Requesting a personal loan through our service takes five steps: you submit one request, we match it with lenders in our network, you review any offers, you e-sign with the lender you choose, and you repay that lender on its schedule. We are not a lender, so the decisions about approval, rates and fees are made by the lenders themselves.
This page walks through each step in order, explains roughly how long each one takes, describes what information is shared and with whom, and points out the moments where you can stop, decline or change course without any cost to you.
- Submit one loan requestFill out a single five-minute form with the amount you need ($500 to $5,000), your contact details, income and checking account information. Submitting is free and does not commit you to a loan.
- Get matched with lendersWe send your request to lenders in our network that may be able to help. A lender may run a soft credit inquiry, which does not affect your scores. Not every request is matched.
- Review any offersCompare each lender's APR, fees, term, monthly payment and total repaid. You can ask questions or decline any offer at no cost.
- E-sign and receive fundsComplete the lender's verification and e-sign its agreement. If approved, funds are often deposited as soon as the next business day, depending on the lender and your bank.
- Repay the lenderMake the scheduled payments to your lender, ideally through autopay, and contact the lender directly about due dates, payoff or hardship options.
Step 1: Submit one loan request
The first step is a single online request form that takes most people about five minutes and asks for the loan amount, the purpose, and basic personal, income and bank details.
You choose an amount between $500 and $5,000 and tell us roughly what the money is for. The form then asks for your name, address, date of birth, contact details, how you are paid and how much you earn, and the checking account where funds would be deposited. Lenders also need your Social Security number to confirm your identity and review your credit.
Each question exists because lenders typically need it to make a decision. Most lenders want applicants to be adults (18 or older, or 19 if you live in Alabama or Nebraska), U.S. citizens or permanent residents, with steady verifiable income and a checking account in their own name. Our guide to personal loan eligibility explains those requirements in depth.
Submitting the request is free, and it does not commit you to borrowing.
Step 2: We match your request with lenders
After you submit, our system compares your request with the criteria lenders in our network have shared, such as loan amount, state and income, and sends it to the ones that may be able to help.
Matching usually happens within minutes. A lender that receives your request may run a soft credit inquiry to see whether it can make an offer; a soft inquiry does not affect your credit scores. Some lenders respond with an offer right away, others ask for a little more information first, and some decline.
Not every request is matched. Lenders set their own standards, and coverage differs by state, so a request may not reach any lender at all. If that happens, you are not charged anything, and the details you provided are handled as described in our privacy policy.
Step 3: Review offers on the lender's terms
A lender that wants to work with you presents an offer showing its APR, any fees, the repayment term, the monthly payment and the total amount you would repay; you can compare it, ask questions or walk away.
In our network, APRs commonly range from about 5.99% to 35.99%, and terms run from about 3 to 36 months. Where your offer lands depends on your credit, income, state and the amount you asked for. To give a sense of scale, here is a representative example, which is only an estimate:
Representative example (estimate): take a 24.00% APR on a 12-month, $2,000 request. Each monthly installment lands near $189.12, the full amount repaid is roughly $2,269.43, and the finance charge works out to about $269.43.
When you read an offer, check four things: the APR rather than just the interest rate, any origination fee taken out of the loan, whether there is a penalty for paying early, and whether the monthly payment fits comfortably inside your budget. Our explanation of personal loan rates and fees shows how each piece changes the total cost.
Step 4: E-sign the agreement and receive funds
If you accept an offer, you complete the lender's own application, verify your identity and income, and e-sign its loan agreement; once approved, the money often lands in your account by the next business day.
At this stage you are dealing directly with the lender, usually on its website. The lender may ask for a pay stub, a bank statement or a photo of your ID, and it will likely run a hard credit inquiry, which can have a small, temporary effect on your scores. Read the full agreement before signing, including the payment schedule and what happens if a payment is late.
Once you sign, the lender sends the money to your checking account by electronic transfer. Timing depends on the lender, the time of day you sign and your bank's processing, so funds can occasionally take a few business days. We cannot speed up a deposit, but the lender can tell you where yours stands.
Step 5: Repay the lender on schedule
Repayment happens between you and the lender, usually in equal monthly installments over the agreed term, and the lender is the one to contact about due dates, payoff amounts or hardship options.
Many borrowers set up automatic payments from their checking account so a due date is never missed; some lenders offer a small rate discount for doing so. If you expect trouble making a payment, call the lender before the due date, because options such as moving the date are usually easier to arrange in advance.
Paying the loan off early reduces the interest you pay with most lenders. Check your agreement for any prepayment penalty first.
How long the whole process takes
From starting the form to having money in your account, the process commonly takes one to three business days, though some steps can move faster or slower depending on the lender and your bank.
| Stage | Typical time | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the request form | About 5 minutes | You |
| Matching and first responses | Minutes, sometimes longer | Our system and lenders |
| Reviewing an offer | As long as you need | You |
| Verification and e-signing | Same day to a few days | You and the lender |
| Funding | Often the next business day | The lender and your bank |
Weekends, bank holidays and requests for extra documents are the most common reasons for delays.
Your choices at every step
You remain in control throughout: you can stop before submitting, ignore or decline any offer, ask a lender questions before signing, and opt out of marketing messages, all without paying us anything.
- Before submitting: close the form at any point and nothing is sent.
- After matching: you are under no obligation to respond to a lender or accept its offer.
- Before signing: ask the lender to explain any fee or term you do not understand, and take time to compare.
- After signing: review the agreement for any right to cancel within a short window, which some lenders provide.
- Anytime: reply STOP to texts, use the unsubscribe link in emails, or contact our team to change your preferences.
If a loan no longer feels like the right move at any stage, simply stopping is a perfectly reasonable outcome. When you are ready, you can start your loan request and see what lenders may offer.