Personal loans for bad credit: published minimums, PALs and the 36% line
Edited by Moe Ameen · Published
FICO calls scores under 580 poor, and most personal lenders don't publish a minimum. Of those we checked, Achieve lists 560 and Prosper 640. Other routes are a loan secured by your car, a co-signer, or a federal credit union payday alternative loan, which can't go above $2,000 or 28% interest under NCUA rules. Consumer advocates treat 36% APR as the line between affordable and potentially predatory small loans.
Key takeaways
- FICO calls under 580 poor and 580 to 669 fair.
- Lowest published minimums we found: Achieve 560 and Prosper 640. No lender we read says it has no minimum.
- Credit union PALs run up to $2,000 at no more than 28% interest, with a $20 cap on the application fee.
- Most lenders we read top out at 35.99% APR. OppLoans publishes a maximum of 195%.
- Payday loans can run close to 400% APR, and car title loans about 300%.
What credit score counts as bad for a personal loan?
FICO calls under 580 poor and 580 to 669 fair. Each lender draws its own line, and most don't publish where it is.
Those bands are from myFICO [1]. Of the 12 lenders on our personal loan requirements page, only two publish a minimum score. The page lists the rest as not published.
Which lenders publish a low minimum credit score?
Achieve publishes 560 and Prosper 640. Others, including Upstart, Oportun and OppLoans, say they look past the score but publish no number.
- Achieve: 560, or 660 for debt consolidation loans of $35,000 or more [2].
- Prosper: 640 [3].
- Avant: no minimum published. It says most customers who get loans score 600 to 700 [4].
- Upstart: says applicants must meet minimum credit criteria set by underwriting, and that some people with limited credit history may still be considered [5].
- Oportun: says you don't need a prior credit history, though it still pulls and considers credit reports [6].
- OppLoans: says its bank partners don't base decisions only on FICO scores or credit history. Its published maximum APR is 195% [17].
None of these pages says there's no minimum at all. 'Not published' means the lender keeps the cutoff to itself.
Can a secured or co-signed loan help with bad credit?
Some lenders say a car as collateral can bring a lower rate or a bigger loan. A co-signer takes on full responsibility for the debt.
OneMain makes secured and unsecured offers, and its larger loans need a first lien on a vehicle no more than ten years old [7]. Mariner Finance says a secured loan may come with a lower rate or a higher amount, and that its loans can also be co-signed [8]. Oportun offers personal loans secured by your car title in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas and Utah, from $2,525 to $18,500 [6]. Achieve lets you add a co-borrower to the application [2].
What is a credit union payday alternative loan?
A small loan from a federal credit union under NCUA rules: up to $2,000, terms up to 12 months, and no more than 28% interest.
| Rule | PAL I | PAL II |
|---|---|---|
| Loan amount | $200 to $1,000 [10][11] | Up to $2,000 [10][12] |
| Term | 1 to 6 months [10][11] | 1 to 12 months [10][12] |
| Membership before borrowing | At least 1 month [10][11] | None; available as soon as you join [12] |
| Application fee | $20 at most, limited to actual processing cost [10][11] | $20 at most, limited to actual processing cost [10] |
| Interest rate | NCUA ceiling plus 10 points, 28% when the rule was set [10] | Same as PAL I [10] |
| Limits | No rollovers; one PAL at a time; no more than three in a rolling six months [10][11] | Same as PAL I [10] |
The NCUA's rule sets the PAL rate at 1,000 basis points above its general ceiling for federal credit union loans. That ceiling was 18% in 2019, which put PALs at 28% [10]. MyCreditUnion.gov still cites an 18% maximum for other federal credit union loans and a PAL at 28% APR [11]. A credit union can offer you only one type of PAL at a time [12]. Only federal credit unions make them, so you'll need to join one first.
Why do consumer groups draw the line at 36% APR?
The National Consumer Law Center calls 36% the dividing line between affordable small loans and potentially predatory ones. It traces to 1910s state laws.
NCLC says 36% is widely seen as the dividing line between affordable small-dollar loans and unaffordable, potentially predatory ones. It traces the figure to the Uniform Small Loan Law, which 34 states adopted in some form from 1914 to 1943 at 3% to 3.5% a month [13]. Congress capped loans to active-duty troops at 36% in 2006 [13]. The CFPB says the Military Lending Act limits most consumer loans to active-duty servicemembers and their dependents to 36% [14].
Most lenders on this page stay just under that line. Achieve, Avant, Mariner Finance, OneMain and Prosper all publish a top APR of 35.99% [2][18][8][7][3]. OppLoans publishes a maximum of 195% [17]. Compare loans by APR, which counts fees; APR vs interest rate explains why.
Why avoid payday and car title loans?
The CFPB says a typical two-week payday loan costs almost 400% APR. The FTC puts car title loans at about 300%, and you can lose the car.
The CFPB describes a payday loan as a short-term, high-cost loan, generally for $500 or less, usually due on your next payday. A $15 fee per $100 over two weeks works out to almost 400% APR [15]. The FTC says title loans typically last 15 or 30 days and often carry monthly fees as high as 25%, or about 300% APR. If you can't repay, the lender may repossess your vehicle even if you've made partial payments [16].
The FTC also says PALs cost much less than payday or car title loans [16]. Payday loan alternatives covers the other options.
Glisten data
What bad-credit lenders publish about scores and maximum APR
| Lender | Published minimum score | Published top APR | Secured or co-signed option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achieve [2] | 560 (660 for consolidation loans of $35,000+) | 35.99% | Co-borrower allowed |
| Avant [4][18] | Not published (most customers who get loans score 600 to 700) | 35.99% | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Mariner Finance [8] | Not published | 35.99% | Secured and co-signed loans |
| OneMain Financial [7] | Not published | 35.99% | Secured by a vehicle |
| Oportun [6] | Not published (no prior credit history needed) | Not published as a range (examples at 35.95% and 34.95%) | Car title secured, in 8 states |
| OppLoans [17] | Not published | 195% | Not stated on the page we read |
| Prosper [3] | 640 | 35.99% | Not stated on the page we read |
Five of the seven publish a top APR of 35.99%, a hundredth of a point under the 36% line NCLC describes, and Oportun's examples sit just below that. OppLoans is the outlier at 195%. A low score narrows your options, and the APR column shows what some of the remaining ones charge.
Is this right for you?
Best for
- Borrowers under 670 who want to see published minimums and maximum APRs before applying.
- Anyone weighing a credit union PAL or a secured loan against a payday or title loan.
Not ideal for
- Predicting a lender's decision. Lenders weigh much more than a score.
- Building credit from scratch. Credit builders compared covers that.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a personal loan with a 550 credit score?
No lender we read publishes a minimum that low. Achieve's 560 is the lowest published figure [2]. Upstart, Oportun and OppLoans publish no number [5][6][17].
What's the most a credit union PAL can be?
$2,000 under PAL II, for up to 12 months. PAL I loans run $200 to $1,000 for up to 6 months [10].
What APR is too high for a personal loan?
There's no single legal limit for everyone. NCLC calls 36% the line between affordable and potentially predatory small loans [13], and the Military Lending Act caps most loans to active-duty troops at 36% [14].
Is a payday loan ever cheaper than a personal loan?
Rarely. The CFPB says a typical two-week payday loan works out to almost 400% APR [15]. That's more than ten times the 35.99% top APR most lenders here publish.
Does co-signing affect the co-signer's credit?
It can. The FTC says late payments or a default by the borrower can show up on the co-signer's credit report [9].
Does Glisten lend money?
No. Glisten isn't a lender. We show what lenders and regulators publish, with links to where they publish it.
How we know this
On November 2, 2026 we read each lender's own personal loan or help page for a stated minimum score, top APR and secured or co-signed options. PAL rules come from the NCUA's 2019 final rule text and its consumer site MyCreditUnion.gov. Payday and title loan costs come from the CFPB and FTC, and the 36% line from the National Consumer Law Center and the CFPB, each named in the text. Score bands are myFICO's. We didn't use review sites for any lender figure.
- Credit scores, myFICO. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Personal loans, Achieve. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Personal loans, Prosper. Checked November 2, 2026.
- What is the typical credit score of an Avant customer?, Avant. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Minimum credit requirements for loan approval, Upstart. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Personal loans, Oportun. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Personal loans, OneMain Financial. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Personal loans, Mariner Finance. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Cosigning a loan FAQs, Federal Trade Commission. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Payday Alternative Loans final rule (PALs II), Board action of September 19, 2019, National Credit Union Administration. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Payday alternative loans, MyCreditUnion.gov (NCUA). Checked November 2, 2026.
- Payday Alternative Loan Rule Will Create More Alternatives for Borrowers, National Credit Union Administration. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Why cap interest rates at 36%?, National Consumer Law Center. Checked November 2, 2026.
- I'm in the military. Are there limits on how much I can be charged for a loan?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked November 2, 2026.
- What is a payday loan?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked November 2, 2026.
- What to know about payday and car title loans, Federal Trade Commission. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Installment loans, OppLoans. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Personal loans, Avant. Checked November 2, 2026.