Check your Approval Odds for a $3,500 loan
Image: 3500Where to get a $3,500 loan
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If you’re planning to take out a $3,500 loan to consolidate debt, fund a major purchase or advance another financial goal, it’s important to weigh your options.
Traditional personal loans tend to have lower rates than credit cards, so they can be an attractive option. But you’ll want to consider your personal finances and what terms you’re likely to qualify for, as well as how payments will fit into your monthly budget.
We’ll review lenders you may want to consider and guide you through the process of applying for a loan.
Monthly payments for a $3,500 personal loan
| Loan duration | Average monthly payments ($3,500 loan) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poor credit | Average credit | Good credit | Excellent credit | |
| 1–12 months | $337.56 | $330.20 | $333.78 | $306.34 |
| 13–24 months | $243.07 | $215.93 | $183.78 | $162.84 |
| 25–36 months | $150.92 | $138.85 | $125.96 | $112.50 |
| 37–48 months | $133.69 | $123.72 | $114.64 | $100.24 |
The best $3,500 personal loans
Best Egg
Best Egg offers competitive rates for those with good or excellent credit. There are no prepayment penalties on the loan, but you’ll have to pay a one-time origination fee. If approved, you may see the money quickly — Best Egg says about half of its customers receive the funds the next business day.
American Express
American Express personal loans feature no origination fees or prepayment penalties. But you have to be an eligible American Express cardholder to apply, and once you receive an offer, you have to formally accept within three days or the offer is rescinded.
Reach Financial
With a Reach loan you can customize your monthly payment amount, but if you don’t have excellent credit, you’ll likely pay high interest rates. Heads-up that a Reach Financial loan may (or may not) come with an origination fee — the lender doesn’t let you know until you apply.
Wells Fargo
You won’t be charged an origination fee or prepayment penalty. And setting up autopay will qualify you for an interest rate discount. But you must already be a Wells Fargo customer to apply for a loan. And while Wells Fargo offers a rate-estimate calculator, it doesn’t provide the option to prequalify, so your only application option comes with a hard credit check.
Affirm
The Affirm app is worth considering if you want to make online or in-store purchases and pay for them with four (potentially interest-free) installments. But you might need a down payment, and if you spread out your payments over a longer period, you may face interest.
How to get a $3,500 loan
Before searching for a $3,500 loan, it’s a good idea to check your credit scores and reports. Understanding your credit situation can help give you a sense of your ability to get a $3,500 loan and the kinds of loans that might be available to you.
After checking your credit, you can begin to shop around for a loan. It might be helpful to see what your bank or credit union has to offer, but it’s best to compare potential options from various lenders so you can find the best rates and terms for you.
If a lender offers prequalification, you can see the terms you might be offered without affecting your credit. Just keep in mind that you might need to provide personal information required to run a soft inquiry on your credit reports. And there’s no guarantee your estimated terms will be your final ones.
Once you’ve researched available loans, you can start to assess the best option for you. Making sure your lender will offer you a loan at your preferred amount is a necessity, but the lender might also have eligibility requirements and state availability restrictions that determine your ability to apply, including your intended use for the funds. You might also want to consider how fast the lender may send you your funds after approval.
Your potential interest rate, the length of the loan and any fees will affect the overall cost. We recommend using a loan calculator to determine how much you might end up paying over the life of the loan.
FAQs about $3,500 loans
Some lenders offer same-day loans that provide funding within hours of approval. But same-day funding is not guaranteed, and even the fastest loans can take hours to transfer the funds to your account. The exact timing will depend on your bank.
$3,500 loans may be available to borrowers with different kinds of credit histories, but each lender will have its own requirements for approval. It’s worth keeping in mind that the best loan terms usually go only to people with excellent credit. If a lender advertises rates starting in the single digits, try to find out their full range of available rates and fees to get a better sense of their offerings.
Many lenders consider applicants with less-than-perfect credit, so they may be a better choice if you’re looking to get approved for a loan. Even so, loans for bad credit tend to come with higher interest rates and fees. If you have bad credit, look for lenders that offer prequalification — this can give you an idea of the terms you might be offered before you commit, without hard inquiry that can temporarily bring your scores down further.