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Alliant Credit Union: 2026 Home Equity Review

Written by

Linda Bell,

Edited by

Katie Lowery, CFHC

Expert verified

Updated on Oct 20, 2026

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Bankrate score

4.0

Our methodology

Customer score

5.0

Read reviews

SCORE BREAKDOWN

Affordability

4.0

Availability

4.0

Borrower experience

4.2

EDITOR'S TAKE

Alliant Credit Union is a large, digitally focused lender that stands out for budget-conscious borrowers for its lack of fees, competitive rates and low loan minimums in some states. Keep in mind that since this is a credit union, you must become a member before closing on your loan.

PROS

• Offers an interest-only HELOC option, which means you’ll only need to make interest payments during the draw period
• Tap up to 85% of your home’s value (certain states)
• TN closing costs on HELOCs below $250,000

CONS

• Only available to borrowers in about half of the country (25 states and Washington, D.C).
• No home equity loans or fixed-rate HELOC options
• You must be a member of the credit union to apply, and autopay from a credit union account is needed to access the best terms

Affordability

4.0

Availability

4.0

Borrower experience

4.2

• Offers an interest-only HELOC option, which means you’ll only need to make interest payments during the draw period
• Tap up to 85% of your home’s value (certain states)
• TN closing costs on HELOCs below $250,000

• Only available to borrowers in about half of the country (25 states and Washington, D.C).
• No home equity loans or fixed-rate HELOC options
• You must be a member of the credit union to apply, and autopay from a credit union account is needed to access the best terms

Find competitive home equity rates near you

Alliant Credit Union overview

Originally founded in 1935 to serve United Airlines employees, Alliant Credit Union is now one of the largest credit unions in the U.S., with $20 billion in assets. Headquartered in Chicago, the organization serves more than 900,000 members with a broad lineup of products, including mortgage loans, credit cards, checking and savings accounts, personal loans and an interest-only HELOC.

HELOC: Alliant Credit Union’s interest-only HELOC has a 10-year draw period and a 20-year repayment period. The variable-rate product has a minimum loan amount of $10,000 (or $25,001 in Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin). You can also borrow up to 85% of your home’s value, depending on where you live. Your HELOC interest rate will be higher if you don’t set up automatic payments.

How Bankrate scored Alliant Credit Union

Affordability: 4 stars

Alliant Credit Union scores 4 out of 5 stars for its minimal fees and its lower APR.

APR: Alliant’s interest rates are competitive and below Bankrate’s averages.
Fees: Alliant Credit Union doesn’t charge application, appraisal or closing fees on HELOCs up to $250,000. Lines over $250,000 incur a $1,000 flat fee. The HELOC has a $50 annual fee after the first year, and a $200 termination fee if canceled or closed within the first 36 months. If you’re refinancing an Alliant HELOC, there is also a $250 fee if you don’t increase the amount by at least $10,000.

Availability: 4 stars

Despite its limited footprint — in just half the country — Alliant scores 4 out of 5 for availability because of its low loan minimum.

Licensing: Alliant is licensed to provide HELOCs in 25 states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, KY, MA, MI, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, TN, UT, VA, WA and WI, plus Washington, D.C.
Credit score: An Alliant representative told Bankrate that they could not disclose their minimum credit score requirement, but said they consider a borrower’s complete credit profile.
Loan minimum: Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. require a $25,001 minimum; all other states allow a $10,000 minimum, which is low by home equity lending standards.

Borrower experience: 4.2 stars

Alliant earns 4.2 out of 5 stars because of its 24/7 member care phone number and fully remote closing process.

Rate transparency: Alliant’s website doesn’t display customized rates; it only shows one standard rate for its interest-only HELOC.
Convenience: Alliant offers a fully remote closing for HELOC borrowers. Documents are sent electronically and via FedEx for signature, and the HELOC is then funded without an in-person visit to an office.
Customer service: All service is virtual, as Alliant doesn’t have any physical branch locations. Member care is available around-the-clock by phone at 800-328-1935.

How easy is it to contact Alliant Credit Union?

There are two primary ways to contact Alliant Credit Union: online or by phone at 800-328-1935 (available 24/7). When we called, a representative quickly answered several basic questions. Alliant also offers a virtual chat assistant, which wasn’t particularly helpful. During testing, it was unable to answer simple HELOC-related questions or direct us to relevant information on the website.

Alliant Credit Union reputation

Though Alliant Credit Union boasts an A+ ranking with the Better Business Bureau, customer reviews on the BBB site rank only 1.41 out of 5 stars at the time of this writing. The organization’s TrustPilot score is higher but still poor, at 2.8 stars. Users mostly complained about customer support.

In the news

In June 2025, Alliant Credit Union appointed Mike Dobbins, a 30-year financial services executive, as its new CEO.

To determine a home equity lender’s Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender’s products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:
- Affordability: Annual percentage rate (APR) - 80%; introductory APR - 20%
- Availability: Licensing - 50%; credit score - 20%; loan minimum - 10%; draw requirement - 10%; loan products - 10%
- Borrower experience: Rate transparency - 35%; convenience - 35%; customer service - 20%; fixed-rate options - 10%
When a lender has entered a consent decree, been assessed a penalty in a case brought by a federal regulator or in a certified, federal class-action lawsuit, or received a federal judgment for harming home-equity borrowers within the past three years, we deduct one point for each penalty received from its total Bankrate Score.

Learn more about our methodology.

Compare Alliant Credit Union with other lenders

Selected lender Alliant Bankrate score 4.0 Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Interest rates, fees, loan terms, borrower requirements and customer service are some of the factors that make up Bankrate's score. Customer score 5.0 Star ranking and total number reflects the lifetime customer reviews received while this lender has been an advertiser on Bankrate. To help serve you with relevant information, the customer reviews shown are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months.	Bankrate score Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Interest rates, fees, loan terms, borrower requirements and customer service are some of the factors that make up Bankrate's score. Customer score Star ranking and total number reflects the lifetime customer reviews received while this lender has been an advertiser on Bankrate. To help serve you with relevant information, the customer reviews shown are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months. Read review	Bankrate score Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Interest rates, fees, loan terms, borrower requirements and customer service are some of the factors that make up Bankrate's score. Customer score Star ranking and total number reflects the lifetime customer reviews received while this lender has been an advertiser on Bankrate. To help serve you with relevant information, the customer reviews shown are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months. Read review
Loan amount
Starting at $10,000
Min. credit score required
Undisclosed
Repayment terms
10-year draw period and 20-year repayment term for interest-only HELOCs, 7-year draw period and 8-year repayment term for standard HELOCs
Funds available in
Undisclosed
Recent customer review
Great to work with. Everything done online, they juggled a difficult closing working the timing of the sale of our old house and purchase of the new. They had the best rate available at the time. They... Sandy B.

To help you make the most informed decisions, our home equity lender reviews team suggests an alternative home equity lender for each lender reviewed. In most cases, this alternative 1.) shares the same strength (affordability, availability or borrower experience) as the lender reviewed; and 2.) rates highly for Bankrate Score. In the event more than one lender meets these standards, we suggest the one with the higher Bankrate Score.

Alliant Credit Union customer ratings and reviews

5.0

1 ratings

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Level of service

Professionalism

Responsiveness

100% of customers would recommend this lender.

of 1 reviews

The consumer reviews posted on Bankrate.com ("Bankrate") are individual, subjective opinions of reviewers, and not of Bankrate. Bankrate does not endorse any of the opinions expressed by reviewers or any responses to reviews.

Bankrate cannot guarantee or verify the accuracy of the opinions shared by individual reviewers, and reserves the right to reject or remove any review, at any time, for any reason at Bankrate’s sole discretion, including but not limited to those that Bankrate deems inappropriate, fraudulent, invalid, irrelevant, or otherwise outside the parameters of the Bankrate Review Guidelines, the Privacy Policy, or the Terms of Use.

To help serve you with relevant information, the consumer reviews shown below are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months.

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