After years of saving, you’re finally ready to find a mortgage lender. Or perhaps you need to replace your vehicle with a newer SUV, and you're shopping for an auto loan. Maybe your HVAC system needs repairs, and you need cash quickly to cover the bill. When you need to borrow money, big banks are often the first option people think of, but there may be a better alternative: credit unions. Credit union loans tend to have lower fees and interest rates than bank loans, but there are other perks that can al ...

Group 1 - Prosper operates as a peer-to-peer lender, allowing loans to be funded by individual investors without a direct lender, and supports co-borrowers for easier qualification [1] - Happy Money provides a single loan product aimed at consolidating high-interest credit card debt, with a starting APR significantly lower than the average credit card rate, which exceeds 20 percent [2] - Universal Credit has no income requirement and a lower minimum credit score threshold of 580, but offers higher APRs compared to competitors, with small loan amounts starting at $1,000 [7] Group 2 - Upgrade does not impose a minimum income requirement, but applicants must demonstrate sufficient income to support loan repayment, and offers direct payments to creditors for debt consolidation [9] - Upstart has a low annual minimum income requirement of $12,000 and caters to borrowers across the credit spectrum, but may charge high APRs and origination fees, with the latter reaching up to 12 percent [14] - Lenders typically require proof of income and may consider other factors such as credit history and debt-to-income ratio when assessing loan applications [28]