Avant Personal Loans Review
Avant is a privately held, US-based enterprise operating in the financial technologies sphere. Headquartered in Chicago, the company was founded in 2012 and is primarily focused on providing flexible personal loans and credit cards to customers. Throughout its history, Avant has lent over $4 billion to over 600,000 customers. The lender has been mentioned often in online publications such as Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. Avant is recommended for customers with a bad/average credit score and can be effective for debt consolidation purposes.
| Loan types | Personal Loans |
| Loan amount | $2,000 – $35,000 |
| Repayment terms | Loan Length is between 2-5 years |
| APR | 9.95% – 35.99% |
| Minimum credit score | 580 |
| Lender type | Direct lender |
| Good for: | Bad credit score, debt consolidation |
Who is Avant Good For?
Avant is focused almost exclusively on personal loans. Here are the most beneficial aspects of the lender:
Bad Credit Score – Over the past years, Avant has built a reputation of one of the largest online lending platforms that focus on customers with a bad credit score.
Debt Consolidation – The lender can be effectively used for combining a number of debts and taking a single loan to repay them conveniently.
Repayment Flexibility – Compared to the competition, Avant offers rather flexible repayment terms, ranging from 24 to 60 months. There is also the option of switching between biweekly and monthly payments, depending on your needs.
Avant Personal Loans: Pros
Each lender has its strengths and weaknesses. Here is how Avant compares to the competition in terms of offers, benefits, and drawbacks.
- Refinancing Options
Striving to deliver excellent customer service, Avant generally allows customers to apply for refinancing their loans to get a higher amount or a lower APR. Users require at least six months of on-time payments to qualify for refinancing, although 8-12 months are recommended to maximize success chances. - Low Minimum Credit Score Requirements
Compared to most of the other lenders on the market, Avant offers loans to customers with a minimum credit score of 580, while most other lenders tend to start from 600. This can make a big difference for customers who desperately need funds, which they may not be able to get anywhere else. - Comprehensive FAQ Section
The company has put together a detailed FAQ section that features answers to many common topics including interest rates and APR, applying for a loan, the verification process, credit reporting, managing your account, etc. This can be of great help to users when they are in the research phase to quickly compare Avant to other lenders.
Avant Personal Loans: Cons
- Poor Online Reputation
Although the lender has serviced over 600,000 customers in the past few years, there are numerous negative online reviews and feedback from previous users. While this shouldn’t influence your decision to try and cooperate with the organization too much, it’s advisable to consider their opinions. - High Minimum APR
Compared to other lenders on the market, Avant offers a pretty high minimum APR of 9.95%, whereas many other lenders claim to offer loans starting at 3-4% APR. - Low Max Loan Amounts
Taking into consideration the repayment period of up to 60 months, a loan of maximum $35,000 is relatively small. Customers can borrow up to $50,000-70,000 at some other lenders, with a repayment period of up to 60-84 months.
The Application Process
The application process is very straightforward. Once you land on the website, all you have to do is click on the “Check Your Loan Options” CTA, and you’ll be redirected to a landing page. Here, you’ll be asked to fill in some personal details, including name, address, occupation, monthly income, etc. and your social security number. This initial application does not result in a hard credit pull nor does it affect your credit score.
Terms and Requirements
Here are the exact terms and requirements to apply for a loan with Avant.
Loan Requirements
- Gross Annual Income: At least $20,000
- Minimal credit score: 580
- Citizenship: US
Apart from this, there aren’t other mandatory requirements; it all depends on each customer’s specific case. This relates to their debt-to-income ratio, financial history, credit history, and work history, among other factors. It’s also worth noting that, when approved by 4:30 pm, loans are disbursed the following business day via ACH deposits. Finally, the applications are generally approved fast, but it may take longer when the lender requests additional documents.
Loan Terms
- Loan Types: Personal loans
- Loan Amounts: $2,000-$35,000 Please note that the minimum amount may vary depending on the state.
- Administrative fees: up to 4.75%
- APR range: 9.95% – 35.99%
- Prepayment fee: None
- Late Fees: $25 in most US states
- Unsuccessful payment fee: $15 in most US states
Repayment Terms
Repayment time ranges from 24 to 60 months. It’s possible to set up flexible payments like biweekly or monthly. However, this will need to be discussed with the lender beforehand. Compared to the competition, the repayment period range is fairly wide, with only a few companies offering longer repayment times (up to 84 months), and most of them offering much shorter terms (up to 24 months).
Here is a short example that will help you get an idea of what a loan from Avant looks like. A $5,700 loan with an administration fee of 4.75% and an amount financed of $5,429.25, repayable in 36 monthly installments, would have an APR of 29.95% and monthly payments of $230.33.
Privacy and Security
Avant is a reputable lender that has served over 600,000 customers to date. Although some users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the partner, there are also many others who have been happy with the service received, especially during the past two years.
As mentioned on their website, based on the responses from 5,854 customers in a survey of 115,957 newly funded customers, conducted from June 1, 2017 – March 1, 2018, 94.64% of customers stated that they were either extremely satisfied or satisfied with Avant. Also, the enterprise utilizes 128-bit SSL protection and strict, high levels of security and encryption standards to keep customer information safe.
Customer Support
The lender’s customer support team does an excellent job. The friendly staff is ready to assist customers with any questions and/or concerns, and help them apply for a loan if needed. The team is available seven days a week from 7:00am – 10:00pm Central Time on Mondays to Fridays, and 7:00am – 8:00pm Central Time on Saturdays and Sundays. You can reach them via phone or email.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Avant is an experienced and reputable lender in the US market, specializing in personal loans. By focusing on the average American consumer, the lender has built a pretty solid reputation for issuing loans to customers with a bad credit score. Although there are numerous negative customer reviews that you can find around the web, you should evaluate the lender based on your own research and experience.
Moreover, with the minimum required credit score being so low and given the flexibility of repayment periods, customers should definitely consider applying to Avant for a personal loan, especially since the application process is so easy and doesn’t result in a hard credit pull.
Address
222 N. LaSalle St., Suite 1700
Chicago, Illinois 60601
