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Best Egg
- Loan Amounts$2,000 – $50,000
- Loan Terms36 – 60 months
- APR Range8.99% – 35.99%
- Minimum
Credit Score700 or aboveA credit score is used to indicate the creditworthiness of an applicant, but it is only one of several factors considered for approval. These credit scores alone are not guarantees for approval and should only be used as guidelines.
Best Egg provides fast personal loans, including unsecured and secured options.
Best for Low Rates on Secured Loan Options
Best Egg offers competitive rates on personal loans for people with excellent credit and income. Loans can be funded as soon as the next day after approval, and borrowers can use their loans for a variety of expenses, including debt consolidation, emergency expenses, and more. Where it really shines, however, is its secured loan option for homeowners. It’s essentially a quicker and easier version of a home equity loan, albeit with rates that aren’t always quite as low.
Best Egg personal loans are offered through Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, Member FDIC, Blue Ridge Bank, a Nationally Chartered Bank, Member FDIC.
Pros
- Loans are funded as soon as the next day
- Loans up to $50,000
- Option for secured loans for homeowners
Cons
- No physical locations
- Has origination fees
- Steep income and credit requirements
- Doesn’t allow co-signers or joint applicants
- Not available in all states
Loan Uses
You can use both loan options (secured or unsecured) for anything except for buying securities, illegal endeavors or post-secondary schooling. Some of the most popular options for Best Egg personal loans include things like:
- Veterinary care
- Debt consolidation
- Emergency expenses
- Home repairs and upgrades
At first glance, Best Egg’s personal loans look similar to a dozen other online lending companies. For its unsecured personal loan (not backed by any collateral), that’s true — there’s not a lot that makes Best Egg stick out.
It’s a different story with its secured loan option, however. Due to the unique way it’s structured, it’s an especially good option if you’re a homeowner looking to save money without lugging the excess baggage a home equity loan might come with. More on this below.
Best Egg Loan Details
|
APR Range |
8.99% – 35.99% |
|
Loan Terms |
36 – 60 months |
|
Loan Amounts |
$2,000 – $50,000 |
|
Credit Score |
700 or above |
|
Time to Receive Funds |
As soon as the next day |
|
Prequalification? |
Yes |
|
Co-Signer Allowed? |
No |
|
Joint Applicant Allowed? |
No |
|
Income Requirements |
$100,000 or more per year to get the lowest rates |
|
Origination Fees |
0.99% – 8.99% |
|
Late Fees |
Not Disclosed |
|
Prepayment Fees |
None |
|
Discounts |
None |
Highlights and Perks
- Good range of loan amounts: Best Egg offers smaller loans (as low as $2,000), which is lower than the $5,000 minimum that many other competitors require. That makes it a better option for people who just need a smaller bit of cash.
- Loans funded as soon as the next day: Most loans are funded the next day after approval via an ACH transfer, according to Best Egg. However, your bank’s ACH deposit policies can introduce a delay by a business day or two, depending on the institution.
- Homeowner secured loan: Homeowners can offer specific fixtures in their homes as collateral for lower rates on a loan. It’s faster and easier than a home equity loan which uses your entire property as collateral. However, the rates for Best Egg’s secured loan may not always be quite as low as other home equity loans from other institutions.
Related Article
4 Ways to Consolidate and Pay Off Credit Card Debt
What to Look Out For
- Designed for high-income, creditworthy applicants: Best Egg may require a credit score as low as 640. But in order to get the best deals, you’ll need to earn at least $100,000 per year and have a 700+ credit score.
- High rates for less creditworthy applicants: If your credit and income aren’t as high but qualify for a loan, you could potentially pay higher rates than most credit cards charge.
- Origination fees: You’ll always pay an origination fee for a Best Egg loan, between 0.99% – 8.99%. In contrast, many lending companies don’t charge origination fees, or at least waive it for applicants with good credit.
How to Qualify
Best Egg doesn’t allow you to apply for a loan with a co-signer, so you’ll need to meet the requirements to get a loan on your own. Best Egg may work with applicants with more marginal creditworthiness, but like most companies, it prefers to work with people who have good qualifications:
Credit and income requirements:
- Credit score of 640 or higher (ideally, 700 or more)
- Annual income of $100,000 or more is best, but lower-income applicants may qualify with higher rates
Other requirements include:
- Must have a valid email address and personal checking account
- Must have a physical mailing address (P.O. Boxes aren’t accepted)
- Must be old enough to take out a loan in your area (18 in most states)
- Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident living in any state except for Iowa, Vermont, Washington D.C. or West Virginia.
- Must have some amount of equity in your home to apply for a secured loan, though the exact amount isn’t specified.
Related Article
How to Prequalify for a Personal Loan, and Why It Can Be a Good Idea
Application Process
Applying for a Best Egg loan is a simple process and can be done entirely online. Here’s how the process works:
- Get prequalified: You can check your rates via a soft credit pull by filling out a quick online form with basic details like your name, address and date of birth. Alternatively, you can also apply over the phone by calling 855-282-6353.
- Check your rates: This isn’t a requirement, but it’s always highly recommended. That way you know whether Best Egg or another company is your best option for a loan.
- Check your budget: You’ll want to check your budget (or at least put together a quick one) to make sure you’re able to make the proposed monthly payments. Defaulting on a loan can ruin your credit and put you further into debt.
- Complete the loan application: If you decide Best Egg is your best option, you’ll need to submit a few documents to show proof of your identity and financial details, such as a copy of your driver’s license and recent pay stubs, tax returns, utility bills and/or bank statements. Best Egg will do a hard credit pull at this time, which can affect your credit score.
- Receive loan funds: Best Egg is generally able to disburse loan funds on the next business day. Most banks have policies in place for receiving funds into your account via an ACH deposit, however, so it may take a day or two before you actually see anything in your checking account.
- Repay the loan: It’s always best to sign up for autopay on the loan so you don’t have to worry about missing any payments, paying late fees or damaging your credit score.
Example of Loan Payments
It’s always best to calculate your monthly payments before you apply for a loan.
If you took out a $10,000, five-year loan with the lowest origination fee (0.99%) and APR (5.99%) using the homeowner secured option, you’d have a monthly payment of $193 and you’d pay $1,597 in interest.
If you opted for the unsecured loan, which comes with a higher minimum interest rate (8.99%), your monthly payments would be $208 and you’d pay a total of $2,452 in interest.
Reputation
Best Egg receives mixed reviews depending on where you look. On the Better Business Bureau website, Best Egg has an A+ BBB rating, with an average customer rating of 4.87 out of five stars, based on over 2,000 reviews. Trustpilot tells a similar tale, with an average rating of 4.6 out of five stars, based on over 8,000 customer reviews.
However, according to a 2022 J.D. Power survey of overall customer satisfaction among personal loan companies, they ranked near the bottom of the pack, and well below average.
The Best Personal Loans of April 2024
How Best Egg Compares
Before committing to a loan, it’s wise to compare your options first to make sure you're choosing the right one for your needs and situation. Here are some other options to consider:
| Best Egg | SoFi | LightStream | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Best For |
Homeowners |
Large Loans |
Quick Access to Loan Funds |
|
Loan Amounts |
$2,000 – $50,000 |
$5,000 – $100,000 |
$5,000 – $100,000 |
|
APR |
8.99% – 35.99% |
8.99% – 29.49% |
7.49% – 25.49% (with autopay) |
|
Loan Terms |
36 – 60 months |
24 – 84 months |
24 – 144 months |
|
Credit Score |
700 or above |
680 or above |
660 or above |
Best Egg vs. SoFi
Best Egg and SoFi both cater to the excellent-credit crowd. SoFi doesn’t offer a secured loan, and it charges roughly the same rates as Best Egg, but SoFi comes with one significant advantage: it does not require any fees whatsoever.
In addition, SoFi offers an excellent package of borrower benefits you don’t see with other competitors, including free one-on-one access to a financial advisor and career counseling support.
Best Egg vs. LightStream
Best Egg can fund your loan the next business day, but it still may take a day or two to reach your bank account. If you absolutely need funds ASAP, LightStream is a better choice because it can disburse funds via a wire transfer, which is much faster.
LightStream also caters to people with better credit and given its annual percentage rate (APR) range, may be a cheaper option from the get-go. Plus, LightStream offers a 0.50% discount for borrowers who enroll in auto pay and they'll lower its rate by 0.10% below any identical competing offer you get.
FAQs
-
Yes. Best Egg offers unsecured loans; however, the rates that it charges are a bit higher, and you may be limited to a smaller payoff window as well (three to five years for an unsecured loan versus five to seven years for a secured loan).
-
Not exactly. Although you’ll need to be a homeowner, Best Egg uses a UCC-1 lien against specific fixtures in your home to secure the loan, instead of a blanket lien against your entire home like most home equity loan lenders. Since you’re only using a specific part of your home as collateral, Best Egg doesn’t require a more thorough application with stricter limits and higher fees like with most home equity loans.
-
Unfortunately, probably not. Best Egg prefers applicants with a minimum credit score of 640, which falls into the “fair credit” category — not great, but not bad either. There’s no harm in checking your rates, however, since it only does a soft credit check to prequalify.
-
Best Egg offers loans from $2,000 – $50,000 for both its secured loan and its unsecured loans. This is a good range for most people, but may not work if you need a truly large loan or a smaller one. Most credit unions offer smaller-dollar loans that may be helpful to more members.
Lindsay VanSomeren
Lindsay VanSomeren lives in the Pacific Northwest where she enjoys budgeting for her favorite activities like gardening, learning languages, and fishing. She's passionate about helping other people understand how to manage their money to live their best lives. Her work has appeared in Credit Karma, Forbes Advisor, FICO, and more.
