Posted by: Adam McCann

Quick Review: Citizens Bank personal loans are best for people with good credit, as Citizens Bank requires a credit score of 680 or higher to qualify. People with high credit scores could also receive interest rates as low as 6.80%. Plus, Citizens Bank offers loans of up to $50,000. High loan amounts and low APRs are a great combination for debt consolidation. Citizens Bank doesn’t charge any kind of fees on their loans, either.

Still, the interest rates on Citizens Bank personal loans start higher than some competitors’ rates do. So people with the very best credit may have better alternatives. Citizens Bank’s customers certainly seem satisfied, though, having filed few complaints with regulators. One important detail to note is that Citizens Bank only has branches in 11 states, but they offer loans to people living in any state. If you live in a state where Citizens Bank does not have a branch, your loan will be through “Citizens One,” which is just the national lending division of the bank.

Below, you can learn more about Citizens Bank personal loans and find out how they stack up against the competition.

Citizens Bank Personal Loan Terms

APRs	6.80% - 20.91%
Loan lengths	36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 months
Loan amounts	$5,000 - $50,000
Approval time	1-10 business days
Funds delivery time	3-6 business days
Fees	- $0 early payoff fee - $0 origination fee - $0 late fee
Credit score requirement	680
Minimum income requirement	$24,000
Other requirements (all must apply)	SSN 18+ years old U.S. citizen or permanent resident

Citizens Bank Personal Loan Rates & Fees

The APR range for Citizens Bank personal loans is 6.80% - 20.91%. Their minimum is a little higher than that of some competing lenders, which offer rates as low as 6% on personal loans. But their maximum is on the low side, as some lenders charge anywhere from 25% to 36%. The exact rate you get with Citizens Bank depends on a number of different considerations including your credit score, income and other debts. Citizens Bank personal loan interest rates are fixed. That means the interest rate will never change for the life of the loan.

There are no fees on Citizens Bank personal loans. You will not have to pay any kind of origination/application-processing fee. You won’t be penalized for paying off the loan early. And there won’t be a fee if you happen to miss a due date, though that definitely is not advised due to the potential credit score damage it can cause.

Citizens Bank Personal Loan Requirements

You will have difficulty qualifying for a Citizens Bank personal loan without a credit score of at least 680. That’s on the high end of what major lenders require. There is also a minimum income requirement of $24,000. That’s only the 29th percentile of income, meaning that 71 percent of U.S. adults have an income higher than $24,000.

Citizens Bank personal loans have a few other requirements. You must be the “age of majority” in your home state (almost always 18 years old) and either a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. You must also have a Social Security number. Citizens Bank allows co-applicants, which lets two people take joint responsibility for the loan.

You can get a Citizens Bank personal loan quote in “less than two minutes” online. It will not impact your credit. When it comes time to actually apply for a loan, you can do so online, by phone (1-888-333-0104) or in one of Citizens Bank’s 11,000 branches. Citizens Bank only has branches in 11 states. But anyone in the U.S. can get a personal loan through them. People in states without branches will have their loans under the “Citizens One” brand name rather than Citizens Bank, though.

To check your Citizens Bank application status, log in to your online account. Or, provide your cell phone number on the application and elect to receive updates through text.

Citizens Bank Personal Loan Reviews & Transparency

Citizens Bank has a good reputation overall. They’re highly rated by the Better Business Bureau, and very few complaints have been filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by Citizens Bank personal loan customers.

• Better Business Bureau: Citizens Bank does not have BBB accreditation. Its BBB rating is an A+, though.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The CFPB complaint records include 5,800 complaints about Citizens Bank. Of those, 98 refer to the bank’s personal loans, which is lower than the amount of complaints many other lenders have. Complaints include people thinking they were denied unjustly or having difficulty applying.

  Citizens Bank has always responded to complaints in a “timely” manner. The last recorded complaint is from February 2019.

• WalletHub: Citizens Bank has a 4/5 rating from WalletHub’s users. WalletHub’s editors rate Citizens Bank personal loans 4.5/5.

Citizens Bank clearly displays their personal loan terms online. The bank is also very clear about the minimum requirements for approval.

Citizens Bank Personal Loans vs. Popular Competitors

Lender	Citizens Bank	Discover	SoFi
APR	6.80% - 20.91%	6.99% - 24.99%	5.99% - 16.49%
Loan amounts	$5,000 - $50,000	$2,500 - $35,000	$5,000 - $100,000
Loan lengths	36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 months	36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 months	12 - 84 months
Credit score required	680	660*	680

*According to multiple third-party sources Methodology

WalletHub’s editors used 23 metrics in 7 different categories to rate Citizens Bank personal loans. Categories included loan requirements, APR, fees, the application process and loan amounts. We also considered Citizens Bank’s customer satisfaction and transparency. Read on to see all of the categories WalletHub looked at and the individual metrics we used.

Main categories:

• Requirements: Our editors looked into what yearly income and credit score is required to qualify. We also looked at requirements regarding whether applicants have to be U.S. citizens and what kind of identification they have to provide.
• APR: We looked at the highest and lowest interest rates on Citizens Bank Personal loans, and whether the rates are variable or fixed.
• Fees: WalletHub considered any fees charged by Citizens Bank, particularly origination fees, late fees and fees for paying the loan off early.
• Loan amounts: We checked for the largest and smallest loan amounts, plus the shortest and longest amounts of time to pay them off.
• Application process: Our editors looked at the application options (such as online or in person) and whether Citizens Bank accepts co-signers. We also checked whether there’s an option for pre-qualification, how long it approval takes and how long funding takes.
• Customer satisfaction: We measured customer satisfaction using Citizens Bank’s BBB rating, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaints and WalletHub user reviews.
• Transparency: We evaluated how clear Citizens Bank is about the requirements and terms of their loans.

from Wallet HubWallet Hub


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