 TITLE: Does Refinancing a Personal Loan Hurt Your Credit Score? CONTENT: How to Refinance a Loan\n-----------------------\nThese five steps are a summary of the refinancing process, although it can vary depending on the lender and type of loan you're taking out.\n### 1\\. Check Your Credit\nChecking your credit scores can give you an idea of which lenders or loan types might be a good fit for you right now. If you have poor credit, you may want to work on improving your credit before refinancing your personal loan.\n### 2\\. Shop Lenders and Compare Loan Offers\nWhether you're looking for the lowest possible interest rate or lower monthly payments, you may want to submit multiple applications to see which lender offers you the best deal.\nStart by making a list of the lenders that offer loans that meet your criteria. Consider the minimum and maximum loan amounts, terms and interest rates that each lender advertises. If you can find information about their typical credit score requirements, that can help you narrow the list.\nExperian's CreditMatch™ service can also provide you with multiple lenders and loan offers based on your credit profile.\n> Find the best personal loans in Experian CreditMatch™.\n### 3\\. Apply For and Accept a Loan\nOnce you've identified good potential lenders, submit multiple applications starting with the lender you think is the best fit. To limit the impact on your credit scores, try to submit all your applications within 14 days.\nYou can then compare your official loan offers from each lender before accepting the best one.\n### 4\\. Pay Off Your Old Loans\nSome lenders may be able to send the money you're borrowing directly to your current creditors to pay off your loans. Otherwise, the lender might send you the funds, which you can then use to pay off your personal loans.\n### 5\\. Confirm Your Old Loans Are Paid Off\nDon't forget about your old loans until you've confirmed that the accounts have a zero balance and are closed. You don't want to wind up accidentally missing a payment due to poor timing. END