At A Glance
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Loan Details
| Loan Amount | $1,000 to $50,000 |
| Maturity | 2 to 7 years |
| Origination Fee | 1.85% - 9.99%. |
Here are some other relevant details of Upgrade personal loans
Allows Joint Application - Unlike some lenders, Upgrade allows you to apply for a joint loan. However, you cannot apply for loans as a co-signer.
Offers Secured Auto Loans - If you credit is really bad, Upgrade may offer you the choice of an auto secured loan. This is a loan that is backed by your vehicle.
Not Available to residents of DC
Partner Lenders - Upgrade's partner banks include Cross River Bank and Blue Ridge Bank.
Requirements to get approved
- Credit Score - Upgrade has said that you would need a minimum credit score of 560 to get approved. Upgrade uses TransUnion FICO 9 score. The average score of those approved by Upgrade is 672.
- Minimum Length of Credit History - You would need to have a credit history of at least 2 years to apply for the Upgrade personal loan.
- Number of credit accounts - You need to have at least 2 credit accounts in your credit report. That may include a mortgage, auto loans, student loans or credit cards. That means those who are new to credit are unlikely to get approved.
- Income Requirements - Though there are no hard and fast rules with regards to income, the average income for those who are approved for an Upgrade loan is $80,000.
- Debt-to-Income Ratio - Upgrade does not publish its debt-to-income (DTI) ratio requirements. That said, Upgrade reportedly gives extensive weight to free cash flow, with approved borrowers having a minimum of $1,000 in free cash flow each month and a DTI of around 40%.
Verification Process and Documents Required
Proof of Identity Documents - These include Drivers License, Government ID and even photos. Many Upgrade applicants have been requested to take a selfie and upload it to the application portal.
Proof of Address Documents - You may be asked to provide documents like Utility bills.
Proof of Income Documents - You may also be asked to upload documents like Bank Statements and even your Taxes for the last 2 years. This will mostly likely be required for those who are self employed. See documents that you need if you are self employed.
Vehicle Documents for Secured Auto Loan - For those of you who have been offered a secured auto loan, you will have to provide information of your vehicle and also your insurance and title. See this list of things required for auto secured loans.
Benefits: What We Like About Upgrade Loans
- Accept those with score as low as 560 - Most online personal loan lenders will only approve you if you have a credit score of at least 620-650. Upgrade is one of the very few that accepts and approves those with scores in the mid 500s. Having said that, you have to meet their other requirements and make sure you have no delinquent accounts.
- May Offer Secured Loans - If your credit scores and profile aren't too good, you might be offered a secured auto loan. This is where you have to pledge your vehicle as a collateral.
- Lower Rate for Debt Consolidation Loans and Autopay Opt-in - Though you can get Upgrade personal loans for debt consolidation, home improvement or major purchases, you will get a lower rate if you opt for debt consolidation loan and choose to let Upgrade payoff your existing creditors directly and also to opt-in for autopay.
- Allows Pre-Qualification - Upgrade allows you to pre-qualify first with no impact on your credit score. If you do pre-qualify, you will be presented with offers. And if you decide to proceed and apply, only then will there be a hard inquiry.
- Allows Joint Application - Unlike some lenders, Upgrade allows you to apply for a loan jointly with another application. This will help those with not so good credit scores as you can improve your chances of approval by applying with another person (most likely your spouse) who has a much better credit score.
- Friendly Customer Service - Whatever minor complaints customers have of Upgrade, they always mention that the customer service team are always prompt in answering their questions and friendly as well.
Things to be Aware of
- Approval Time Varies - While people have been approved relatively quickly (ie a couple of days), many have also gave feedback that it took a week or two before Upgrade came back to them via email. So approval time varies and Upgrade might not be the perfect choice if you are really in a hurry to get that loan.
- 1-4 Days For Fund Deposit - Once you are approved, it takes anywhere between 1-4 days to have your funds deposited into your bank account. Many folks expect that funds be deposited the same day or the next business day because many online lenders tout their ability to provide funds the same day after approval. Upgrade, you might get your funds deposited into your bank account very quickly or it might take up to 4 business days.
- Might face issues with Upgrade paying off your creditors - When you take a debt consolidation loan with Upgrade, they will pay off your creditors directly and any remaining amount will be deposited into your bank account. However, some may face a couple of hickups. For example, some have complained that Upgrade sent checks via email and it took a while for their creditors to be paid off. This means that you still have to pay your creditors for another billing cycle. Part of the reason why this happens is because some of your creditors may have problems accepting electronic payments. This should not be a problem with credit card companies but may be a problem for some loan companies.
- Have to upload documents - Like most lenders, Upgrade requires some documents to verify your identity and income. Some of you might require very little document uploads (perhaps just your Drivers License). Others many be asked to provide bank statement and even allow upload to access your tax documents (especially if you are self employed). Many have had been asked to take selfie photos to upload as well.
- Origination Fee - While most lenders will charge an origination fee, some Upgrade customers were surprised when they realized that there was an origination fee that was charged to their loan. At this moment, you may be charged an origination fee of between 1.85% and 8.99%
Upgrade
Some of you may be offered a secured loan that is secured by your vehicle. This will mostly likely happen if your credit scores and profile are more shaky than a typical Upgrade profile. Upgrade also allows joint application (which some lenders do not allow) and this will help those of you if you have a partner with much better scores than yourself.
Though some of you may get approved and get funds in your bank account in a couple of days, many of you will have to be a little more patient. Upgrade sometimes take a week to approve you and may even request more documents. Once you are approved, most of you will get back within the next business day. But Upgrade can take up to 4 business days to get the funds into your bank account.
For those of you taking our a debt consolidation loan, Upgrade will pay off your creditors directly. Most of time, things will go smoothly. However, there will be occasions where it takes a little longer for Upgrade to pay off your creditors and you will still have to pay them until Upgrades pays them off with your loan. Most of these issues are always resolved relatively by Upgrades excellent customer service staff.
Most of you will be using Upgrade for debt consolidation. But what if you want to get a loan for say home improvement, auto repairs of medical emergencies? In this case, you will actually be charged a higher rate than if the purpose was for debt consolidation. Fortunately, Upgrade has a line of credit (disguised as a credit card) called the Upgrade Triple Cash Rewards Visa which lets you earn 3% cash back when you use that line of credit for home improvements, auto and medical expenses.
To sum up, based on our review and evaluation, we give the Upgrade Personal Loan a 4 out of 5 star rating for it's ease of application, friendly customer service, convenience of paying off your creditors when you apply for a debt consolidation loan and the fact that it . It's higher rate when you give a reason other than debt consolidation for the purpose of your loan prevents us from giving it a higher rating.
Upgrade Pre-Approval and Application
Pre-approved offers - If you are pre-approved, you will be given various offers with different rates and terms.
Finish Applying - If you decide to go ahead with one of the offers, you can then complete the application. During this time, you may be asked to upload certain documents (as mentioned above). Upgrade may take some time to go through them or they may verrify your documents very quickly. After Upgrade has verified your documents, you will then get an approval email message. Upgrade may take up to a week to verify your documents.
Receive Funds - After you approved, the funds will be deposited into your bank account within 1 business day. However, banks may take up to 3 days to process the transaction. So you should expect to receive your loan within 1 to 4 business days. If you have taken out a debt consolidation loan and upgrade is to pay off your creditors directly, the process may take up to 2 weeks. So in the mean time, you should continue paying your existing creditors until Upgrade has confirmed that they have paid them off.
Disclaimer - Personal loans made through Upgrade feature Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) of 8.49%-35.97%. All personal loans have a 1.85% to 9.99% origination fee, which is deducted from the loan proceeds. Lowest rates require Autopay and paying off a portion of existing debt directly. Loans feature repayment terms of 24 to 84 months. For example, if you receive a $10,000 loan with a 36-month term and a 17.59% APR (which includes a 13.94% yearly interest rate and a 5% one-time origination fee), you would receive $9,500 in your account and would have a required monthly payment of $341.48. Over the life of the loan, your payments would total $12,293.46. The APR on your loan may be higher or lower and your loan offers may not have multiple term lengths available. Actual rate depends on credit score, credit usage history, loan term, and other factors. Late payments or subsequent charges and fees may increase the cost of your fixed rate loan. There is no fee or penalty for repaying a loan early. Personal loans issued by Upgrade's bank partners. Information on Upgrade's bank partners can be found at https://www.upgrade.com/bank-partners/.
**Accept your loan offer and your funds will be sent to your bank or designated account within one (1) business day of clearing necessary verifications. Availability of the funds is dependent on how quickly your bank processes the transaction. From the time of approval, funds sent directly to you should be available within one (1) business day. Funds sent directly to pay off your creditors may take up to 2 weeks to clear, depending on the creditor.
