Upgrade Loan & Card Reviews for 2024
Upgrade credit card and loan reviews describe a highly-rated FinTech online lending marketplace, providing a range of financial products such as personal loans, debt consolidation, cash-back credit cards, and checking and savings accounts. The company began in 2016 and consistently scores well across numerous ratings platforms.
Summary of Upgrade reviews (by the experts and its customers):
- Upgrade customer reviews: The Better Business Bureau (BBB) awards the company an impressive 4.5 of 5-star rating based on customer reviews. Over 39,000 Trustpilot reviewers award the company high marks, giving it an average score of 4.5 of 5 stars.
- The experts’ reviews: Upgrade is on our list of the top-rated personal loans for fair credit. Credit Karma also rates Upgrade’s personal loans with an excellent rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
- #1 rated cash-back card: Upgrade’s cash-back credit card also received the top rating for 2024’s list of the best credit cards for gas and groceries.
- Upgrade’s BBB rating: Upgrade is rated A+ and accredited at the BBB.
Compare Upgrade vs. Other Top-Rated Loans for Fair Credit
| Lender | Fixed (APR) | Loan Amounts |
Minimum Credit Score
|
| Upstart Personal Loan | 7.80% to 35.99% | $1,000 to $50,000 | 620 |
| LightStream Personal Loan | 6.94% to 25.29% | $5,000 to $100,000 | 700 |
| Discover Personal Loan | 7.99% to 24.99% | $2,500 to $40,000 | 660 |
| PenFed Credit Union Loan | 8.49% to 17.99% | $600 to $50,000 | 700 |
| Upgrade Personal Loan | 9.99% to $35.99% | $1,000 to $50,000 | 600 |
| Sofi Personal Loan | 8.99% to 29.99% | $5,000 to $100,000 |
Does Not Disclose
|
| Best Egg Personal Loan | 6.99% to 35.99% | $2,000 to $50,000 | 600 |
| LendingClub Personal Loan | 8.91% to 35.99% | $1,000 to $40,000 | 660 |
| Avant Personal Loan | 9.95% to 35.99% | $2,000 to $35,000 | 550 |
| Universal Credit Personal Loan | 11.69% to 35.99% | $1,000 to $50,000 | 560 |
| OneMain Financial Personal Loan | 18% to 35.99% | $1,500 to $20,000 |
Does Not Disclose
|
| Zable Personal Loans | 12.95% to 30% | $1,000 to $25,000 | 600 |
| Happy Money Debt Consolidation Loan | 8.95% to 17.48% | $5,000 to $40,000 | 640 |
Source: Top 5 Best Personal Loans for Fair Credit, Good Credit and Excellent Credit
The following review reveals the pros and cons of using Upgrade to get a personal loan, helping you choose the right lender for your borrowing needs. Below, you can get prequalified loan offers from Upgrade and other top-rated lenders. As a lending marketplace, Upgrade operates differently than a traditional bank. The company allows potential debt consolidation and personal loan customers to gather real-time information about the financial products they might qualify for without affecting their credit scores.
Take 60 Seconds to Prequalify for Personal Loans (Upgrade and More!)
Pros
No fee to apply
No early payment fees
Fast funding turnaround
Highly-rated company
A+ BBB grade
Direct creditor payments available for consolidation loans
Adjustable payment date
Credit lines available
Upgrade credit cards offer 1.5% cash back, no annual fees or late fees
Cons
No autopay discount
Origination fees apply
Minimum credit score applies
$10 late payment fees apply
Upgrade Loan Features and Benefits
In addition to debt consolidation and personal loan features, Upgrade offers several options for other financial services with flexible terms and a wide range of fixed interest rates.
- Online lending company
- Online personal loan and debt consolidation marketplace
- $1,000 to $50,000 loan amounts
- Fixed interest rates between 9.99 and 35.99%
- 12 to 84-month repayment terms
- No fee to pre-qualify
- No autopay discount
- Origination fees apply
- Mobile app available
- 600 credit score required for approval
- Allows joint applicants
- Deposit accounts and credit lines also available
- Available nationwide
Upgrade Editorial Rating
Trusted Company Reviews Rating Score for x company: 7.8
Upgrade loans are well-liked by the company’s customers. Our examination of the company focused on several criteria, including interest rate availability, the presence and percentage rate of loan origination fees, loan length term options, loan amounts available, and overall consumer ratings.
We also considered customer-centric metrics, such as minimum credit score and other debt consolidation and personal loan acceptance criteria.
| Interest Rates | 9.99 to 35.99% |
| Origination Fee | 1.85 to 9.99% |
| Loan Terms | 24 to 84 months |
| Minimum Credit Score | 600 |
| Loan Amounts | $1,000 to $50,000 |
| BBB Rating | 4.48 / A+ |
What is Upgrade?
While external appearances may confuse the issue, Upgrade isn’t a banking institution. Consumers may apply for debt consolidation and personal loans at Upgrade as if it were a bank. Customers can also acquire lines of credit, debit cards, and checking and savings accounts.
However, instead of acting as a lender, Upgrade’s business model connects borrowers and deposit account customers to appropriate lending organizations.
The company accomplishes this task by offering a website where customers can submit information and, by using that information, matches them with partnering banks, lenders, and products that best fit their needs.
Upgrade Personal Loan and Debt Consolidation Interest Rates
An interest rate and an origination fee will accompany your Upgrade loan or debt consolidation. Current interest rates at Upgrade vary widely from 9.99 to 35.99%.
Upgrade offers the lowest interest rates to customers with excellent credit who also:
- Allow Upgrade to pay lenders directly for consolidation loans
- Choose the auto-pay option for loan repayment
By taking these steps, you can potentially lower your interest rate and save money on your loan.
How to Get an Upgrade Loan
Obtaining an Upgrade debt consolidation or personal loan is a two-step process.
Step 1: Review Upgrade Pre-Qualified Loan Offers.
Begin by applying for pre-qualification on the company’s website by inputting personal and financial information, such as employment status, income amounts, and your social security number.
Upgrade will evaluate the information and return one or more loan or debt consolidation offers within minutes in most cases if you pre-qualify.
The pre-qualification step only requires a soft inquiry on your credit report that won’t affect your score and won’t appear on other inquiries.
Step 2: Apply for Upgrade Loan
When you receive your offers, you can choose one to apply for that best fits your needs.
However, there’s no obligation to choose any offers, and you’ll owe nothing for taking the pre-qualifying steps.
Apply for your chosen personal loan or debt consolidation by submitting additional information and documentation on the website.
Upgrade will ask for proof of the statements provided in the previous step, identification, and other supporting documents. It will then evaluate the documents, run a hard inquiry on your credit report that will affect your score, and return a final approval or denial within one to four business days, if not immediately.
If approved, Upgrade will transfer the money into your existing bank account minus the origination fee, or pay your creditors directly if you’re consolidating debt and choose that option.
Transferring money into your account typically takes a single business day but could take up to five days. Expect several days and up to two weeks for Upgrade to pay your creditors during debt consolidation.
Upgrade Loan Requirements
Upgrade determines the interest rate, origination fee, and other terms of your personal or debt consolidation loan by evaluating several factors. The factors include your credit score, credit history and usage, payment history details, and the requested loan amount.
Customers with higher credit scores and more favorable credit history details will generally pay less interest on their Upgrade loan than those with less favorable histories and scores.
Upgrade lists several minimum requirements to apply for a loan with the company, including the following items.
- Ownership of a valid checking or savings account
- Applicants must be 18 years of age or older in most states
- Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or visa holder in the country
- Have a valid email address
- Have required verifying documentation
- Prove an acceptable debt-to-income ratio (DTI)
Calculating Debt to Income Ratio
Upgrade doesn’t define an acceptable debt-to-income ratio to qualify for its financial services. However, most lenders prefer loaning to customers with a DTI of under 40%.
To calculate your DTI, start by adding your monthly debt payments together. Include only debt payments and disregard everyday living costs. Divide the debt payment total by your gross monthly income and multiply the answer by 100. The result equals your DTI percentage.
Approval and Acceptance
Pre-qualifying for an Upgrade loan doesn’t automatically equate to approval. After pre-qualification, customers must formally apply for the loan they choose by submitting documents and identification to support the statements made in the pre-qualifying step.
Submitting additional information may also be necessary. Upgrade evaluates the information, performs a hard credit inquiry, and returns an approval or denial response.
How Long Does Upgrade Take to Approve a Loan?
The pre-qualifying step on Upgrade’s website only requires a few minutes to receive an answer and loan options if you qualify. After submitting a formal application, most customers receive an approval or denial within a few minutes. However, some applicants may wait for up to four business days for Upgrade to verify documents and provide a decision.
Why Is My Upgrade Loan Taking So Long?
In some situations, Upgrade can’t offer final approval before performing a more detailed evaluation of your documentation. Often, the company must wait for verification of one or more documents.
To check your application’s status, Upgrade asks consumers to log into the Upgrade account they established while applying and check the To-Do List to ensure all steps are complete. Customers can also check their Account Summary and their email for any updates.
Upgrade Loan Reviews
Upgrade debt consolidation reviews and personal loan reviews showcase the company’s high ratings from numerous online resources, including those from both consumers and experts.
The company earns an A+ rating from the BBB for its high response rate to customer complaints. Upgrade’s BBB review score is currently 4.48 of 5 stars. It scores similarly high at the competitive Trustpilot, with a 4.5 of 5-star rating.
Is Upgrade Legit?
Upgrade is a legitimate online lending marketplace, in business since 2016 and accredited by the Better Business Bureau in 2017. The company partners with lenders, including Cross River Bank, an FDIC member chartered in New Jersey.
Upgrade Loan Scam
Multiple scams have occurred via email and other methods using the word, ‘upgrade’ to attempt to defraud respondents by coercing them to “upgrade” their account details. While these scams have nothing to do with Upgrade.com, the company has been the target of illegal use of its name and logo in scam situations.
On Upgrade’s What is Upgrade page, the company provides details and contact information for customers who believe they’re victims of one of these scams having to do with Upgrade.com.
Upgrade Vs. The Competition
When comparing Upgrade to other top contenders in the debt consolidation and personal loan industry, the company stacks up quite well. Here’s how Upgrade does, compared to other lenders, in our personal loan company evaluations and our review of the best debt consolidation companies.
Upgrade Loans Vs. Upstart Loans
Upgrade and Upstart have several common themes between them. However, a closer look reveals some important distinctions. Our Upstart review points out that the company has advantages for some borrowers with less-than-stellar credit. A low credit score may not exclude all Upstart borrowers who score below 600.
On the other hand, for those with scores over 600, Upgrade may offer a few more perks than Upstart, such as longer loan term options and slightly better average review scores.
| BBB Grade / Rating | Average Reviews Rating | Interest Rates | Origination Fee | Loan Terms | Minimum Credit Score | Loan Amount | |
| Upgrade | 4.48 / A+ | 4.6 | 9.99 to 35.99% | 1.85 to 9.99% | 24 – 84 months | 600 | $1,000 to $50,000 |
| Upstart | 1.24 / A+ | 3.4 | 7.80 – 35.99% | 0 – 12% Varies by Lender | 36 – 60 months | 300 | $1,000 to $50,000 |
Upgrade Vs. Credible
Upgrade’s and Credible’s business models are very similar. Both companies are online lending marketplaces that offer consumers a way to check for pre-qualification before taking a hit on their credit scores. Both may return several loan options for borrowers to choose from.
While similar, each company has qualities that set it apart from the other. Our Credible review highlights a lending platform company that works with multiple lending institutions to offer financial products to a wide range of customers—even many with lower credit scores.
Conversely, Upgrade focuses its attention on customers with slightly higher credit scores and longer credit histories. Upgrade offers several products that Credible doesn’t, such as savings and checking accounts, credit cards, and lines of credit.
| BBB Grade / Rating | Average Reviews Rating | Interest Rates | Origination Fee | Loan Terms | Minimum Credit Score | Loan Amount | |
| Upgrade | 4.48 / A+ | 4.6 | 9.99 to 35.99% | 1.85 to 9.99% | 24 – 84 months | 600 | $1,000 to $50,000 |
| Credible | 1.29 / A+ | 4.6 | 6.94 – 35.99% | 0 – 12% Varies by Lender | 12 – 84 months | No minimum stated | $600 to $100,000 |
Upgrade Vs. LendingClub
It would seem that Upgrade and LendingClub are indistinguishable from one another. However, closer inspection reveals that although the two have nearly identical customer review scores, interest rates, origination fee potential, and similar available loan amounts, some key differences exist.
Our LendingClub review identifies the company as a full-service online bank where customers can access a full suite of banking services, minus the brick-and-mortar locations. Upgrade, while also offering several financial products, uses third-party organizations to fund its products and doesn’t offer as wide a range of products as LendingClub.
Besides that fundamental difference, the only real differences between the two regarding personal loans and debt consolidation are loan length term options and available maximum loan amounts.
| BBB Grade / Rating | Average Reviews Rating | Interest Rates | Origination Fee | Loan Terms | Minimum Credit Score | Loan Amount | |
| Upgrade | 4.48 / A+ | 4.6 | 9.99 to 35.99% | 1.85 to 9.99% | 24 – 84 months | 600 | $1,000 to $50,000 |
| Lending-
Club |
4.56 / A+ | 4.4 | 8.91 – 35.99% | 3 – 8% | 36 or 60 months | 600 | $1,000 to $40,000 |
Upgrade Credit Card Reviews
We cannot end this review on Upgrade without discussing its credit card. Upgrade credit cards offer unlimited 1.5% cash back with no annual fees or even late fees ever to be charged.
A $200 bonus is also offered to new Upgrade credit card holders with an Upgrade checking account.
Positive Reviews on Upgrade Credit Cards:
- Customer reviews on Credit Karma mention how easy it was to qualify for a high credit limit on the Upgrade Card.
- The Nerdwallet review on Upgrade’s Cash Rewards Visa credit card talks about how the card offers high reward points and cash back, no annual fees, and it’s available for credit scores as low as 600. Nerdwallet also discusses how customers are charged a fixed interest rate without pre-payment penalties, unlike most other cards that carry variable rates.
- Customer reviews at the BBB mention that qualifying for the Upgrade credit card is easy and fast. Customers also praised Upgrade’s customer service department for being helpful and easy to reach.
Learn more about the Upgrade Credit Card.
Negative Customer Reviews on Upgrade Credit Cards
While most online reviews for Upgrade are positive, our in-depth analysis uncovered some negative feedback. The common theme in the negative reviews concerns customers expressing dissatisfaction with Upgrade’s decision to lower their credit limits without apparent justification.
While it may be understandably unsettling for cardholders, the practice of creditors reducing credit limits is not unique to Upgrade. Many credit card companies resort to this measure when seeking to minimize risk amid rising interest rates and default rates.
Credit limit reductions may occur due to factors such as perceived insufficient card usage, tightened lending policies aimed at mitigating risk, or other underlying considerations. It’s important to note that this practice extends beyond Upgrade alone.
Upgrade Checking and Savings Account Review
Upgrade’s Rewards Checking Plus account, provided through Cross River Bank, offers an impressive 5.07% APY and up to 2% cash back on everyday purchases.
With no monthly fees, and the option to add the Upgrade Performance Savings account to boost potential rewards, Upgrade is a great option for those looking for a high-yield checking account with cashback rewards.
Key Features:
- High APY: Earn an impressive 5.07% APY on all balances without monthly fees.
- Cashback Rewards: Earn up to 2% cash back on everyday purchases with the Upgrade VISA® Debit Card.
- Early Direct Deposit: Direct deposit users may receive payments up to two days early.
- No ATM Fees: No fees for ATMs nationwide.
- No Overdraft Fees: There are no overdraft fees.
- No Transfer Fees: No fees for transfers between Upgrade accounts or to other banks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an Upgrade loan review take?
Is Upgrade a good loan company?
Does Upgrade do a hard pull?
What bank does Upgrade use?
How many Upgrade loans can I have?
Does Upgrade credit card payment history help build credit?
Source
Image Sources: upgrade.com – bbb.org – trustpilot.com
Deane Biermeier is a respected authority in financial research, writing, and editing, renowned for his in-depth analyses and expert advice. With a distinguished career that previously spanned home improvement, real estate, and finance topics, Deane's role at Trusted Company Reviews focuses exclusively on finance.
Deane continues his contributions to leading publications such as Forbes Home, US News and World Report, Newsweek Vault, and others.
Since joining TrustedCompanyReviews.com in 2023, he has solidified his reputation as a crucial resource for clear, factual financial guidance.
Deane is currently enhancing his expertise by studying at the University of Minnesota to become a certified financial educator. This new qualification is set to further enrich the advice and insights he provides, bridging the gap between academic financial theory and practical application.
Deane Biermeier
Last Updated: December 21, 2024
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