 TITLE: What’s a Good Personal Loan Interest Rate? CONTENT: How to Compare Personal Loans\n-----------------------------\nSome lenders will let you estimate your interest rate without submitting a full application, a process called prequalification. This results in a soft inquiry, which won't affect your score. Submitting a loan application will cause a hard inquiry—more on that in a bit.\nYou can get interest rate estimates from a range of lenders to understand the rate you'll likely receive, and pick which lender you'll submit a full application to. When considering offers, compare the following:\n*   **APR**: Since this incorporates both your interest rate and fees, it reflects the total cost of your loan. It's likely the most important piece of information to use when comparison shopping.\n*   **Loan term**: This is the length of time or number of installment payments it will take to pay off the loan. Often, shorter loan terms lead to cheaper APRs.\n*   **Discounts available**: You may be able to lower your rate by getting a loan from a bank or credit union where you already have other accounts, or if you set up automatic payments.\n*   **Monthly payment**: How much will you pay per month, and does that fit within your current budget? Will you be able to continue making minimum payments on your other debts and cover essential expenses?\n*   **Fees**: Understand how much your lender will charge in origination fees, late fees or prepayment penalties for paying off the loan early. END