San Francisco-based Credible is a free online loan marketplace that allows you to shop for the best loans. Credible's main focus is on student loans, mortgages, and personal loans. This article will provide a comprehensive Credible review after personally using the product for a year.
Credible lets you compare lenders and rates on its platform so you don't have to spend an enormous amount of time applying one by one. Once you fill out information about your borrowing needs, Credible will highlight the best offers within three minutes so you can make an informed decision.
To be clear, Credible doesn’t do any lending itself. It is simply a lending marketplace that provides pricing transparency to its users so they can make the best borrowing choice possible.
The best way to shop around for the best student loan rate, mortgage rate, and personal loan rate is to do so online. Credible makes shopping around a cinch.
Credible Review: A Leading Lending Marketplace
Pros Of Credible
- One stop shop to compare multiple lender offers at the same time.
- You can use Credible to check prequalified rates for free with no obligations.
- Using Credible is safe, secure, and spam-free.
- Over 2.2 million users have already used Credible to compare prequalified rates.
- No hard credit check to request prequalified rates, which means your credit score is not negatively affected to compare rates. However, applying for or closing a loan will involve a hard credit pull that impacts your credit score and closing a loan will result in costs to you.
Cons Of Credible
- Although the lenders on Credible's platform are legitimate, some may not be household names. It's up to borrowers to research the lender they want to go with before taking action.
- No extra “membership benefits” or rate discounts applying via Credible. You may get a cheaper rate if you are a long-time customer of a particular lender or have multiple loans or financial accounts with a particular lender.
Credible Student Loan Refinancing
Credible began with its Student Loan Refinancing Marketplace. If you have a private student loan, and want to lower your interest rate or change your payment terms, refinance your student loans with Credible. If you have a Federal Student Loan, then it's best to wait what the government will do after the pandemic is over.
When you refinance your student loan, you're taking out a brand new loan with a new term. Your old loan is paid off and your loan term resets. You would only refinance your student loan if the interest rate is lower. Otherwise, you might as well keep your existing student loan.
A lower student loan interest rate should lower your monthly payment, especially since your loan term starts fresh. Your key is refinance your student loan to a lower rate and then methodically pay down extra principal as your income rises. This way, you will pay off your student loan sooner.
On Credible, you can fill out a single form, and it will compare multiple lenders at once for you, so you can find the best rate and terms for your student loan.
Some of the top lenders on the Credible platform include: Brazos, Citizens Bank, College Ave, EDvestinU, ELFI, MEFA, PenFed, and RISLA.
To qualify for a Credible Student Loan Refinancing there are no minimum qualifications to use Credible. However, you must be at least 18 years or older and have at least $5,000 in student loan debt to refinance.
Below are the average student loan rates for undergraduate, graduate, and PLUS loans.
It definitely helps if you have a credit score of 650 or higher as interest rates are a function of credit score and your credit quality. The higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate.
Credible Mortgage Purchase
Credible is a great way to check mortgage rates from different lenders all in one place. As part of this Credible review, mortgage lending is the key product. With Credible, you may get multiple offers after you fill out your mortgage details. This will help you find the best mortgage loan for your situation
In 2020, I bought a forever home with an 7/1 ARM at only 2.125%. Although mortgage rates have ticked up thanks to a strong economy and inflation, mortgage rates are coming back down again.
Check out Credible Mortgage if you're looking to purchase and get a competitive mortgage rate. You'll get multiple mortgage offers to choose from. You can also do cash-out refinancing if you wish.
Credible Personal Loans
Finally, Credible has also smartly expanded into personal loans. Personal loans have really risen in importance since the pandemic began as people borrow more money to stay afloat.
Take a look at the below chart. The spread between the average credit card interest rate and the average personal loan rate is at a 20-year high. As a result, those of you with expensive credit card debt should consider consolidating your debt into a lower interest-rate personal loan.
Credible has the most comprehensive marketplace for personal loans. Get prequalified personal loan quotes in no time after you fill out the application. There’s no reason why you should be paying expensive revolving credit card debt or any other type of debt in this low-interest rate environment.
Credible Review: How Its Loans Works
Here’s how Credible student loan refinancing works:
1. Fill out a short form to get personalized rate estimates
Fill out a short form on Credible’s website about your education history and finances, including the total amount you want to refinance. Then, you’ll be asked to create a Credible account. There is NO hard credit check to get personalized prequalified personal loan rates, so your credit score won't be negatively affected. This is one of the best features of Credible.
Prequalified rates are based on the information you provide and a soft credit inquiry. Receiving prequalified rates does not guarantee that the Lender will extend you an offer of credit. You are not yet approved for a loan or a specific rate. All credit decisions, including loan approval, if any, are determined by Lenders, in their sole discretion. Rates and terms are subject to change without notice. Rates from Lenders may differ from prequalified rates due to factors which may include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in your personal credit circumstances; (ii) additional information in your hard credit pull and/or additional information you provide (or are unable to provide) to the Lender during the underwriting process; and/or (iii) changes in APRs (e.g., an increase in the rate index between the time of prequalification and the time of application or loan closing. (Or, if the loan option is a variable rate loan, then the interest rate index used to set the APR is subject to increases or decreases at any time). Lenders reserve the right to change or withdraw the prequalified rates at any time.
2. Compare The Best Rates And Lenders
Next, you’ll see a dashboard with refinance rates you’ll likely qualify for. You’ll probably see multiple options from each lender because most offer several term lengths and both fixed and variable interest rates. Adjust the filters to narrow your choices based on what you’re looking for.
3. Pick The Best Rate And Lender For You
Once you've done your due diligence on the best rate and best lender, you can choose the best one with confidence. All lenders are already pre-vetted and highly qualified to be able to compete for your business on Credible.
Credible is easy and very straightforward to use. To get prequalified quotes, it'll take you only about two minutes.
Credible Review: A Great Lending Marketplace
Thanks to incredible innovation, funding, and a desire to help borrowers everywhere lower their interest rates, Credible has risen to be one of the best lending marketplaces today. My Credible review has determined Credible is better than LendingTree, another popular lender.
As someone who is based in San Francisco, I've had the privilege of meeting, analyzing, and experiencing the fintech boom, which Credible is a part of. I've been reviewing financial products and writing about personal finance on Financial Samurai since 2009.
I highly recommend finding a great rate on Credible today. It's free and easy to use. You'll get prequalified quotes in just two minutes, which could end up saving you thousands over time!
About the Author:
Sam worked in investment banking for 13 years at GS and CS. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from The College of William & Mary and got his MBA from UC Berkeley. In 2012, Sam was able to retire at the age of 34 largely due to his investments that now generate roughly $250,000 a year in passive income. He spends most of his time playing tennis and taking care of his family.
Financial Samurai began in 2009 and is one of the most trusted personal finance sites on the web with over 1.5 million pageviews a month. Credible Review is a FS original post. Join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter.
Disclosures: Requesting prequalified rates on Credible is free and doesn't affect your credit score. However, applying for or closing a loan will involve a hard credit pull that impacts your credit score and closing a loan will result in costs to you. NMLS ID# 1681276, Address: 320 Blackwell St. Ste 200, Durham, NC, 27701
We may receive compensation from Credible if you click on a link/purchase a product. The amount of compensation does not impact the ranking or placement of a particular product. Not all available financial products and offers from all financial institutions have been reviewed by this website. This content is not provided by Credible or any of the Providers on the Credible website. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by Credible.
Credible Operations, Inc. NMLS# 1681276, “Credible.” Not available in all states. www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
