Avant Personal Loans Review (December 2024)

Who are Avant personal loans best for?

Best for all credit types

Avant is an all-around strong lender for borrowers of many credit profiles because it offers competitive minimum rates, fast funding, and lower credit and income requirements than many lenders. It provides unsecured personal loans up to $35,000 that can be used for almost anything, and it has a reputation for providing excellent customer service and digital tools.

Avant is our pick for the best lender for all credit types because a wide range of applicants can qualify for loans, and its lowest annual percentage rates (APRs) are competitive for those with good credit profiles. According to the lender, most of its borrowers have credit scores of between 600 and 700. However, scores outside of this average may also be considered. 

Great for bad-credit loans

Avant is more accepting of fair- and poor-credit borrowers than other personal loan lenders. The company considers applicants with credit scores as low as 550, which is well under the FICO score threshold of 580 that defines bad credit. If you’re looking for a bad-credit loan, Avant might be a good fit for you.

Finance companies such as Avant often specialize in loans for nonprime borrowers, or borrowers considered more likely to default on loans or fall behind on payments than prime borrowers. Nonprime borrowers are seen as presenting more risk to lenders, but non-bank companies like Avant may work with them. In fact, these companies hold almost a quarter of all nonprime loans, according to a consumer lending study by the Federal Reserve. The same report estimates that 40% of personal loans are held by nonprime borrowers with Equifax Risk Scores below 720. Equifax Risk Scores are assigned to consumers to represent their likelihood of becoming more than 90 days delinquent or behind on payments within two years.

Pros and cons of Avant personal loans

Pros

• Low credit score requirement: You may be eligible for a personal loan with Avant if you have fair or poor credit. 
• Relatively low rates: Though Avant’s maximum APR is the highest you’ll find on a personal loan at 35.99%, its minimum of 9.95% is competitive for good-credit borrowers.
• Fast funding: You can receive your funds as soon as one business day after approval.
• All loan purposes permitted: Avant does not specify any restricted uses for its personal loans.

Cons

• Smaller loan maximum: You can only borrow up to $35,000 with Avant, compared to the $50,000 limit found with many lenders.
• Longer minimum loan terms: The shortest loan term with Avant is two years, while many lenders provide terms of one year.
• Origination fees: Depending on your credit, you could pay up to 9.99% in origination fees.
• No discounts: Unlike some lenders, Avant does not offer discounts for autopay or direct-to-creditor payments for debt consolidation loans.
• Not available in all states: Avant does not issue loans to borrowers in Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Washington, or West Virginia.

How to get a Avant personal loan

• Prequalify. Like many lenders today, Avant allows you to check to see if you prequalify for a loan with a quick online process that asks a few questions about your income, type of employment, and borrowing needs. Checking for prequalification involves only a soft credit check that does not impact your credit score and can give you an idea of whether you might be eligible for a loan —  and, if so, what amount you can borrow and with what terms. Prequalification does not guarantee approval.

• Apply. When you’re ready to move forward with Avant, you can formally apply for a personal loan. At this stage, the lender will ask for more details about your financial situation and run a hard credit check that can temporarily bring your credit score down by a few points. You may need to provide documents to verify your identity and income, such as a copy of your government-issued identification card and/or pay stubs and tax returns from your job.
• Review. If you’re approved, you’ll receive a loan offer that includes the amount you can borrow, your monthly payment amount, the interest rate and APR you’ll pay, and other details about your loan, such as your origination fee. Note that your offer may differ from your prequalification quote, and you may be approved to borrow less than you requested. You’re also not required to accept the full loan amount offered to you.
• Accept and receive funds. Avant typically disburses loan funds the next day after a loan has been approved and finalized, provided that the contract is approved by 4:30 p.m. CT on a weekday prior. You will receive your funds by ACH transfer. 

How to qualify for a Avant personal loan

Credit score and financial history

Avant has stated that it may consider applicants with FICO credit scores of at least 550, but your chances of approval will be much better if you have a higher credit score. Avant does not offer secured personal loans that require collateral when applying or allow you to apply for a loan with a cosigner to improve your chances of approval.

Income and employment

Avant requires applicants to have at least $1,200 in monthly income to qualify for personal loans, and it considers borrowers with FICO credit scores of at least 550. Your debt will also be used to determine your eligibility for an Avant personal loan, with your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) being an important indicator of your ability to repay a loan. 

Your DTI is a percentage that represents your outstanding debt with respect to your earnings, and it indicates to lenders how much of your money is already tied up in making minimum payments toward debt. Many lenders prefer to see applicants with DTIs below 36%, but Avant does not provide a specific DTI maximum for its loans. 

Avant personal loan purposes

Avant does not indicate any excluded loan purposes for borrowers. In its prequalification form, it provides the following options in a dropdown menu for “What’s this loan for?”

• Debt consolidation
• Emergency expense
• Life event
• Car repair
• Home improvement
• Moving/relocation
• Vacation
• Other

This list covers all common uses for personal loans. When you apply for an Avant personal loan, you’ll provide information about the way you intend to use the funds. This will be one of the factors used to determine your loan eligibility.

Avant personal loan fees and penalties

Loan origination fees

Avant charges a minimum of 0.95% and up to 9.99% for origination. It’s worth noting that origination fees of less than 5% are not refundable. Fees greater than 5% are refundable on a prorated basis over the rest of the loan term when you prepay your balance in full before it’s due.

Early repayment penalties

Like most personal loan lenders, Avant does not charge prepayment penalty fees for repaying your loan early. You’re free to make larger monthly payments than required whenever your budget allows to pay off your balance before it’s due.

Other fees

• Late fee. You’ll pay $25 each time a payment is 10 days past due.
• Dishonored payment fee. You’ll pay $15 each time a payment is returned unpaid.

How Avant compares to other lenders

About Avant

Avant, formerly AvantCredit, was founded in 2012 to “[improve] the borrowing experience for middle-income consumers,” according to the online company. Its personal loans have lower minimum credit score and income requirements than many similar loans. Avant also offers a credit card in partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS) and a credit card of its own, the Avant Credit Card. All Avant credit products are issued by WebBank. 

Over two million customers have used Avant as of 2024. The lender is Better Business Bureau (BBB) accredited with an A+ rating, and it has a score of 4.6 out of five stars on Trustpilot.

Rating Avant personal loans

We collected over 700 points of data on 24 lenders to determine which lenders are best overall, and which are the best for specific uses and needs, such as personal loans for debt consolidation and personal loans for bad credit and fair credit. Criteria were sorted into categories, which were weighted as follows to determine the best personal loans overall:

• Rates and fees: 18%
• Loan terms: 18%
• Customer experience: 17%
• Eligibility: 14%
• Customer satisfaction: 10%
• Efficiency: 10%
• Options for poor and no credit: 9%
• Discounts: 4%

Examples of specific criteria collected include each lender's minimum and maximum fixed APRs, minimum and maximum loan amounts, minimum credit score and income requirements, time to fund, repayment terms, fees, and discounts. For a complete list of metrics, as well as how we collected and verified data, please see our full Personal Loans Lender Rating Methodology.