Chase Bank Personal Loan: Best Alternative Lenders

Chase Bank Personal Loan: Due to a highly reputable and respected name, a lot of consumers are searching for Chase Bank personal loans There’s good news and then there’s bad news. The good news is that there are many highly respected lenders you can choose from to get a personal loan from, but Chase Bank is not one of them.

Chase Bank is one of the most respected financial institutions in the country. Unfortunately, Chase doesn’t grant personal loans, even if you have impeccable credit.

However, we have two options that are perfect for loans up to $35,000, even if your credit score is less than perfect.

Both offer signature loans, which are unsecured online loans that are designed to help with short-term financial assistance.

These loans are not meant to operate as long-term financial solutions. Like several other large banking institutions, Chase does not offer personal loans.

Despite this, the bank does provide a variety of other loans for specific needs, such as mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards.

In this article:

Types of Loans Offered by Chase Bank

As one of the biggest national bank chains, Chase handles many customer needs, including loans. Chase offers:

Mortgages
Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs)
Car loans
Credit cards
Commercial lines of credit
Business equipment financing

Mortgages

Mortgages are loans that borrowers can use to purchase a home. Often, a mortgage is the largest loan that someone will ever take on.

Depending on the cost of the house, mortgage loans can be made for hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

Chase Bank offers two main types of mortgages available, fixed-rate mortgages, or adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs).

With a fixed-rate mortgage, you have a set interest rate that you will pay over the course of the loan. Most fixed-rate mortgages have either 15- or 30-year payback periods.

Once you take the mortgage, your rate is set and will never change, unless you choose to refinance the loan.

With an adjustable-rate mortgage, your interest rate is set for a certain period, but then can be adjusted each year. ARMs are usually quoted as being a 5/1 ARM or a 3/1 ARM.

The first number is how many years the initial rate is locked in for. The second number is how many years must pass between each rate change.

Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs)

Home equity lines of Credit let you turn some of the home equity you’ve built up into a source of cash.

A HELOC functions much like a credit card, but instead of swiping a card at the grocery store, you withdraw cash from this credit line.

Each month, you’ll incur an interest charge on whatever your balance. The good news is that interest rates on HELOCs are much lower than credit card rates, because your house serves as collateral for the loan.

You can use a HELOC to fund home improvements, consolidate other debts, or cover unexpected expenses.

Auto Loans

You can take out a car loan for the purchase of either a new or used car. Chase offers four-, five-, and six-year loans. The interest you’ll pay varies depending on the type of car, the amount of the loan, your credit, and the cost.

Generally, loans for new cars have lower rates than loans for used vehicles.

Credit Cards

Credit cards are one of the most common types of loans available. When you go to make a purchase at the store, you can swipe your card instead of paying with cash. Each month, you can pay the balance in full, or make a lesser payment.

If you don’t pay the balance of a credit card in full each month, you’ll start to accrue interest. Interest on credit cards can be exceptionally high, exceeding 20%, so paying them off quickly is the best choice.

Many credit cards offer cashback or travel rewards, so using them instead of cash can be a good way to save money.

Commercial Lines of Credit

For business owners, a commercial line of credit provides short-term access to cash. If you need some extra funds to purchase supplies or to cover expenses while waiting for your customers to pay you, a commercial line of credit can help.

Business Equipment Financing

Business equipment financing is designed to help business owners purchase expensive machinery and equipment. Whether you need to purchase vehicles, tools, or other expensive equipment, this loan can get you the money you need.

Why Doesn’t Chase Offer Personal Loans?

Like several other big banks, Chase doesn’t currently offer personal loans. This could be because a lot of banks simply find that general personal loans just can’t make them that much money anymore — especially since the 2008 financial crisis brought on new, more costly regulations.

You can still get car loans, home loans, and business loans through Chase, however. It could also be that Chase is focusing on its strengths: credit cards, car loans, and mortgages.

Credit cards, in particular, are its strong suit, with nearly 25 options ranging from cards that can help you rack up miles on your favorite airline to a card that lets you earn points every time you buy a cup of coffee.

Personal Loans From Alternative Lenders

Wells Fargo: Best for borrowing from a large national bank

Wells Fargo is a national bank like Chase, and its personal loans are some of the most competitive out there. It offers both secured and unsecured options, as well as lines of credit for borrowers with good to excellent credit.

Rates start at a relatively low 5.24%, though its maximum APR is on the higher side at 20.24%.

If you’re a current customer with a qualifying account, you could even score an autopay and loyalty discount up to 0.5%. And while it offers an online application to existing customers, you’ll need to visit a branch to apply in person if you don’t have a Wells Fargo account.

How much you can borrow: $3,000 to $100,000
APRS: 5.24% to 20.24%
Loan terms: 1 year to 7 years
Eligibility requirements: Proof that you can pay back the loan, be 18+ years old and US citizen or permanent resident.

LightStream: Best for debt consolidation

As the lending arm of SunTrust Bank, LightStream’s low potential rates and a maximum loan of $100,000amounts of $100,000 makes it a solid choice for consolidating debt.

It’s also one of the few lenders that offer a rate beat program on top of a 0.5% APR discount for signing up for autopay.

But like with Wells Fargo, you’ll need good to excellent credit to qualify. And it’s not ideal for borrowing smaller amounts — its loans start at $5,000.

How much you can borrow: $5,000 to $100,000
APRS: Competitive
Loan terms: 2 years to 7 years
Eligibility requirements: You must have a good or excellent FICO and be an American citizen or a permanent resident of the US.

Upgrade: Best for fair credit

Upgrade may not have the lowest rates out there, but it accepts fair-credit borrowers with scores as low as 600. It’s also available in 45 states, which gives it the same reach as national banks like Chase.

And while you can only borrow up to $50,000, you likely wouldn’t qualify for larger amounts anyways if you only have fair credit.

However, with a potentially high origination fee of up to 6%, it could get pricey. It’s also not the fastest lender out there — it could take up to five days for the funds to reach your bank account.

How much you can borrow: $1,000 to $50,000
APRS: 6.98% to 35.89%
Loan terms: 3 years to 5 years
Eligibility requirements: At least 18 years old, US citizen or permanent resident, verifiable bank account, valid email address

Unsecured Loans vs. Secured Loans

Before you take out a personal loan, you should know there are two main types – secured and unsecured.

With an unsecured loan, you can borrow money without putting down any collateral. A secured personal loan, on the other hand, is backed up by an asset the bank can seize if you don’t repay — such as your car or home.

If you need to borrow money, understanding how these types of loans differ is key to choosing the best loan for your needs. Keep reading to learn how each loan type works, and which might be best for your situation.

Understanding Unsecured Loans

Because unsecured loans don’t require collateral that can be repossessed in the event of a default, lenders rely on something else to protect themselves from delinquent borrowers – your credit score.

Typically speaking, unsecured loans are mostly available to individuals with good credit and solid credit history. The other important detail to understand is how flexible unsecured loans are.

Since they aren’t backed with collateral, you can take out an unsecured loan for any reason. If you stop making the payments on your unsecured loan, your lender won’t have an asset – or collateral – to collect as an alternative form of repayment.

Instead, they can place negative marks on your credit report and pursue repayment via a collections agency. If you still refuse to pay, your lender can even take you to court and sue you for your remaining balance plus interest and fees.

Benefits of an Unsecured Loan

You don’t have to put down collateral to qualify.
Unsecured loans are readily available through online lenders and traditional banks and credit unions.

Unsecured Loan Drawbacks:

Since unsecured loans don’t require collateral, lenders tend to charge higher interest rates and fees to account for the greater risk.
You usually need at least decent credit or better to qualify for an unsecured loan.

How Secured Personal Loans Work

We already mentioned that secured loans require collateral, but the type of collateral you put down depends on the type of loan. While loans can certainly vary, most lenders require collateral in the form of your home, your car, or your savings.

When people make large purchases like a home or a car, they often take out secured loans to do so.

When you get a mortgage to buy a home, for example, your house serves as collateral — if you default on your mortgage, the lender can try to foreclose on the home to recover its losses.

The same is true when you take out an auto loan to purchase a vehicle: Your loan is secured by the car you buy.

Other secured loans take place after a purchase is made. If you have equity in your home, for example — meaning it’s worth far more than what you owe on it — you can take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) and use your home equity as collateral.

Likewise, if you have some equity in your car, you can take out an auto title loan or auto equity loan and use your car as collateral. In both of those cases, the lender would hold the title to your car until the loan is repaid.

No matter which type of secured loan you choose, your lender can seize the asset you put down as collateral if you quit repaying your loan.

In the case of a secured loan where your car is the collateral, the lender may send someone to repossess your vehicle. In the case of a secured home loan, they may proceed against you in court and begin the foreclosure process.

Benefits of a Secured Personal Loan:

Since secured loans require collateral, banks may consider them lower risk and charge lower interest rates.
Because the collateral lessens the lender’s risk, you may be able to qualify for a fair or even poor credit loan.

Secured Loan Drawbacks

Offering an asset as collateral means you’re putting your own possessions on the line — and if you quit paying on your loan, your asset will be seized.
You have to give up the title of your car or home until your loan is repaid if you’re using the asset as collateral.

How to Apply for a Personal Loan

To apply for a personal loan you should visit the website of the company you’ll be getting the loan from. To allow the company can research your credit history, you’ll need to provide some identifying information, such as:

Name
Address
Date of birth
Proof of identity, such as a driver’s license
Social Security number
Annual income
Proof of income, such as bank statements or pay stubs
Verification of employment

The loan company will take all of the information you provide and decide whether to give you the loan. The information will also be used to determine the interest rate you’ll pay.

While it seems like a lot of information to gather, it’s often the case that the less information a lender requires, the more expensive the loan.

That’s because more information lets a lender accurately analyze your risk of defaulting on the loan. Lenders that can’t analyze the risk effectively charge more to compensate for that.

FAQs

1. Are personal loans hard to get?

It depends on your personal finances. If you have a high personal credit score and a low debt-to-income ratio, you might not have any trouble getting a loan.
If you haven’t taken on debt before or if you’ve defaulted on a loan in the past, it might be difficult to qualify for a personal loan, however. Same goes for someone with a lot of debt compared to their income.

2. How can I get a small personal loan?

You might want to go with an online lender or local financial institution if you want a small personal loan. Big banks like Chase typically don’t offer loans of less than $2,000 because they’re not profitable enough.
You’ll need to make sure you meet the lender’s eligibility requirements before you apply. Credit unions might also ask you to become a member first, which typically involves opening a savings account with a minimum balance.

3. Does Chase offer student loans?

It doesn’t. Chase stopped accepting student loan applications in 2013 and sold its student loans to Navient. You might want to check out our student loans guide to find a student loan provider that can help you pay for school.

Chase Bank might not offer personal loans, but there are other options out there that might better fit your needs. If you’d like to keep your finances with this bank, you might want to go for one of Chase’s other loan or credit card options.

If you’re open to other providers, you might want to consider applying for a personal loan with an online lender instead.

Was this article useful? if Yes! Please leave your comment. For more related articles, subscribe to our page.