Discover Personal Loan Review

(November 2024)

Discover Personal Loan Review

In This Article

Our Verdict

Consider Discover as your best choice if you need an online bank which can offer you multiple personal loans with an affordable APR and flexible payment terms.

Know that you are lucky to find this lender because you can apply for a personal loan without stepping out of the walls of your home. Apply online or on phone with the bank loan specialist. After your approval, expect funds in your account within the next 24 hours.

Don’t bother about loan security because Discover personal loans are all unsecured. However, don’t also expect rate discounts on any of its personal financing products but you can count on the bank’s long-term loan and competitive rate.

Discover Financial

Corporate Headquarters

2500 Lake Cook Road Riverwoods, IL 60015

Phone Number: 1-855-282-6353

www.discover.com

Pros

  • Competitiveness in rate
  • Flexibility in the loan term
  • Zero origination fee
  • Variety of loan options
  • Parallelism of unsecured loans

Cons

  • Unavailability of substantial loan amount
  • Intolerance for co-signer
  • Possibility of late fee charge
  • Absence of discount rate on autopay
  • No transparency in rates

Who This Product Is Best For

www.discover.com

Check out Discover if you are a borrower who:

  • Wants fast funding
  • Wants loan with affordable rate
  • Wants lender with multiple lending options
  • Wants to escape paying the origination fee on the loan
  • Wants only a small amount for personal loans.

Who This Product Isn't Right For

Don’t settle for Discover if you are a borrower who:

  • Prefers loan amounts above $40,000
  • Prefers local banks to online lenders
  • Prefers promotions and discount rates
  • Prefers a lender that considers credit score below 640
  • Prefers a lender that values rate specification

What This Product Offers

Debt consolidation: Get this loan to refinance your debts from other lenders by merging them and saving money on high-interest rates.

Home improvement: Consider this loan to give your house the new look you really desire for it. Fix your roof, faulty lamp holders and expired bulb lights with Discover Home improvement.

Medical expenses: Get this loan to save your health by paying for your medical bills and monthly medical checkup.

Vacation loan: Use this loan to take pleasurable time out with your colleagues,  family, and friends. Visit your dream state or location and use this loan to cover transportation, lodging, and feeding.

Wedding loan: Cover your wedding ceremony without using your personal money with Discover’s wedding loan.

Auto expenses: Fix the fault in your car with auto expenses. However,  note that Discover doesn’t run auto loans.

Emergency loan: Take this loan to cover any financial emergency not listed here like bill payments or fines.

Pet emergency: Do you love rearing pets? Pet emergency is your best option. Take this loan to cover expenses for the veterinary treatment of your pets.

Product Details

Debt consolidation

Pay off your accruing debts either on your credit card or personal loan debts from other lenders with debt consolidation loans. Determine how you want to clear the debt according to your monthly budget and save money on interest.

Loan amount: $2500 – $40000

APR: 6.99% – 24.99%

Repayment term: 3 – 7 years

Origination fee: None

Availability by states: Available in all 50 states.

Home improvement

Give your house a luxury appearance with home improvement. Use it to get energy appliances, renovate your roofs, renew the paint and replace your furniture.

Loan amount: $2500 – $40000

APR: 6.99% – 24.99%

Repayment term: 3 – 7 years

Origination fee: None

Availability by states: Available in all 50 states.

To borrow a higher amount, consider a Discover Home mortgage loan to get an amount that ranges between $35,000 to $300,000.

Medical expenses

Keep your health intact. Take this loan to cover different kinds of medical expenses like fertility treatment, eye treatment, tests, medications, and weekly/monthly medical check-ups.

Loan amount: $2500 – $40000

APR: 6.99% – 24.99%

Repayment term: 3 – 7 years

Origination fee: None

Availability by states: Available in all 50 states

Vacation loan

Travel around the world along with your family with much fun, without breaking your bank balance. Simply take out a vacation loan to handle resort bills, feeding, and many more services.

Loan amount: $2500 – $40000

APR: 6.99% – 24.99%

Repayment term: 3 – 7 years

Origination fee: None

Availability by states: Available in all 50 states

Wedding loan

Celebrate your wedding without much hassle on fees like a wedding ring, venue cost, and honeymoon. A wedding loan also covers reception costs, gratitude, and taxes.

Loan amount: $2500 – $40000

APR: 6.99% – 24.99%

Repayment term: 3 – 7 years

Origination fee: None

Availability by states: Available in all 50 states

Where This Product Stands Out

Loan refinancing

Use this loan to consolidate debts from other lenders. If Discover approves your application, you can save cash on interest rates in addition to a flexible payment term with a fixed amount—which conforms with your monthly expenses.

Multiple borrowing options

Settle for this lender to maximize the benefits of different personal loans ranging from debt consolidation, home improvement, and medical expenses, to vacation loans, wedding loans, and emergency loans.

Competitive rates

Choose Discover if you are looking  for a lender that offers one of the lowest personal loan interest rates. With a rate as low as 6.99%, Discover proves itself as one of a kind when it comes to loan rates. You only get a rate which begins at 8.99% or 9.99% from most lenders.

30 days guarantee on loan

Take a 30 days advantage to cancel your loan for any reason that may be peculiar to you. This is one of the stand-out features that Discover offers its customers. To cancel the loan, write a cancellation letter and send it to Discover through the mail.

Excellent customer care

Another benefit of Discover, enjoy the 24/7 customer care service which Discover offers. Call any Discover loan specialist within business hours and ask them any questions bothering you.

Where This Product Falls Short

No co- signer

Don’t expect any guarantor because Discover only offers unsecured personal loans.

No discount on rates

Don’t wait for discount rate promotions on Discover’s autopay system. Most lenders—except Discover— offer a discount rate between 0.5% to 0.25% when you set automatic payment of the loan with them.

Limited loan amount

Compared to SoFi, Best Egg,  LightStream, and Upgrade, don’t expect a loan amount higher than $40,000 with Discover.

Late fee

Ready to pay a late fee of $39 if you default on your monthly payment.

Higher credit score

Don’t consider Discover if your credit score is lower than 600. You can think of other lenders like Upgrade and Best Egg to qualify for a personal loan with a credit score of around 575 and 599, respectively.

How to Qualify for This Product

Forget about getting accurate information regarding your qualification unless you call any of the Discover loan specialists. The specialist reveals to you the needed requirements to prequalify for any type of loan you may want to take.

However, based on the information from the Discover website, ensure you possess the following requirements:

  • A minimum credit score of 660
  • Proof of citizenship
  • Proof of age
  • Monthly and annual revenue

How to Apply for This Product

Examine your creditworthiness and determine how you want to be paying back the loan before you apply. To apply for Discover personal loan

  • Plan the amount you need.
  • Visit the bank’s website or call any of its loan specialists.
  • Examine the loan offer and pick the best one for you.
  • Choose your repayment plan.

In addition to the list above, get ready to provide documents that reveal your tax statement, bank statement, and your earnings.

Alternative to This Product

LightStream

With LightStream you can get a personal loan amount that is 60% higher than Discover at the same competitive rate.

Consider LightStream to get a personal loan amount of up to $100,000 with an interest rate as low as 6.99% with a repayment span of 2 to 7 years.

Upgrade

With Upgrade, get personal loan cash that is slightly higher than Discover. Take out an amount up to $50,000 at the rate of 8.24% with a credit score that can be as low as 560.

Wells Fargo

Enjoy a loan amount that can reach $100,000 on Wells Fargo. Like Discover, you have access to Wells Fargo’s services across the 50 states with a friendly rate that begins at 6.99% and a flexible term that reaches up to 7 years.

Customer Reviews

Discover claims excellent reviews on its website with a record that is based on outstanding customer satisfaction. This also reflects on Better Business Bureau’s website as Discover commands an excellent A+ rating on the ground that the bank has closed 3,459 complaints with the bureau in the last 4 years.

However, BBB customer review fails to reflect this rating as the bank only hits 1.13 stars out of possible five from over 300 customer reviews. Likewise on TrustPilot, Discover Financial only takes 1.7 stars out of 5 stars from 202 customer reviews.

Methodology

We reviewed *this product* based on 20 data points in the categories of loan details, loan costs, eligibility and accessibility, customer experience and the application process. We rated *this product* based on the weighting assigned to each category:

  • Loan cost: 35%
  • Loan details: 25%
  • Customer experience: 20%
  • Eligibility and accessibility: 10%
  • Application process: 10%

Within each major category, we also considered several characteristics, including available loan amounts, repayment terms and applicable fees. We also looked at minimum credit scores and time in business requirements and the geographic availability of the lender. Finally, we evaluated *this product* customer support tools, borrower perks and features that simplify the borrowing process—like online applications, prequalification options and mobile apps.

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