Splash Financial has made giant strides in the student loan market since its formation in 2013. The company, based in Cleveland, Ohio, is a marketplace lender that has serviced over 125,000 customers and more than $7 billion in student loans during this short time. As such, Splash Financial has become one of the US’ most popular sources of personal and student loan funding.
Splash Financial’s marketplace specializes in pairing borrowers with suitable financial institutions, where the company is known for offering loans and student loans with no upper limits. Splash is also known for the competitive interest rates that can be obtained through its marketplace.
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While Splash Financial started out mainly focusing on refinancing student loans, it has since expanded into also being a marketplace for personal loans. It has partnerships with the likes of banks and credit unions to get the best possible deals it can for users. The types of loans on offer at Splash Financial can vary.
LOAN AMOUNT
$1,000 - $100,000
LOAN REPAYMENT TERM
24-84
MIN CREDIT SCORE
580
APR FIXED RATE
5.99% - 35.97%
APR VARIABLE RATE
5.99% - 35.97%
FUNDING TIME
Usually 1-2 days
ORIGINATION FEE
None
PREPAYMENT FEE
None
OTHER FEES
None
SOFT CREDIT PULL
Yes
LENDER TYPE
Marketplace
Pros & Cons
As Splash Financial is a marketplace, the exact terms and requirements of the loans will depend on the specific lenders that you are choosing between. However, there are some general terms and requirements that remain consistent.
You will need to have a credit score of at least 580 and you need will be able to borrow between $1,000 and $100,000. The APR will depend on the type of loan you are getting and your credit history.
Check your rate
The first step will be to answer some simple questions from Splash Financial in order to see what types of loans you can get access to. This process takes under three minutes and does not require a hard credit check. Once completed, you will be shown a comparison of the different loan options you have from various lenders.
If there is a loan option you like the look of, then you can proceed with submitting an official application. This step will require a hard credit check. The exact steps will depend on the specific lender you are dealing with. However, the majority of lenders will approve applications relatively quickly, with time to funding often being within two days of getting approval.
Available in all states
Splash Financial came to life in 2013 with the mission of helping bring affordable student loans to the market. Through its marketplace, Splash offers private student loans, student loan refinancing, and medical student loans. Splash has partnered with multiple large financial institutions, such as Laurel Road, PenFed, and U-Fi, to show the options available to people looking for student loan funding.
LOAN AMOUNT
min $5,000
APR FIXED RATE
4.19% - 12.78%
APR VARIABLE RATE
3.99% - 12.19%
MIN CREDIT SCORE
650
LOAN REPAYMENT TERM
5 - 25 years
FUNDING TIME
20 days
ORIGINATION FEE
None
PREPAYMENT FEE
None
OTHER FEES
Yes
SOFT CREDIT PULL
Yes
LENDER TYPE
Marketplace
Pros & Cons
Student Loans Type
REFINANCE AMOUNT
min $4,991
REFINANCE FIXED APR
4.64% - 9.24%
REFINANCE VARIABLE APR
3.99% - 3.99%
Splash Financial offers a marketplace service, meaning that when you enquire about a student loan product, the company will search all its partners to see what products are best for you. As such, requirements for private student loans and student loan refinancing may change on a lender-by-lender basis, but the following criteria apply to all lender partners if you use Splash Financial:
You can borrow from $5,000 up to the total cost of your course, with repayment terms varying between five and 25 years, depending on the lender partner. None of Splash Financial’s partners charge application or origination fees, but some day charge late charges, which again varies by lender.
The interest rates offered by Splash Financial are reasonable and on the lower end of the scale when compared to the market as a whole. Unfortunately, to take advantage of these rates, you will need to have a good credit score – people with a score under 650 will not qualify.
We wanted to reduce the monthly payments on our student loans, as our credit profile had improved significantly since entering into the original loan agreements. We were recommended Splash Financial due to the company’s low rates, so we decided to go through the application process.
The process was easy to start; we simply went to the Splash Financial website and clicked on the “Student Loan Refinancing” section. From here, we chose “Check Your Rate”.
Splash’s website boasted an indicative rate and pre-qualification in three minutes, so we wanted to put this to the test. To start the process, we had to create an account with Splash Financial. After doing so, we started the application by answering some basic questions.
Get my rate
We entered our name and stated that we wanted to refinance our existing loan. We then answered questions about the degree obtained, the college attended, and the year of graduation. We then had to answer several questions about our current employment status.
Information required included the date that work commenced, salary and savings. Finally, we had to detail our address, housing situation, and phone number, followed by our citizenship status, the amount we wanted to refinance, and our SSN. After entering this, we selected “Check My Rate” and had our options presented to us within a minute.
The process was as easy as advertised, completed within three minutes, and the rates returned were good. For these reasons, we recommend checking out what Splash Financial has to offer.
After pre-qualifying through Splash, we were directed to the lender partner site where we wanted the loan from. We didn’t have to re-enter our personal details, but we had to upload all the required documentation. While this took a little longer than the three minutes for pre-qualification, we had the process finished in ten minutes.
You need to provide several pieces of information to proceed with a loan through Splash Financial’s marketplace. These documents are not required for pre-qualification, but to take out a loan with one of Splash Financial’s lender partners, you must provide the following information at a minimum. Terms can change between direct lenders, so you may have to provide additional information to what is listed here:
Available in all states
Splash has a solid reputation among student loan refinance companies. It has been advertised by financial expert Dave Ramsey and is Top Rated by Student Loan Hero. Nerdwallet also named the company the 2019 Best Student Loan Refinancing for Customer Service.
With over 550 reviews on Trustpilot, this company has a 4.8 out of 5-star average rating. Reviewers call the service “painless” and say the process was “quick and seamless”. Splash Financial’s website also has SSL Verification to help protect your sensitive personal information.
Splash Financial makes it easy to contact its dedicated customer support team, with customer care available through email, phone, and live chat. We had heard good things about the live chat service offered, so we decided to test it out.
Clicking on “Chat Now” opened a new desktop window where we could ask questions after providing our name and email. The chat was picked up within two minutes, and the helpful customer service agent answered our questions quickly and easily. If you are comfortable going through a customer care process without directly speaking to someone, we found it to be an excellent option.
If you are looking for a private student loan or to refinance your existing student loan (or loans), then Splash Financial is an excellent place to start looking. The company’s marketplace provides quotes from several different banks and credit unions. This, coupled with competitive rates and excellent customer service, means you could find out whether you can save on your student loan payments in minutes.
Splash reserves the right to modify or discontinue products and benefits at any time without notice. Rates and terms are subject to change at any point before application submission. Your pre-qualified rate is based on the information you provided. All final offers require verified credit information which could impact your qualified rate. The information you provide to us is an inquiry to determine whether Splash’s lending partners can make you a loan offer.
Some lending partners may require less info if you apply directly on their website. If a lending partner has an available loan for you, you will be invited to submit a loan application to the lender for its review. Please be advised that a lending partner with an available loan offer for you may conduct another soft credit pull as part of its application review process.
To qualify, a borrower must be a US citizen or other eligible status and meet lender underwriting requirements. The borrower must meet applicable underwriting requirements based on specific lender criteria. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate as advertised. Also, the lowest rates are reserved for the highest-qualified borrowers.
Splash does not guarantee that you will receive any loan offers or that your loan application will be approved. If approved, your actual rate will be within a range of rates. It will depend on various factors, including the term of the loan, a responsible financial history, income, and other factors. Variable rates are subject to change.
This website is an informative comparison site that aims to offer its users find helpful information regarding the products and offers that will be suitable for their needs. We are able to maintain a free, high-quality service by receiving advertising fees from the brands and service providers we review on this website (though we may also review brands we are not engaged with). These advertising fees, combined with our criteria and methodology, such as the conversion rates, our team of reviewer's finding and subjective experience and product popularity, impact the placement and position of the brands within the comparison table. In the event rating or scoring are assigned by us, they are based on the position in the comparison table, or according to other formula in the event specifically detailed by us. See our How we Rate page and Terms of Use for information. The reviews, rating and scoring are provided “as-is” without guaranties or warranties regarding the information contained in our website, which shall not be considered as endorsement. We make the best efforts to keep the information up-to-date, however, an offer’s terms might change at any time. We do not compare or include all service providers, brands and offers available in the market.
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