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Mariner Finance Personal Loans Review
Mariner Finance may not be a household name quite yet, but the company has grown tremendously since its founding in 2002. Currently, the company boasts 470 branches in 25 states, although you can apply for many of Mariner’s financial products — including their personal loans, up to certain limits — online no matter where you live.
Set sail on a new personal loan from Mariner Finance — just be ready for high seas via interest rates.
- Accepts bad credit
- Soft credit pull to check rates
- Personalized customer service
- High APRS
- Not available in every state
Currently, Mariner offers home loans, auto loans, and personal loans along with a variety of financial resources aimed at helping consumers improve their financial lives. However, their personal loans have become an especially popular option for consumers who need personal loans for poor credit.
If you’re in the market for a personal loan, Mariner Finance may offer exactly what you need.
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Mariner financial products: Key takeaways
- Borrow between $1,000 and $25,000 depending on your state of residency.
- Interest rates range between 18.99% and 35.99% APR.
- Repayment terms range from 1 to 4 years.
- A minimum credit score of 600 is required.
Mariner financial lending: Personal loans for bad credit
If you’re struggling with payday loans or have other debts at incredibly high interest rates, taking out a personal loan with a lower APR than you have now can help. By consolidating debt at a lower interest rate, you can save money on interest, score a lower monthly payment, and potentially pay down debt faster.
Unfortunately, personal loans with the lowest rates and best terms typically only go to consumers with great or excellent credit — or FICO scores of 740 or higher. This means that consumers with fair credit or bad credit have to go with lenders who offer less stringent requirements.
Mariner Finance is a lender that falls into this category, since they offer personal loans to consumers with credit scores as low as 600. Mariner Finance doesn’t list a minimum income or debt-to-income ratio, but their low credit score requirement implies that a wide variety of financial situations may be acceptable.
Mariner Finance may let you borrow between $1,000 and $25,000, although minimum and maximum loan amounts vary by state. You may also be able to repay your loan over 1 to 5 years depending on how much you borrow, your credit history, and other factors. Keep in mind, however, that you can only borrow up to $7,000 through their online application process.
While Mariner Finance personal loans come with interest rates ranging from 18.99% to 35.99% — higher even than many credit cards — they can still be a good deal for borrowers who are stuck taking out payday loans or have other debts at incredibly high interest rates.
Fortunately, Mariner Finance does let you check your offers and get a feel for what you might qualify for without a hard inquiry to your credit report.
Mariner Finance: What to watch out for
While borrowing money to consolidate debt at higher interest rates can leave you better off financially, there are risks associated with borrowing money for other goals. Mariner Finance says their personal loans are ideal for paying for home improvements, weddings, and even a vacation. You certainly can borrow money for these reasons, but it’s a bad idea to finance a vacation, kitchen remodel, or wedding at 18.99% to 35.99% APR. If you need to borrow money for any reason that’s not an emergency, you’re better off saving up so you can pay in cash, or improving your credit enough to qualify for a better personal loan.
Really, Mariner Finance personal loans are for emergency situations only. Their high rates make them an expensive option that should only be utilized if their loans are better than what you have now. Also note that you will have to pay an origination fee of up to 6% of your loan amount, depending on your state of residence.
Another downside of Mariner Finance is the fact that you get only borrow up to $7,000 through their online loan process. If you need to borrow more than that, you’ll have to apply in one of their local branches. Unfortunately, Mariner Finance only has brick and mortar locations in 22 states.
Who Mariner personal loans are best for
- Consumers with payday loans who can benefit from the lower rates Mariner Finance offers.
- Anyone with bad credit who needs a loan in an emergency.
- Consumers who need to borrow between $1,000 and $25,000 but can’t get approved by other lenders.
At The Simple Dollar, we aim to provide a general overview of a lender’s products and services through a standard rating process. After a thorough research and discovery period, here’s how Mariner Finance stacks up:
How to apply for a personal loan with Mariner Finance
If you think you may be a good candidate for a personal loan from Mariner Finance, your first step is checking your rate through their online platform. To see if you’re eligible and the rates you may qualify for, plan on submitting the following information:
- Loan amount
- Your full name
- Residential address
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Social Security number
- Household income
- Employment information
- Housing information
- Loan purpose
Remember that checking your rates will not impact your credit score. Once you apply to check your rate, you’ll be presented with a number of loan options you could qualify for. Remember, though, that you can only borrow up to $7,000 through their online loan process. If you need to borrow more than that, you’ll need to visit one of their physical loan branches.
Mariner Finance does let you apply for a loan over the phone. However, you will have to visit a loan branch in your area to finalize your loan paperwork if you need to borrow more than $7,000.
No matter how you apply for a loan, it’s possible to get your funds in just a few business days after final loan approval.
Too long, didn’t read?
The decision to borrow money is never an easy one, but there are times when a personal loan can be a boon for your finances. Even though Mariner Finance personal loans charge high rates when compared to some other personal lenders, their rates could still be lower than what you’re paying now.
Since Mariner Finance lets consumers qualify with credit scores as low as 600, they could be your best option if you desperately need to escape the trap of high-interest loans. Still, you should make sure to compare rates and terms from at least three other lenders before you decide.
Keep Reading
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.
