full SoFi review.
[ Read: No Credit Check Loans: How They Work ]
How much will a Best Egg personal loan cost?
The cost of Best Egg loans will vary between customers. You might read a Best Egg review and see that someone is only paying a 5.99% APR, only to apply and find out you were approved for a 10.99% APR. Why the difference? Credit scores and income are two reasons why you may pay more than someone else. In the world of lending, the higher the credit score and income, the lower the interest rate you’ll get. You also need to factor the origination fee into your personal loan cost, plus other fees that Best Egg charges, including $15 late fees.
Cheaper alternatives to Best Egg personal loans
While Best Egg is one of the best options when it comes to consolidating your loans, you might find a cheaper alternative to its loans by paying down your debt by yourself. Fixing up a debt repayment plan — using either the snowball or avalanche methods — can save you more in the long run than taking out another loan. However, you should do the math and determine which options would be cheaper for you.
[ Read: The Simple Guide to Building Credit in 2020 ]
Best Egg in the news
- In December 2019, Yahoo Finance reported Best Egg hired Andrew Deringer, formerly of Lending Club, to help the company expand and evolve. “We are really excited about the future of the business, the consumers we serve and the value proposition we are developing to uniquely address their needs,” said Sabrina DeVito, chief strategy officer.
- Delaware Online reported in March 2020 that Best Egg is moving outside of its current location in Wilmington, Delaware. The additional space will allow 100 more employees to be added to its team. This is necessary as it carries out plans to expand its product line beyond personal loans in the coming future.
- For two consecutive years, Best Egg has taken first place among mid-sized businesses in the Top Workplace awards given out by The News Journal. Employee submissions noted that they feel their employer truly cares and gives generous and helpful perks, including shortened summer hours.
Too long, didn’t read?
When you’re ready to eliminate multiple monthly payments on your various credit cards, medical bills and other debts, a Best Egg consolidation loan is probably right for you if you have good credit. Make obtaining debt freedom a breeze by only having to make a single payment, on a date that works for you, each month.
Last updated October 1, 2020 – Updated editorial review.
We welcome your feedback on this article and would love to hear about your experience with the personal loans we recommend. Contact us at inquiries@thesimpledollar.com with comments or questions.
Methodology
The SimpleScore is a proprietary scoring metric we use to objectively compare products and services at The Simple Dollar.
For every review, our editorial team:
- Identifies five measurable aspects to compare across each brand
- Determines the rating criteria for each aspect score
- Averages the five aspect scores to produce a single SimpleScore
Here’s a breakdown of the five aspect scores and their rating criteria for our review of the best personal loans of 2020.
Why do some brands have different SimpleScores on different pages?
To ensure the SimpleScore is as helpful and accurate as possible, we developed unique criteria for every category we compare at The Simple Dollar. Since most brands offer a variety of financial solutions, their products and services will score differently depending on what we’re scoring on a given page.
However, it’s also possible for the same product from the same brand to have multiple SimpleScores. For instance, if we compare NetCredit’s personal loans according to our criteria for the best personal loans, it scores a 2.3 out of 5. But when we compare NetCredit according to the criteria for the best bad credit personal loans, it scores considerably higher, since the criteria for the latter review are more lenient (lenders who serve borrowers with bad credit will always offer higher rates, so we needed to adjust our category methodology to account for different industry standards).
Questions about our methodology?
Email Hayley Armstrong at hayley@thesimpledollar.com.
Rates
We looked at the maximum APR for each lender — the lower their maximum rate, the higher their score.
Loan Size
We awarded higher scores to lenders with more generous loan sizes.
Customer Satisfaction
We leveraged the J.D. Power 2019 Personal Loan Satisfaction Study℠ to see how customers rated their experience with each lender. (If a lender wasn’t included in J.D. Power’s study, we skipped this aspect and averaged the four remaining aspect scores.)
Support
We awarded higher scores to lenders with the most channels for customer support.
Fees
We looked at the three most common fees — origination, late payment, and pre-payment — and penalized lenders for each fee charged.