Capital One Personal Loan Alternatives

Personal loans can serve a multitude of purposes. They can make your dream vacation a reality, help with a large purchase, or help pay off other bills or credit card debt. They’re unsecured loans, which means unlike an auto loan or mortgage, they don’t have any collateral attached to them, so you can’t lose your property if you can’t pay back the loan. To get approved for a personal loan, you typically need good credit.

On this page:

• Does Capital One Offer Personal Loans?
• Other Options in Personal Loan Products
• Alternatives to Capital One Personal Loans

Does Capital One Offer Personal Loans?

Capital One is a bank, lender, and credit card issuer headquartered in McLean, Virginia, outside of the nation’s capital. The bank is not only heavily involved in charity work and community outreach programs, but they also offer a wide range of financial products. And in recent years they’ve become a bit of a household name due to the advertising catchphrase “What’s in your wallet?”

The company offers bank accounts, lines of credit, auto loans, and small business and commercial financing, but it doesn’t offer personal loans anymore.

• Auto Loans: Through the Auto Navigator program, the company helps you find the right loan terms through personalized options, it helps you choose a car from thousands of dealers nationwide, and it optimizes the loan process, all without even hitting your credit report with a hard credit check.
• Commercial Lending: Capital One also offers a wide variety of commercial financing solutions, including real estate, asset-based lending, and more.
• Small Business Lending: In certain U.S. locations, Capital One offers limited small business banking and lending products as well, including loans and lines of credit.

In addition, Capital One also continues to service any previously existing loans, even if they no longer offer that particular loan product. If you already have a Capital One personal loan, then you can continue to log in and manage that loan online.

Other Options in Personal Loan Products

If you’re looking for a personal loan and are disappointed to find that Capital One doesn’t offer them, don’t worry — you still have plenty of options.

Before shopping for a personal loan, first take the time to truly understand your own financial situation.

• Why do you want or need this personal loan? (Read: What can a personal loan be used for?)
• Is it for debt consolidation? (Read: Best debt consolidation loans)
• To help bad credit? (Read: Personal loans for bad credit)
• Or are you looking to make a large purchase or take a vacation? (Read: Vacation loans)

Look at your current credit history and decide what monthly payment you can afford. Depending on the type of lender you choose, you could see large differences in your loan term or interest rate.

With a little research and some solid knowledge of your financial situation, you can choose the best lender and hopefully get the best deal possible for your needs.

Other Banks

Sometimes the best place to start looking for a personal loan product is the bank that already holds your savings or checking account. When it comes to personal loans, your relationship with a financial institution can help you obtain a loan, even when other lenders might not be inclined to approve your application.

If you can’t or don’t want to use your current bank, check out other local lenders first. There are a large number of city-level, regional, or state banks that are well-informed about the local economy and any factors that might play into your personal finances. They can help you navigate the loan application process. Some borrowers also find it more to their liking when they can walk into a branch and speak to the person who’s personally approving their loan, or deal with face-to-face customer service after the loan is disbursed.

Online Lenders

If you’re more interested in making sure you get the best deal possible, or you’re comfortable doing 100 percent of your dealings with your lender by phone or email, you should look into online lenders.

>> Read More: Compare the best personal loans

Many offer personal finance tools to help you not just with your loan, but your total financial health. Their rates vary widely but can often be lower than those offered by a traditional bank.

Peer-to-Peer Lenders

Another relatively new option is the peer-to-peer lender. When you apply with one of these lenders, your request is made available to a network of individuals who can choose to finance your loan with their own money. These sometimes have higher interest rates, but you may be able to get approved with less than perfect credit if you’re willing to pay that higher rate. If you make payments on time, peer-to-peer loans can also increase your FICO credit score as a traditional personal loan would.

Credit Unions

Unlike banks, credit unions are non-profit and owned by the members who make up the union. As a result, they are sometimes more flexible in what they can do. While some credit unions have tighter controls on loan approvals, requiring a bit more paperwork or documentation of your financial situation, others focus more on their relationship to you than your FICO score. Credit union personal loans sometimes offer lower rates or other perks, such as no origination fees or flexible repayment options.

Alternatives to Capital One Personal Loans

Even though you won’t be able to get a new personal loan from Capital One, there are some excellent options out there for you to choose from. Here are some examples of the types of loans, rates, and terms available from well-known lenders.

Wells Fargo Bank

Wells Fargo is a long-established bank and lender that offers both personal loans and lines of credit to meet your changing needs. Their loans have fixed rates and terms that are based upon your credit score. In fact, if you have an established relationship with Wells Fargo and set up automatic payments, you can get an additional discount on your interest rate. 

You can borrow from $3,000 to $100,000, with no collateral required. The online application process is simple, and you can often get your funds disbursed as quickly as the next business day.

Eloan

Eloan is an online lender that began in 1997 and is currently a division of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, a solid financial institution with over 124 years of experience that’s governed by U.S. federal banking law. Eloan’s products seek to be “radically simple,” and they offer loan amounts up to $35,000. 

Rates start at 5.49% APR but are based on your credit rating. You can find out what your rate would be without affecting your credit score by doing a soft credit inquiry. There are zero origination fees or prepayment penalties, and Eloan says you’ll have your money by the next business day.

LendingClub

LendingClub is one of the oldest and best-known peer-to-peer lenders. Their online marketplace connects prospective borrowers like you with people who are willing to fund part or even all of your loan. LendingClub screens the borrowers, facilitates the transactions, and services the loans once you start repayment. 

Over 2.5 million people have borrowed through LendingClub since 2007, with an average customer rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Rates and terms are highly flexible and depend largely on your creditworthiness. The process is billed as quick and easy, with disbursement coming in only a few days. Lenders should be aware that unsecured personal loans they issue through LendingClub are not FDIC insured.

Bottom Line

Capital One might not offer personal loans anymore, but you have plenty of personal loan alternatives. Whether you go with your local bank, an online lender, or even a peer-to-peer company like LendingClub, chances are good that you’ll be able to find the loan or line of credit you need.