Avant Personal Loans Review of 2024
Avant offers affordable loans to people who other lenders normally leave behind Avant Personal Loans Review of 2024.
It’s not the cheap rates offered by Avant that entice, particularly if your credit is already good. However, Avant is among the few lenders ready to work with you without charging the earth if your credit isn’t the best.
Pros Explained
Quick funding timelines: There are lenders with faster service available than Avant, but not by much: If you’re approved for a loan by 4:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday, Avant will typically send you the money via ACH the following day.
Lower credit requirements than most lenders: Avant will approve loans for people with credit scores as low as 580, assuming you meet other requirements. Most other lenders will just deny you outright if your credit score is that low.
Lower income requirements than most lenders: As long as you bring in at least $1,200 in income per month, you may be eligible for a loan. Given that that’s close to the median weekly take-home pay for Americans, that means many people stand a chance of approval when other lenders might pass on them.
Cons Explained
High origination fees: If you have bad credit, one of the tradeoffs you make with Avant is paying a higher origination fee than most other lenders charge.
Relatively higher interest rates for people with good credit: Avant isn’t limited only to people with lower credit and income. But if you have good credit, it’ll be very easy for you to find a more affordable loan elsewhere.
Doesn’t pay creditors directly for consolidation loans: If you’re using Avant to take out a debt consolidation loan, you’ll need to pay off your old creditors directly. In contrast, many other lenders offer to send the loan funds straight to your old lenders, thereby saving you a bit of time in paying off your old loans.
Doesn’t allow joint applicants, co-signers, or collateral: You’ll need to qualify for an Avant personal loan entirely on your own, without help from a spouse, parent, or anyone else on the loan. Avant also doesn’t offer secured loans, which let you pledge some sort of collateral in order to get better odds at approval with lower interest rates.
Not available in Hawaii, Iowa, New York, Maine, Vermont, or West Virginia: Avant is available to people who live in most U.S. states, but not all.
Types of Personal Loans Offered by Avant
As far as installment loans go, Avant only offers unsecured personal loans.
You can actually use Avant’s personal loans for just about anything, except for illegal activities or paying for a college education. Avant advertises some of the most common personal loan uses on its website, but keep in mind these aren’t actually different loans, since they all have the same terms and conditions:
- Home improvement loans to fix or upgrade your living space, inside and out
- Debt consolidation loans to combine multiple higher-interest debts into one loan
- Emergency loans to pay for surprise expenses like medical treatments or car repairs
Time to Receive Personal Loan Funds
If you’re approved, Avant can get your funds to you relatively quickly. It’s able to offer next-day ACH deposit if you’re approved before 4:30 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday. Keep in mind that, depending on your bank’s policies, an ACH deposit can still take up to a few days before it’s available in your account after Avant sends it.
Avant Personal Loan Features
Change due date: You’ll be able to change your monthly payment due date to make it more convenient.
Highly rated mobile app: Avant offers Apple and Google Play apps, both of which come highly rated. You can’t use the app to apply for a personal loan, but once you have one, you can use it to manage just about every aspect of your repayment.
Light on perks: Lenders catering to a higher-credit-profile crowd generally offer more features, like paying your creditors directly for debt consolidation, unemployment protection, or even the ability to skip a payment every so often. In comparison, Avant doesn’t offer very many extra benefits.
Co-Signers and Co-Applicants
Avant does not allow for co-signers or co-applicants on its loans, which is strange considering it’s meant for people who might have a hard time getting approved for financing. Then again, it does have lower credit requirements in the first place, making it easier for more people to get approved.
Can You Refinance a Personal Loan With Avant?
Yes. If you already have a personal loan out, whether it’s from another lender or even Avant itself, you can refinance it through Avant. It’s possible that Avant will let you refinance for a higher amount too, if you need to borrow more money. You may be able to get a lower rate at Avant’s discretion, depending on your circumstances.
Customer Service
Avant offers decent customer service between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday. You can call on the weekend as well, but the hours are a bit shorter, ending at 8:00 p.m. CT. (If you’re applying for a loan and calling in for help, customer service hours normally end at 8:00 p.m. CT for you each day, regardless.)
Customer Satisfaction
Avant has a mixed reputation. On sites such as Trustpilot and online app stores where you can download the Avant app, it has a stellar reputation.
However, the reviews paint a bleaker picture elsewhere. According to one 2023 J.D. Power lender satisfaction survey, Avant was ranked far below average by customers.7 Avant maintains a 1.13-star rating out of 5 with the Better Business Bureau, where the company has received 387 complaints alone in the past year.