Citi Personal Loan Review: No Fees and Generous Rate Discounts

Most products on this page are from partners who may compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how they appear on the page. However, opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain. This page may include information about American Express products currently unavailable on Slickdeals. American Express is not a partner of Slickdeals.

Multi-Purpose Loans With Rate Discounts and No Fees

Citi offers a competitive personal loan product with no fees and multiple discounts to help lower your interest costs. Their personal loans come with no origination fees, late fees or prepayment penalties, and qualifying borrowers can get generous rate discounts. While these are all great perks, Citi typically requires excellent credit to qualify, so if your credit score is good or fair, you’ll probably need to find another lender. Overall, Citi personal loans could be a smart choice for existing Citi customers and borrowers with excellent credit.

Pros

Autopay discounts available
Same business day funding with Citi® account (or up to 2 days with non-Citi® account)
Zero fees - No origination fee, no late fees, and no prepayment penalty

Cons

No joint loans
Loan maximum lower than other lenders
Excellent credit required

Citi Personal Loan Details

Loan Amounts	$2,000 ‐$30,000
APR Range	11.49% - 20.49%^**
Loan Terms	12 ‐ 60 months
Credit Score	Excellent credit
Funding Time	As soon as the same day when direct depositing to an eligible Citi account Up to 2 business days with direct deposits to a non-Citi account
Prequalification?	Yes
Co-Signer Allowed?	No
Joint Applicant Allowed?	No
Income Requirements?	$30,000 per year
Origination Fees	None
Late Fees	None
Prepayment Fees	None
Discounts?	0.50% APR autopay discount 0.25% interest rate discount for existing Citigold® and Citi Priority customers

Loan Uses

With a Citi personal loan, you can use the funds for almost any purpose, except to cover education costs or business expenses. Here are a few costs a personal loan could help with:

Debt consolidation
Medical bills
Auto repairs
Home improvement projects
Veterinary bills
Other large purchases

Highlights and Perks

There is a lot to like about Citi's personal loan offering, including:

No fees: Lenders often charge origination fees for personal loans. These costs are often paid up front, which can reduce your total loan amount. But Citi doesn’t charge origination fees, and you also won’t need to worry about late fees or prepayment penalties.
Multiple discounts available: While autopay rate discounts are common, they’re often as low as 0.25%. Citi offers a 0.50% autopay discount, plus existing CitiGold® and Citi Priority customers can get an additional 0.25% off their rate.
Fast funding time possible for Citi customers: If you have an existing Citi account, you could get your personal loan funds as soon as the same day, making this an ideal financing option during emergencies.
Loan funds can be used for several purposes: Like most personal loans, Citi personal loans can be used for several purposes, though you won’t be able to use them to cover business or higher education expenses.

Drawbacks

On the flip side, consider these drawbacks before deciding on a Citi personal loan:

High minimum loan and low maximum loan: Relative to competitors, Citi offers a fairly high minimum loan amount of $2,000 and a low maximum loan amount of $30,000. If you need a larger loan amount, consider other lenders.
Does not allow co-applicants: This lender doesn’t allow co-signers or co-borrowers, so you’ll need to qualify on your own. If you don’t have great credit, getting approved as an individual could be challenging.
High credit score required: Citi indicates that borrowers will likely need excellent credit to qualify for its personal loans. Other competitors may be more flexible with their credit requirements and more willing to work with borrowers who have lower credit scores.

How to Qualify

As mentioned, Citi’s credit score requirements are high relative to some competitors. To qualify for its personal loans, you’ll likely need excellent credit, or a FICO® Score of 720 or above. Citi has also stated that borrowers require a minimum income of $30,000 per year to qualify.

Unfortunately, Citi doesn’t allow co-applicants at this time, so you’ll need to apply as an individual. But if you have excellent credit and can meet the lender’s other qualifying criteria, Citi could be a great choice. This is especially true if you’re an existing CitiGold® or Citi Priority customer.

Application Process

Check your rate: You can check your rate on the Citi site when you begin an online loan application. Doing so won’t impact your credit score.
Apply: If you like the rate and the loan offer, you can move forward with a formal loan application. Be prepared to provide personal information, such as your name, email, phone, address and Social Security number. You’ll also likely need to verify your income and employment status.
Hard credit pull: Once you’ve formally applied, Citi’s underwriting team will do a hard credit inquiry. This is standard with most loan applications and will ding your credit by a few points temporarily.
Approval: Citi will provide a loan decision shortly after you apply, though it doesn’t specify an approval timeline.
Funding: If you’re an existing Citi customer with an eligible account, you may receive your loan funds via direct deposit within the same day of approval. Those with accounts at other banks will receive their funds via direct deposit in as little as two business days.

Example of Loan Payments

If you borrow a $15,000 loan with an 11.49% APR and a 4-year term, your monthly loan payments would be around $392, and you’d pay about $3,781 in interest over the life of your loan.

Calculate Your Monthly Payments

How Citi Compares With Other Lenders

Citi may be a good option for excellent-credit borrowers who need relatively small personal loans. But if you need a large personal loan or your credit isn’t great, SoFi or Best Egg may be better options. Here’s what to know about each of these lenders and how they compare.

	Citi	SoFi	Best Egg
Best For	Excellent Credit	Large Loans	Secured Loans
Loan Amounts	$2,000 ‐$30,000	$5,000 – $100,000	$2,000 – $50,000
APR	11.49% - 20.49%	8.99% – 24.18%	8.99% – 35.99%
Loan Term	12 ‐ 60 months	24 – 84 months	36 – 60 months
Minimum Credit Score	Excellent credit	680 or above	700 or above

Citi vs. SoFi

While Citi offers personal loans up to $30,000, SoFi lets qualifying borrowers get loans of up to $100,000. So if you need a large loan to cover your costs, SoFi may be the better option. Like Citi, SoFi has minimal fees, and you’ll probably need good or excellent credit to qualify for its loans.

Citi vs. Best Egg

Citi loans are available to borrowers with excellent credit. Fortunately, there are options available if your credit score isn’t that high. For instance, Best Egg will work with borrowers who have credit scores of high-600s or above, which is considered in the "fair" range of the FICO model. Best Egg also offers secured loans with low rates for qualifying borrowers.

SoFi Personal Loans

$5,000 – $100,000 Loan Amounts
8.99% – 24.18% APR Range

Check Your Rate

Best Egg

$2,000 – $50,000 Loan Amounts
8.99% – 35.99% APR Range

Check Your Rate

Terms and Conditions

Rates as of 8-01-2024. Your APR may be as low as 11.49% or as high as 20.49% for the term of your loan. The lowest rate quoted assumes excellent credit and a loan term of 24 or 36 months. Your APR will depend on a variety of factors including your creditworthiness, term of loan, and existing relationship with Citi. Citi offers personal loans with a period of repayment between 12 and 60-month terms. For example, if you borrow $10,000 for 36 months at 15.99% APR, to repay your loan you will have to make 36 monthly payments of approximately $351.52.

There is a 0.5% APR discount if you enroll in automatic payments at loan origination. Additionally, existing Citigold and Citi Priority customers will receive a 0.25% discount to the APR. If you are in default, your APR may increase by 2.00%. Rates subject to change without notice.

To check for offers you may qualify for, Citi conducts a soft credit inquiry. If you are presented with an offer and choose to proceed with the application process, Citi will conduct a hard credit inquiry which may have an impact on your credit score.

Citi® Personal Loan proceeds cannot be used to pay for post-secondary education expenses or for business purposes. Credit cards issued by Citibank, N.A. or its affiliates, as well as Checking Plus and Ready Credit accounts, are not eligible for debt consolidation, and Citibank will not issue payoff checks for these accounts. If you are unsure of the issuer on the account, please visit https://www.citi.com/affiliatesproducts for a list of Citi products and affiliates.

If you are approved for a personal loan with Citi, you can get your funds the same day with a Citi deposit account, or up to 2 business days for a non-Citi account when using direct deposit. Or, you can select to receive a check by mail in approximately 5 business days.

Terms, conditions, and fees for accounts, products, programs and services are subject to change at any time. You must be at least 18 years of age (21 years of age in Puerto Rico). Co-applicants are not permitted.

If you apply online, you must agree to receive the loan note and all other account disclosures provided with your loan origination in an electronic format and provide your signature electronically.

Personal loans are made available by Citibank, N.A., Equal Housing lender

Citi Personal Loan

Interested in learning more?

Learn More

Secure application on issuer’s website

FAQs

A Citi personal loan could hurt or help your credit; it just depends on your debt history, repayment habits and other personal factors. When you formally apply for a Citi loan, the underwriting team will do a hard credit inquiry, which will reduce your credit score by a small number of points.

But if you make full and on-time payments each month, a personal loan could help improve your credit. If you miss payments or pay late, it’ll likely hurt your credit.
It’s unlikely you’ll qualify for a Citi personal loan if you have bad credit. But you may be able to get approved with another lender that has flexible credit requirements.
Qualifying borrowers can get personal loans of up to $30,000 from Citi. This lender also offers loans as small as $2,000.

Jessica Ullrich

Jess is a freelance personal finance writer. She's been creating financial and business content for over a decade. Before venturing into freelance writing, Jess was on the editorial teams at Investopedia, The Balance, and FinanceBuzz. She's created content across several verticals, including budgeting, credit, debt, insurance, investing, loans, and side hustles. In her spare time, you can find Jess reading about money, working in her garden, or spending time with family.

Citi Personal Loans Review: No Fees and Generous Rate Discounts