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Marcus by Goldman Sachs Personal Loans Review
Marcus makes borrowing simple and refreshingly pleasant — absolutely no fees is hard to find in the personal lending sphere.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs is reinventing loans by providing a transparent way to borrow money. Marcus loans don’t have any fees — not even late payment fees — so you know what you’re getting up-front. Marcus by Goldman Sachs reviews are positive, with high customer satisfaction, easy online application and extremely competitive rates, making it one of the best personal loan providers.
Marcus at a glance
| Lender | Loan Amount | APR Range | Terms | Key Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus | $3,500 to $40,000 | 6.99% to 19.99% | 36 to 72 months | No fees whatsoever |
Rates accurate as of July 30, 2020
What we like about it
Marcus claims “Truly, no fees. Ever.” Many lenders charge loan origination fees, application fees, and late fees which often make it hard to find its fee disclosure. You won’t have to worry about the extra charges from Marcus loans.
Another unique feature is Marcus’ deferral program — the lender lets you defer one monthly payment every time you make 12 on-time payments. This could come in handy to set aside some money for savings or if you have a larger bill coming up.
Credit-worthy borrowers will qualify for a competitive 6.99% interest rate and don’t risk their credit score checking — Marcus only performs a soft inquiry on your credit to give you an accurate interest rate.
Things to consider
There are a couple of important factors you should keep an eye on before you sign on the Marcus loans dotted line. Individuals with a lower credit score and/or those who’d like a longer term to repay their loan may end up with a high interest rate of up to 19.99% APR.
As for couples hoping to pay for a wedding or rebuild credit together, Marcus doesn’t allow for joint loans. If you have a low credit score or need a loan that allows joint borrowers, you’ll need to look at other personal loan alternatives.
What you need to know
Here’s the breakdown on how Marcus loans work. You may borrow an amount between $3,500 and $40,000 for a term of up to 72 months. Marcus provides debt consolidation loans, personal loans or home improvement loans. You may use the funds for nearly anything except student loans or educational expenses.
Individuals with higher credit scores looking for shorter repayment periods are more likely to qualify for the low 6.99% APR. If you have a lower credit score, you may want to shop around for other personal loan offers — Marcus loans come with an APR of as high as 19.99%.
Applying for a loan is simple and you don’t have to worry about impacting your credit score from a hard credit pull. That’s because Marcus performs a soft inquiry to accurately quote you how much it will cost you to take out a loan. The whole process happens online. Here’s how to apply for Marcus loans:
- Visit the Marcus loans online application page
- Choose the type of loan you need
- Enter the desired loan amount and term
- Provide your personal details such as name, address, email address, date of birth, income and your rental or mortgage payment amount
You’ll receive a loan quote detailing your interest rate and amount of your monthly payment. If you agree to the offer, you’ll need to upload or email documents, such as your government-issued photo ID, bank statements, banking information for where the funds will be deposited and Social Security number. Verification will take a few days at which point you’ll receive a loan agreement to sign and the funding you asked for.
Collateral and criteria
Marcus doesn’t have a wide range of loan products yet. The financial institution currently only offers unsecured loans. As with all unsecured loans, the approval of your loan is based on your credit score, income and the financial institution’s perception of your ability to repay the loan. You won’t have to put up any assets for collateral, such as a vehicle, home or other valuable to qualify. If you have credit history challenges that would make it hard to qualify for an unsecured loan, you’ll have to look at other lenders that offer secured loans.
Marcus vs. Lightstream
Marcus by Goldman Sachs and Lightstream are two online lenders offering a variety of personal loans. Lightstream ups the ante by providing loans between $5,000 and $100,000 with terms of up to 12 years, compared to Marcus’s $40,000 lending limit. Both lenders provide loans to customers with good credit. If you had to choose between the two, Lightstream may win the better lender title. You’ll be able to borrow higher amounts for longer terms. And customers with the best credit scores will get better rates from Lightstream — its APRs are 3.99% to 19.99%.
Marcus vs. Avant
Avant can also be considered an apples-to-apples comparison of online lenders. You can borrow between $2,000 and $35,000, making it a good option when you need to cover an emergency, such as a car breakdown, or a larger expense. In an Avant vs. Marcus loans comparison, Marcus wins. Marcus has better interest rates — 5.99% to 19.99%, compared to Avant’s 9.95%–35.99%. You have up to 72 months to repay your Marcus loans, compared to Avant’s 60 months. It doesn’t mean Avant should be ruled out; Avant is more accessible due to its lower credit score requirements than Marcus.
Too long, didn’t read?
Marcus loans are a great borrowing option for people with good credit who need a debt consolidation loan or money to fund a honeymoon, wedding or other personal expense. The application process is simple and transparent. There are no fees tacked on to the loan and you’ll know exactly how much your interest rate is after a short application that uses a soft inquiry to review your eligibility without affecting your credit score.
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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.
