Best Chase personal loan alternatives

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Headshot of David Heiling, Editorial Lead at Intuit Credit Karma Edited by:
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•8 min read
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Chase doesn’t currently offer personal loans, but it lets credit cardholders who meet certain criteria borrow a lump sum from their card’s credit line through its My Chase Loan® program. If you’re an existing Chase customer in the market for a personal loan, here’s what you need to know about the bank’s offering, plus our take on a few Chase personal loan alternatives to consider.

What is My Chase Loan®?

My Chase Loan® allows eligible cardholders to convert part of their card’s available credit to a fixed-rate loan with a lower interest rate than the credit card’s APR. Available loan amounts range from a minimum of $500 to a maximum determined by Chase based on your creditworthiness, monthly spending and other factors.

My Chase Loan® has no origination or prepayment fees, doesn’t require a credit check, and doesn’t create a new account. If you qualify, you don’t need to apply. Just select your loan amount and repayment timeline online or through Chase’s mobile app. Funds are typically deposited into your bank account within one to two business days.

You’ll repay your loan in fixed monthly installments, and your loan balance will appear on your credit card statement until you repay it in full. You can continue to use your credit card, but your available credit will be reduced based on your outstanding loan amount.

Best for large loan amounts: Wells Fargo

Why a Wells Fargo personal loan stands out: Wells Fargo offers unsecured personal loans up to $100,000, making it a good option for covering major expenses like home improvement projects.

Pros 
  • Prequalification — Prequalification uses a soft credit check that lets you see your estimated rate and loan term without hurting your credit scores, but it doesn’t guarantee you’ll receive a loan offer. After prequalifying, you must submit a formal application and allow the bank to run a hard credit inquiry to get a final loan decision. 
  • Minimal fees — The bank doesn’t charge origination, closing or prepayment fees on its personal loans. 
  • Flexible repayment terms — Wells Fargo has repayment terms of 12 to 84 months. If you choose a longer term, you’ll likely pay more interest over the life of the loan.
    Competitive rates — Interest rates at Wells Fargo start below the average rate for a 24-month personal loan, which was 11.4% in February 2026, according to Federal Reserve data. Existing customers who meet certain requirements qualify for a relationship discount of 0.25%.
Cons 
  • Existing customers only — You must be a Wells Fargo customer to get a personal loan from the bank.
    No direct payments for debt consolidation — If you want to use a Wells Fargo personal loan to consolidate debt, you’ll need to send payments to your creditors after you receive your loan proceeds. 

Read reviews of Wells Fargo personal loans to learn more.

Best for multiple loan options: U.S. Bank

Why a U.S. Bank personal loan stands out: U.S. Bank offers a variety of loan products for different needs, and like Chase, it has a national presence. Its lineup includes personal loans, home improvement loans, Simple Loans for fast cash, and personal lines of credit.

Pros 
  • Competitive interest rates — Interest rates on U.S. Bank’s personal loans are lower than rates you may find from other lenders. Plus, you can get a 0.5% interest rate discount if you sign up for autopay with a U.S. Bank account.
  • No prepayment penalties — If you have plans to pay off a personal loan early, U.S. Bank doesn’t charge prepayment penalties. Repaying what you owe before the end of the loan term can help you save on interest.
  • Co-applicants allowed — Applying with a joint applicant may improve your chances of getting approved or qualifying for a lower rate.
Cons 
  • Credit requirements — U.S. Bank caters to customers with good credit. It may be harder to qualify if your credit scores are lower.
  • Funding timeline — It may take up to four business days to receive your loan after closing.
  • Varying loan amounts and terms — Loan amounts for existing customers range from $1,000 to $50,000 with repayment terms of 12 to 84 months. If you’re not a current customer, loan amounts range from $1,000 to $25,000 with terms of 12 to 60 months.

Read our reviews of U.S. Bank personal loans to learn more.

Best for member perks: SoFi

Why a SoFi personal loan stands out: If you get a personal loan with SoFi, you’ll have access to financial planning resources, estate plan discounts, referral bonuses, member-only events and other unique perks.

Pros 
  • Flexible terms — Repayment terms for SoFi personal loans range from two to seven years. Longer terms mean lower monthly payments, but you’ll pay more in total interest charges throughout the loan.
  • Direct payments for loan consolidation — If you use your loan to consolidate debt, SoFi will send payments directly to your creditors.
  • Interest rate discounts — SoFi offers multiple ways to reduce your interest rate.
  • No required fees — SoFi doesn’t require borrowers to pay origination, late or prepayment fees.
  • Loan customization — Borrowers may choose to pay an optional origination fee in exchange for a lower interest rate.
Cons 
  • High minimum — The minimum loan amount available is $5,000. If you need less than that, you’ll have to borrow more than you need to get a loan from SoFi.
  • May qualify for lower rates elsewhere — If you have good credit, you may be able to get a lower interest rate from another lender.

Read reviews of SoFi personal loans.

Best for competitive rates: LightStream

Why a LightStream personal loan stands out: LightStream has some of the lowest interest rates available when you sign up for autopay. Plus, if you qualify for a lower rate from another lender, LightStream will beat it when you meet certain requirements.

Pros
  • Fast funding — You may receive your money as soon as the same day you sign your loan documents.
  • Wide range of repayment terms — Terms range from 24 to 240 months depending on the loan type, allowing you to choose the option that best fits your budget.
  • No fees — LightStream doesn’t charge fees or prepayment penalties on its personal loans.
Cons 
  • No small loans — You must borrow at least $5,000 when you get a personal loan from LightStream.
  • Good credit required — LightStream caters to borrowers with strong credit profiles. You’ll need a solid payment history, reliable income, adequate assets, and a low debt-to-income (DTI) ratio to qualify for a personal loan.

Read reviews of LightStream personal loans to learn more.

Best for small personal loans: Happen Bank (formerly LendingClub)

Why a Happen Bank personal loan stands out: Happen Bank, formerly LendingClub, offers personal loans as low as $1,000, making it a good choice for smaller expenses, such as paying for an emergency car repair.

Pros
  • Co-borrowers allowed — You can apply for a personal loan with a co-borrower, which may improve your chances of qualifying or help you get a lower rate.
  • Multiple repayment options — Repay your loan in two to seven years based on what’s best for your monthly budget.
  • No prepayment penalty — Happen Bank doesn’t charge a fee for paying off your loan early. Repaying your loan before it’s due reduces the total amount of interest that accrues.
  • Direct payments to creditors — If you use your loan to consolidate debt, Happen Bank will send payment to your creditors.
Cons
  • Fees — Happen Bank personal loans may have an origination fee of up to 8% of the loan amount. The lender may also charge a late fee of $15 or 5% of the amount due, whichever is greater, if your payment is more than 15 days late.
  • Rates may be high — If you have good credit, you may be able to qualify for a lower rate with a different lender.

Read our reviews of Happen Bank, formerly LendingClub, personal loans to learn more.

How do I qualify for a personal loan?

To qualify for a personal loan, you must meet the lender’s requirements, which typically include a solid credit history, low debt-to-income ratio and reliable income. Not all lenders publish credit scoring requirements, but in general, the higher your scores, the more likely you are to qualify and receive a competitive rate.

Maintaining a debt-to-income ratio of 43% or less is ideal. You might be able to qualify with a higher DTI, but it’s probably not advisable. Having a high debt-to-income ratio can be a sign that you’re stretching your finances too thin. Before taking out a new loan, make sure you can comfortably afford the monthly payments.

Because requirements vary by lender, the only way to know for sure if you qualify is to apply, which will generate a hard credit inquiry that may reduce your credit scores by a few points. When you apply for a personal loan,  be prepared to provide documentation to verify your identity, income, assets, and other debt payments, such as a copy of your identification, bank statements, pay stubs and loan statements.

Our methodology: How we pick the best personal loans

Credit Karma’s editors evaluate the best personal loans by reviewing key features of dozens of popular lenders. Those features fall into three important categories:  

  • Affordability: We start by checking if a lender’s rates are competitive: are they higher than average or are they lower than many competitors? From there, we analyze if fees — particularly an origination fee — may make your loan more unaffordable. Last, we’ll check if the lender offers rate discounts for items such as automatic payments that may reduce your rate.
  • Customer-friendly features: Taking out a personal loan is a big financial commitment, so we prioritize lenders that make things easier for you. For instance, do they offer a wide range of loan amounts for people with different borrowing needs? Do they offer at least several loan terms to give you more flexibility with your monthly payment? And, crucially, can they fund your loan quickly? A lender will also get bonus points for offering direct payments for debt consolidation or other customer-friendly features.
  • Transparency: We believe personal loan terms should be easy to find and decipher. Prequalification, which lets you check what rate you may qualify for without a hard credit inquiry, is particularly important. We also check to see if a lender has been recently penalized by regulators.

How can I estimate personal loan costs?

To better understand the total cost of any personal loans you’re considering, use an online calculator like Credit Karma’s simple loan calculator. A loan calculator can help you estimate your monthly payment and how much you’d pay in interest versus principal over the length of the loan.

FAQs about Chase personal loans

Chase hasn’t said publicly why it doesn’t offer traditional personal loans. In general, banks decide which products to offer based on risk, demand and profit potential.

My Chase Loan® is different from a personal loan because you don’t have to submit an application or undergo a credit check, and it doesn’t create a separate loan account. However, it shares some characteristics with a personal loan, including a fixed interest rate, set repayment term and fixed monthly payments.

If you meet the lender’s eligibility criteria, you can get a personal loan from another lender. However, some banks may only offer personal loans to existing customers.

Credit score requirements vary by lender. However, people with good credit, which generally means having a FICO Score 8 or FICO Score 9 of 670+ or VantageScore 3.0 or VantageScore 4.0 of 661+ are typically more likely to get approved. You may still be able to qualify if your credit scores are lower than that, but you may not receive the most favorable terms.

*Approval Odds are not a guarantee of approval. Credit Karma determines Approval Odds by comparing your credit profile to other Credit Karma members who were approved for the personal loan, or whether you meet certain criteria determined by the lender. Of course, there’s no such thing as a sure thing, but knowing your Approval Odds may help you narrow down your choices. For example, you may not be approved because you don’t meet the lender’s “ability to pay standard” after they verify your income and employment; or, you already have the maximum number of accounts with that specific lender.