Best bad credit personal loans
OneMain Financial
3.9
Credible Rating
Est. APR
18.00 - 35.99%
Loan Amount
$1,500 to $20,000
Min. Credit Score
540
Pros and cons
More details
Who are OneMain Financial personal loans best for?
OneMain Financial is a lender that specializes in helping nonprime and subprime customers get loans. The company currently offers secured and unsecured personal loans, along with credit-building credit cards.
If you have bad to fair credit (a FICO score less than 669) and are struggling to get approved for a personal loan, OneMain Financial could be a good fit. However, if you have good to excellent credit, you'll likely find a better deal elsewhere.
Best personal loans for bad credit
OneMain Financial doesn’t have a minimum credit score requirement to get approved for a loan, making it an option for borrowers with bad credit (a FICO score below 580). However, the company considers your credit history as well as your income after monthly expenses.
While the rates are on the higher end as far as personal loans go, they're much more affordable than alternatives like payday loans and most other no-credit-check loan options.
Great for secured personal loans
If you're having trouble getting approved for an affordable unsecured personal loan, pledging an asset as collateral may help.
The problem is that not all personal loan lenders offer secured loans.
However, OneMain Financial does — the lender accepts a wide range of collateral, such as boats, campers, automobiles, and RVs. The vehicle will be appraised to ensure there is sufficient value to support the loan.
Learn More: What Are Collateral Loans?
Pros and cons of OneMain Financial personal loans
The loan you’ll get from OneMain comes with some pros and cons. These are summarized below:
Pros
- Flexible eligibility requirements
- Offers secured options
- Competitive bad-credit loans
- Physical presence
Cons
- Availability
- Origination fees
- High starting APR
- Low maximum loan amount
Pros
- Flexible eligibility requirements: OneMain specializes in loans for borrowers with bad credit.
- Offers secured options: You can strengthen your loan application by pledging collateral. You’ll also likely get better loan terms this way.
- Competitive bad credit loans: The loan amounts, terms, and rates are competitive in the bad credit loan market.
- Physical presence: If you prefer in-person customer service, OneMain Financial has more than 1,300 branches in the U.S.
Cons
- Availability: Loans are not available in Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- Origination fees: OneMain charges origination fees up to 10% of your loan amount or up to $500.
- High starting APR: The APR range starts higher than many other personal loan lenders.
- Low maximum loan amount: OneMain’s highest available loan amount is $20,000, which is much lower than most competitors, which offer up to $50,000.
How to qualify for a OneMain Financial personal loan
What’s great about OneMain Financial is that the company considers more than your credit score when making a lending decision.
Credit score and financial history
While OneMain Financial doesn’t have a minimum credit score requirement, your credit and financial history will be considered.
This includes reviewing how many loans and credit cards you have, how much you owe, if you pay your bills on time, and how long you’ve been managing credit. The company will also consider whether you have filed for bankruptcy, and if so, how you’ve handled your credit since.
Income and employment
You’ll need to have enough income to qualify for the loan you’re applying for. There is no official minimum income requirement; the main concern is that you have the ability to repay the loan.
Employment is also a consideration. When you prequalify, you’ll be asked what type of employment you have, whether you’re employed, self-employed, retired, or have another income source.
Value of collateral
If you applied for a secured loan, the lender needs to evaluate your collateral to determine if its value is sufficient to support the loan.
Also, if you’re using a car as collateral, it needs to be no older than 10 years to qualify for a larger OneMain loan.
State of residence
Your state may affect what loan terms you qualify for. Some states have minimum and maximum loan amounts. Personal loans are not offered in Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
OneMain Financial personal loan purposes
Acceptable uses for a OneMain personal loan include:
- Debt consolidation
- Emergencies
- Renovation or repair expenses
- Medical loans
- Auto loans
- Moving
- Wedding
- Auto refinance
- Pool
- Vacation
- Motorcycle, RV, or boat
- Funeral
Personal loans cannot be used for post-secondary school expenses, business or commercial purposes, or to purchase cryptocurrency assets.
OneMain Financial personal loan fees and penalties
Loan origination fees
Origination fees are different for each loan application with OneMain Financial. They can range from 1% to 10% of the loan amount or a dollar amount between $25 and $500.
Late fees
OneMain Financial charges late fees when a payment hasn’t been made by the end of the grace period. It’s not the same for each loan.
Fees are subject to state limits, but can range between $5 and $30 per late payment or a percentage of the late payment between 1.5% and 15%.
Government fees
If there are any fees the government charges for adding OneMain as a lienholder on collateral used for a secured loan, you are responsible for these.
Insufficient funds fees
An insufficient funds fee ranges from $10 to $50 if an electronic check or ACH transaction is returned.
No early repayment penalties
There are no early repayment penalties for a loan with OneMain Financial.
How OneMain Financial compares to other lenders
Since OneMain Financial has the ability to lend to subprime borrowers, the loan terms are often more costly than what other lenders offer. Loan amounts are also lower.
Credible rating
Credible rating
Credible rating
Explore: How To Compare Personal Loans
How to contact OneMain Financial
OneMain Financial has in-person branches as well as multiple ways to contact customer service:
- Online branch locator tool
- Loan applications: 800-525-0451
- Existing loans: 833-390-2034
- Website form
- Email customer support: [email protected]
Alternatively, you can take a look at the online question bank for answers to common questions.
About OneMain Financial personal loans
OneMain Financial has over 1,900 branches in 44 states and has served around 18 million customers since 2006. The company has a 4.7 star Trustpilot rating and an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Rating OneMain Financial personal loans
Credible evaluated personal loan lenders based on factors such as fees, loan terms, loan amounts, funding time, and customer experience. Credible's team of experts gathered information from each lender's website, customer service department, in-house resources, and via email support. Each data point was verified to make sure it was accurate at the time of publication.
Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our Personal Loans Lender Rating Methodology.
FAQ
Is it hard to get a loan through OneMain Financial?
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What credit score do you need for a OneMain Financial loan?
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