Laurel Road Personal Loans Review for 2024

Pros Explained

• Pre-qualification available: Laurel Road enables you to check your eligibility for a loan without your credit score taking a hit.
• Autopay interest rate discount of 0.25%: If you sign up for automatic loan payments, you earn a 0.25% discount on the interest rate you’re charged for the loan.
• Co-signer option: Laurel Road lets you add a co-signer to your loan application if you feel that your credit history isn’t solid enough to qualify on your own.

Cons Explained

• High APR: Depending on the payoff period, the APR may be as high as 24.25% with autopay. For May 2024, the median interest rate for credit cards in the Investopedia card database stood at 24.37%—one notch above Laurel Road’s highest rate. Meanwhile, Laurel Road’s lowest APR (8.99% with autopay) exceeds the lowest rates available from a number of other lenders.
• Limited payoff periods: Laurel Road limits payoff periods for personal loans to three, four, or five years. An array of other lenders extend payoff periods to seven years.
• Relatively low loan amounts: The maximum amount you can borrow with a standard personal loan from Laurel Road is $45,000. Several other lenders cap personal loans at $50,000 or $100,000.

Types of Personal Loans Offered by Laurel Road

Personal loans offered by Laurel Road can be used for purposes including:

• Debt consolidation
• Home improvement projects
• Major purchases
• Moving expenses
• Car repairs
• Business funding
• Vacation costs

Laurel Road also offers unsecured loans to dentists and physicians in amounts up to $80,000 and terms as long as 84 months.

According to Investopedia’s 2023 Personal Loan Borrower survey, debt consolidation is the most common reason cited for getting a personal loan. Paying for home improvements and large purchases were the next two most common reasons.

Time to Receive Funds

Laurel Road says that once your application is completed, most approved loans are funded in about seven business days. Once your application is approved and the distribution of the funds is scheduled, you should receive the money in about 24 hours.

Borrower Requirements

To qualify for a personal loan from Laurel Road, you must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident with a valid I-551 card. Loan eligibility also depends on your credit history and financial profile.

Laurel Road offers personal loans to residents of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Laurel Road Personal Loan Features

• Pre-qualification is available.
• Online applications are permitted.
• Co-signers are allowed.
• No origination, prepayment, or application fees are charged.
• A 0.25% interest rate discount is available for autopay borrowers.
• Members of organizations such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians qualify for an additional 0.25% rate discount.

Co-Signers and Co-Applicants

Laurel Road’s website mentions that you can add a co-signer to your application if you believe your credit isn’t strong enough to qualify on your own. But the website doesn’t indicate whether co-applicants are allowed.

A co-signer agrees to repay a loan if the main borrower can no longer make payments. Meanwhile, a co-applicant, or co-borrower, applies for a loan alongside the main applicant and accepts joint responsibility for paying off the loan. 

Can You Refinance a Personal Loan With Laurel Road?

The lender allows borrowers to refinance a Laurel Road personal loan.

Customer Service

Customer Satisfaction

Neither Laurel Road nor its parent company, KeyBank, is ranked in the 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Consumer Lending Satisfaction Study. However, KeyBank showed up in the 2023 J.D. Power Retail Banking Satisfaction Study—and the bank didn’t fare well.

In the retail banking study, KeyBank received a below-average score of 635 out of 1,000 among banks in its region (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia). In addition, it received:

• A below-average score 623 out of 1,000 in the region encompassing Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York
• A below-average score of 624 out of 1,000 in Pennsylvania
• A below-average score of 608 out of 1,000 in the region covering Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming

Meanwhile, Laurel Road earns 3 out of 5 stars on the TrustPilot review website. Many of the negative reviews focus on customer service.

In recent years, KeyBank’s most publicized customer mishap stemmed from a data breach in which hackers stole data about mortgage borrowers. The stolen information, which had been kept by a third-party vendor, included customers’ names, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers.

How to Qualify For and Apply For a Laurel Road Personal Loan

To qualify for a Laurel Road personal loan, you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
• Verify your employment
• Supply debt and income information
• Meet the lender’s credit and financial criteria

To apply for a Laurel Road personal loan, take these steps:

• Gather documents: Documents you may want to have on hand before filling out an application include bank statements, mortgage statements, pay stubs, and tax returns.
• Pre-qualify: Laurel Road lets you check your eligibility without affecting your credit score.
• Supply personal information: On the application, you’ll be asked to provide your name, address, email address, Social Security number, date of birth, and citizenship status.
• Provide employment, income, and housing information: In this part of the application, you’ll be instructed to indicate your employment situation, gross income, and housing expenses. You’ll also provide details on your educational background.
• Indicate the purpose of the loan: In this portion of the application, you’ll be asked to tell the lender how you’ll use the borrowed money. Among the options are debt consolidation, home improvement project, major purchase, moving expenses, car purchase, vacation costs, and business expenses.
• Provide the amount you’re seeking to borrow: Depending on the purpose of the loan, you can request up to $35,000 or $45,000.

Other Banking Services and Loans Offered by Laurel Road

Other banking services and loans offered by Laurel Road include:

• Student loan refinancing
• Mortgages
• Checking accounts
• Savings accounts
• Cash-back credit card for student loan borrowers
• Special banking products and services for doctors and nurses

Compare Laurel Road With Other Personal Loan Lenders

The Bottom Line

As a provider of personal loans, Laurel Road has a number of things going for it—namely the ability to pre-qualify, a rate discount if you sign up for automatic loan payments, and the lack of origination, prepayment, and application fees. But if you’re in the market for a low interest rate and you’re seeking a loan above $45,000, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere.

Is Laurel Road Part of KeyBank?

Cleveland-based KeyBank bought Laurel Road in 2019, six years after the digital banking platform was founded.

How Much Can You Borrow With a Laurel Road Personal Loan?

Depending on the purpose, you can borrow up to $35,000 or $45,000 with a Laurel Road personal loan.

Is a Laurel Road Personal Loan Secured or Unsecured?

All Laurel Road personal loans are unsecured, meaning borrowers don’t need to provide collateral.

Is Laurel Road Only for U.S. Citizens?

Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents can apply for personal loans from Laurel Road.

Does Laurel Road Offer a High-Yield Savings Account?

Laurel Road’s high-yield savings account was paying an APR of 5.15% as of June 2024.

Methodology

To evaluate and rank personal loan providers we collected hundreds of data points across 70 lenders, including traditional banks, credit unions, fintechs, and special interest finance companies. We researched and evaluated APRs, loan amounts and terms, fees, customer experience, and more. To rank the lenders in our database and to generate star ratings, we weighted the data we collected, based in part on what consumers told us were the most important features of a personal loan and lender in a survey we conducted. We grouped those factors into four broad areas:

• Loan costs (advertised APR, fees, and six other factors): 29.25%
• Loan terms (loan amount, repayment term, and three other factors): 22.25%
• Borrowing requirements (credit score, membership requirement, and six other factors): 28.5%
• Additional features (online application, pre-qualification, and eight other factors): 20%

Learn more about how we evaluated personal loans in our complete methodology.