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Universal Credit Personal Loans Review: A Solid Option for Borrowers Without Great Credit

Review Updated
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Author: Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
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Matt is a Certified Financial Planner™ and investment advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina. He writes personal finance and investment advice for Motley Fool Money and its parent company The Motley Fool, with more than 4,500 published articles and a 2017 SABEW Best in Business award. Matt writes a weekly investment column for the Motley Fool ("Ask a Fool") that is syndicated in USA Today, and his work with Motley Fool Money has also been syndicated to MSN and Yahoo! Finance. He has been regularly featured on Fox Business and many other major outlets. He’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Nova Southeastern University, and holds a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University.

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Eric McWhinnie
Fact Checked: Eric McWhinnie
Eric McWhinnie
Eric McWhinnie

Eric McWhinnie has been writing and editing digital content since 2010. He specializes in personal finance and investing. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

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Universal Credit Personal Loans are designed to provide access to credit for borrowers who need it, even if their credit history isn't flawless. In this review, we'll discuss Universal Credit Personal Loans's platform, the pros and cons of getting a personal loan through Universal Credit Personal Loans, and some alternatives that could be more appealing to certain borrowers.

Universal Credit Personal Loans

Great for: Easy application

Check Rates for Universal Credit Personal Loans

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Check Rates for Universal Credit Personal Loans

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Minimum Credit Score
560
Loan Amounts
$1,000 - $50,000
APR Range
11.69% - 35.99%
Term Length
36 - 60 months

Universal Credit Personal Loan is a good fit for borrowers who may have some negative information in their credit file, but who need a personal loan to consolidate debts or cover a large expense.

  • Flexible repayment terms
  • Loans for borrowers without stellar credit
  • Fast funding
  • No prepayment penalties
  • Highly rated mobile app
  • High APR range
  • Origination fees are higher than most competitors'

Compare the best personal loans

Get the best rates and terms to fit your needs. Here are a few loans we'd like to highlight, including our award winners.

Lender APR Range Loan Amount Min. Credit Score Next Steps
Fixed: 8.99%-29.99% APR (with all discounts)
$5,000 - $100,000
680
7.99% - 24.99%
$2,500 - $40,000
660
7.80% - 35.99%
$1,000 - $50,000
300

Full Universal Credit Personal Loans Review

This personal loan is a good fit for: Borrowers who have below-average credit histories with debts to consolidate or large expenses to pay for.

Top perks

There's no such thing as a perfect lender, but if you're in the market for a personal loan, there are some features of Universal Credit Personal Loans's personal loans that you may find appealing:

Loans for subprime borrowers: Universal Credit Personal Loans specializes in loans for borrowers with below-average FICO® Scores. It can be difficult for borrowers in the lower credit tiers to find loans, and Universal Credit Personal Loans aims to help this underserved demographic.

36 - 60 months loan repayment terms: Universal Credit Personal Loans makes fixed-rate personal loans with terms ranging from three to five years, although not every borrower will be offered loans with all possible term lengths. Longer repayment terms have lower monthly payments, while shorter repayment terms typically result in less interest paid over the life of the loan.

Loans of up to $50,000: Universal Credit Personal Loans offers a wide range of loan amounts, with borrowers able to access loans from $1,000 - $50,000. On the lower end especially, Universal Credit Personal Loans stands out, as many competitors have much higher minimum loan amounts.

Direct payments to creditors: If you're borrowing money to consolidate debts, Universal Credit Personal Loans can send loan proceeds directly to your creditors within one business day of your loan clearing verifications. This can save significant time in the debt consolidation process, compared with having the money sent to you and then manually paying off your debts with it.

No prepayment penalties: If you want to pay your loan off faster than you're required to, it won't cost you anything. Universal Credit Personal Loans doesn't charge any prepayment penalties, even if you pay off your loan in just a few months.

Next day funding: Once you accept a loan offer from Universal Credit Personal Loans, the money will be sent to your bank account within one business day of clearing verifications. It's worth mentioning that it can take longer than a day for your bank to process the funds and make them available (especially if you have proceeds sent directly to creditors), but the transfer happens quickly on Universal Credit Personal Loans's end.

Easy to check your loan offers: Like most personal lenders, Universal Credit Personal Loans allows prospective borrowers to check their rate offers quickly and easily online and to get pre-approval for a loan, and with no impact to their credit score. Universal Credit Personal Loans only does a soft credit check when determining loan eligibility, so simply checking your rate doesn't show up as a credit inquiry on your credit report.

Mobile app: It's worth pointing out that Universal Credit Personal Loans is a part of personal financial services platform Upgrade, which also offers its own branded Upgrade personal loans. Both platforms' loans are managed through Upgrade's mobile app (or through Universal Credit Personal Loans's website). Upgrade has a highly rated mobile app, with ratings of 4.6 and 4.8 out of five stars on Google Play and the Apple App Store, respectively. In addition to personal loans, Upgrade offers cash-back credit cards, a rewards checking account, and more.

What could be improved

As mentioned earlier, there's no such thing as a perfect lender for everyone, so here are some of the potential drawbacks of Universal Credit Personal Loans.

APR range is a little high: Universal Credit Personal Loans's APRs are on the higher end when compared to other lenders. To be fair, this makes sense as Universal Credit Personal Loans's loans are targeted at borrowers without stellar credit histories, but in many cases, Universal Credit Personal Loans loans may not be any more cost-effective than simply using a credit card. It's also worth pointing out that Universal Credit Personal Loans offers a 0.50% rate discount for automatic payments.

Origination fees can cost thousands: There are some personal lenders who don't charge origination fees, and others that only charge origination fees for certain borrowers. However, Universal Credit Personal Loans charges origination fees for all personal loans, and these can range from 4.25% - 8.00% of the loan amount. These origination fees are included in the APR range (one of the reasons it's on the high end), and it's important for borrowers to realize these are deducted from the loan proceeds before they are distributed. In other words, if you borrow $20,000 and receive an 8% origination fee, only $18,400 will be deposited into your bank account.

How to qualify for a Universal Credit Personal Loans loan

In order to qualify for a personal or debt consolidation loan through Universal Credit Personal Loans, you'll need to meet a few basic qualifications. You'll need to be at least 18 years old, have a valid email address and bank account, and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. You'll also need to pass a soft credit check and have current income to justify the loan. Here's the full list of qualifications:

  • U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or living in the U.S. with a valid visa
  • At least 18 years old (in Alabama, the minimum age is 19)
  • A valid email address
  • A verifiable bank account
  • Enough income to justify the loan

While Universal Credit Personal Loans specializes in loans for borrowers with lower credit scores, you'll still need a reasonably strong credit history to get a loan. If you have some late payments and older charge-offs on your credit file, you'll probably be ok. But if your credit file has lots of bad information and very little good, you may have a tough time qualifying. Universal Credit Personal Loans doesn't disclose its minimum credit score on its website, but several reports indicate that a 560 is the minimum score the platform will accept.

Application process

Like most personal lenders, Universal Credit Personal Loans allows prospective borrowers to check their personalized loan offers without any impact to their credit score. In many cases, multiple loan options are provided.

The next step is to choose the specific loan offer that works best for your budget and desired repayment timeline. You'll accept the loan offer online, and the money will be sent within one business day of clearing verifications.

Universal Credit Personal Loans are right for you if:

To sum it up, Universal Credit Personal Loans Personal Loans can be a great fit for borrowers with large expenses to finance, or who are in need of debt consolidation, but whose credit histories might prevent them from getting approved at other lenders. There are some drawbacks for sure, especially when it comes to fees, but for borrowers who need credit and are having trouble getting it elsewhere, Universal Credit Personal Loans can be a solid option.

FAQs

  • Universal Credit Personal Loans sends money to your bank (or creditors) within one business day of you accepting a loan offer and clearing all of the verification processes. It may take longer for the funds to post to your bank account.

  • When you check your rate offers with Universal Credit Personal Loans, a soft credit check is performed, which is only visible to you and won't impact your credit score. However, once you accept and finalize a loan, a hard inquiry will be performed, which is standard practice for most, if not all, personal lenders.

  • Universal Credit Personal Loans offers personal loans and debt consolidation loans. The only main difference between the two is that personal loan proceeds are paid to you, while debt consolidation loan proceeds can be paid directly to your existing creditors.