 TITLE: Is the Upgrade Card Better Than a Personal Loan? CONTENT: How a Traditional Personal Loan Works\n-------------------------------------\nA traditional personal loan is a type of unsecured installment loan. A lender can approve you based on your creditworthiness and offer you several options with different repayment terms, interest rates and loan amounts.\nOnce you accept a personal loan offer, the lender will send you the entire loan amount and you'll repay it over a set period. Often, personal loans have a fixed interest rate and monthly payment.\nUnlike a line of credit, you can't make multiple draws against your personal loan. If you want to borrow more than your original loan amount, you'll need to apply for a new loan.\nMany personal loan lenders charge an origination fee, which may be around 1% to 8% of the loan depending on the lender, loan amount and your credit. For example, Upgrade offers a personal loan in addition to the Upgrade Visa® Card with Cash Rewards, but its personal loan has 2.9% to 8% origination fee.\nLate payment fees are also common on personal loans. You might also be subject to a fee if you want to pay off your loan early, but many lenders don't charge a prepayment penalty. END