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OneMain Financial Personal Loans Review (December 2024)

Best for bad-credit personal loans

Author
By Alene Laney

Written by

Alene Laney

Freelance writer, Credible

Alene Laney is a personal finance expert with over 10 years of experience. Her work has been featured by Newsweek and Bankrate.

Edited by Meredith Mangan

Written by

Meredith Mangan

Senior editor

Meredith Mangan is a senior editor at Credible. She has more than 18 years of experience in finance and is an expert on personal loans.

Updated November 21, 2024

Editorial disclosure: Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we receive compensation from our partner lenders, whom we will always identify, all opinions are our own. Credible Operations, Inc. NMLS # 1681276, is referred to here as “Credible.”

Featured

Best bad credit personal loans

One main

OneMain Financial

4.3

Credible Rating

Check Rates

on Credible’s website

Est. APR

18.00 - 35.99%

Loan Amount

$1,500 to $20,000

Min. Credit Score

N/A

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:

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Pros

  • Flexible eligibility requirements
  • Offers secured options
  • Competitive bad-credit loans
  • Physical presence
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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:

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. 

One main

Credible rating

APR from18.00 - 35.99%
Loan Amount$1500 to $20000
Term Length2 - 5
Min. Credit ScoreN/A
Universal credit

Credible rating

APR from11.69 - 35.99%
Loan Amount$1000 to $50000
Term Length3, 5, or 7
Min. Credit Score560
Read Our Review
RepriseFinancial

Credible rating

APR from -
Loan Amount$2500 to $25000
Term Length3-5
Min. Credit Score560
Read Our Review

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:

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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How long does it take to get a personal loan from OneMain Financial?

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What fees does OneMain Financial charge?

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Meet the expert:
Alene Laney

Alene Laney is a personal finance expert with over 10 years of experience. Her work has been featured by Newsweek and Bankrate.