About Bankrate Score
Bankrate’s take
LightStream’s loans are among the best for borrowers with strong credit, featuring generous amounts and repayment terms, low APRs and no fees.
About Bankrate Score
LightStream’s loans are among the best for borrowers with strong credit, featuring generous amounts and repayment terms, low APRs and no fees.
LightStream is a 2024 Bankrate Award winner for both best home improvement personal loan and best excellent credit personal loan. It offers loans of up to $100,000 — among the highest in the personal loan industry. Repayment terms are capped at 84 months, which is higher than the standard 60-month limit offered by most lenders. The lender also offers a low starting APR, along with a no-fee policy and a rate beat program, making its loans relatively low cost.
Good-to-excellent credit is required for approval. But for qualified borrowers, LightStream is a prime choice for large purchases and costs, such as home improvement projects and debt consolidation.
LightStream offers generous loan amounts and a range of repayment terms. These features make its loans a great option to finance large purchases, home improvement projects, costly medical procedures and even tiny homes.
LightStream’s loans are also a good option for debt consolidation given their low starting APR, autopay discount and rate beat program, which can result in bigger savings.
That said, borrowers can’t use the loan proceeds to cover post-secondary education expenses or refinance student loans. Borrowers are also prohibited from using the funds to invest in the stock market, contribute to any retirement, life insurance or education savings plan or to refinance an existing LightStream loan.
LightStream offers customer support Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. ET. While LightStream’s website doesn’t provide a phone number, borrowers can get in touch via email at customerservice@lightstream.com.
LightStream offers a smooth application process that is completed 100 percent online, from start to finish. Online account management is also available and borrowers can contact customer support from their profile or via email.
The lender has over 26,000 five-star reviews as of March 18, 2024 on its website. Most consumers cite ease of application, fast funding and competitive rates as the main reasons for their positive experience.
Tough approval standards and inconsistent answers from customer support are among the top issues cited by negative reviews.
LightStream and SoFi loan offers are quite similar. Loan amounts range from $5,000 to $100,000, with competitive APRs and good or excellent credit is needed to qualify. Both lenders also accept joint applications and have no mandatory fees.
The main difference is that LightStream doesn’t offer prequalification, while SoFi does. This means borrowers can check their rate with SoFi without having to submit a formal application. SoFi also offers a variety of member-specific perks, like referral bonuses and a rewards program, that LightStream currently lacks.
LightStream and Best Egg couldn’t be more different. Though they’re both online lenders, Best Egg has APR ranges that are higher and loan amounts that are lower than what LightStream offers. Best Egg also charges an origination fee, in addition to other lender fees, making its loans more expensive across the board.
However, borrowers with imperfect credit may have a harder time qualifying for LightStream’s loans. Best Egg, on the other hand, has a minimum credit score requirement of 600, which is low compared to many personal loan lenders.
Like other lenders, LightStream requires borrowers to provide their contact information, date of birth, physical address and Social Security number to apply. The lender doesn’t list specific credit requirements on its website, but according to a representative, borrowers need a minimum credit score of 695 to qualify.
LightStream also considers the requested loan amount, purpose and repayment term in addition to their credit history and financial situation for approval.
LightStream’s application process is quick and straightforward. It’s done completely online and should take less than 15 minutes to complete.
Overall Score | 4.7 | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Availability | 4.8 | Same-day approval and funding, but no income requirements listed. |
Affordability | 5.0 | Competitive APRs, rate beat program and no fees. |
Customer Experience | 4.6 | Range of customer support hours, but limited to email. |
Transparency | 4.5 | Rates are listed but credit requirements are vague. |
57
years in business
30
lenders reviewed
20
loan features weighed
665
data points collected
Bankrate considers 20 factors when reviewing lenders. Credit requirements, APR ranges, fees, loan amounts and flexibility are all taken into account so that ratings are representative of how competitive lenders are for a wide range of credit profiles and budgets. The Bankrate Score for personal loans consists of four categories:
Editorial disclosure: All reviews are prepared by Bankrate.com staff. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the reviewer and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including rates and fees, presented in the review is accurate as of the date of the review. Check the data at the top of this page and the lender’s website for the most current information.