Marcus by Goldman Sachs offers unsecured personal loans, primarily to borrowers with a good to excellent credit score. As an online branch of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, the loans are backed by a traditional financial institution with a long history in the industry.
You can use the loan proceeds for various reasons; perhaps the most popular are debt consolidation and home improvement.
Transparency is a central focal point for Marcus. The lender advertises no fees, stating simply that, “We make money on interest.” Lack of bedside manner aside, there’s little harm in determining whether you’re eligible, particularly when searching for low-interest personal loans online.
We’ll walk you through the ins and outs of Marcus by Goldman Sachs so you can determine if this lender is a good match for you.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs Personal Loans
Marcus offers personal loans with flexible loan amounts that range from $3,500 to $40,000. They also don’t charge an application fee, origination fee, or late payment fees, and you can use the money for anything you want. However, when applying, you have to specify your loan purpose, which may affect your maximum loan amount.
Loan terms are from three to six years, and loan rates vary depending on your credit scores. Interest rates range from 6.99% to 28.99%. However, the maximum APR for New York residents is 24.99%. How high or low of an APR you get depends on many factors, including your:
- Loan amount
- Loan term
- Credit scores
- Personal information
Borrower Profile
Marcus doesn’t have a minimum credit score. However, if your credit score is above 660, you’re likely a strong candidate.
They also don’t advertise a certain income or debt-to-income ratio. Most lenders set a max around 40%, and you can likely expect the same from Marcus.
The main thing they seem to consider is whether you have good to excellent credit. If you do, and you’re not asking for more than you can repay in three to six years, your loan has a strong chance of being approved.
Marcus Application Process
Once you fill out a standard application form, Marcus will perform a soft credit check. Depending on the information you provide, they may ask for one or all of the following:
- Recent pay stubs
- Bank statements
- W2 documents
- Social Security, Individual Tax ID number, or photo ID.
While applying, know that you can’t file jointly. Marcus only accepts individual loan applications. If you don’t have much of a credit history, or your credit score could be better, then Marcus by Goldman Sachs may not be the lender for you at this time.
After you apply and create an account, you can log in to your Marcus account to see the status of your application. You’ll also receive an email the moment anything changes in your application — meaning approval or declination.
When you get an approval amount back, it may be more or less than the amount you had in mind. This is because loan amounts are determined by your credit report, your ability to repay, and what you intend to use the money for.
If the amount works for you, you can get the money typically within two business days after you e-sign the loan and connect your bank account with your Marcus account.
Once You’re Approved
Making monthly payments on your Marcus loan is very easy. You can make a one-time payment each month by phone, online, or check. You can also set up your account for automatic payments.
Autopay is great because you don’t have to worry about ever missing a payment, and the amount that’s withdrawn is never a surprise. Interest rates are fixed. The amount you pay each month is predetermined when you take out the loan.
The truly remarkable thing about Marcus personal loans is that there are never any fees. You never have to pay origination fees or late fees. And if you decide to pay off your loan early to avoid paying interest, you won’t bed charged a prepayment penalty either.
Marcus Special Features
Need to change your payment due date? With Marcus personal loans, you can change your due date up to three times during the life of the loan. You can first make the change during the loan setup stage, but you can also do it after making your first payment.
Note that changes take a month to process. So if an amount is already scheduled, you’ll need to make that payment before any changes take effect for the following month.
Another interesting feature Marcus has is its on-time payment reward. Make 12 consecutive, on-time payments, and they’ll allow you to defer one payment. You don’t get out of making the payment; Marcus just adds one month to the life of the loan.
More spectacular still is that your loan won’t take any fees or interest during the ‘reward.’ Plus, depending on your loan terms, you can do this as many times as you want each time you make at least 12 on-time payments.
Marcus’s History
Marcus by Goldman Sachs personal loans are a very new loan option. They didn’t release the product until October 2016, but it still has lots of industry respect because it’s a part of the 147-year-old banking giant Goldman Sachs.
Marcus Loan Reviews
One of the best ways to research online lenders is by reading third-party reviews. You can discover what actual customers are saying about them before you choose to do business with them.
Marcus currently has a Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating of A+, indicating excellent customer service. They also have very few complaints. You can find more Marcus Loan reviews at other review sites as well.
What to Know About Marcus Personal Loans
Taking out a personal loan is exactly that — a personal decision. So what should you consider before applying for one from Marcus? Here are a few tips to think about.
Who is a Marcus personal loan good for?
You can use Marcus personal loans for any number of purposes. The company’s primary goal is to help make debt more affordable. So if you carry a balance on one or more high-interest credit cards, it’s worth it to consolidate debt with a personal loan.
The benefits of doing so can potentially be two-fold. First, you could receive a substantially lower interest rate than on your credit card. Second, that could automatically lower your payments each month.
The other perk is that you repay a personal loan over a set period. On the other hand, a credit card has an open-ended repayment plan so that your loan balance is continually accruing interest.
Because of that, you may see a higher monthly payment amount with your Marcus personal loan. But if you look at how much money you’ll spend on interest compared to a higher-interest credit card (particularly when only making the minimum payments), you may be surprised.
Play around with some interest calculators to compare figures using your exact financial situation. Personal loans are definitely worth considering, especially if you’re committed to aggressively paying down your credit card debt as quickly (and cheaply) as possible.
Who shouldn’t get a Marcus personal loan?
Again, every financial decision is a personal one. But there are some instances when you should proceed with particular caution.
For instance, if you’re already overburdened with credit card debt and are getting a loan to plug yet another financial leak, think again. Even if the lender says your debt to income ratio looks good, you’re the one making that payment each month. You’re the only one who truly knows your ability to afford something.
If you’re already working hard to make each paycheck stretch until the next one, you may want to think of alternative solutions to your problems.
Marcus offers personal loans in 49 states. Unfortunately, as of now, Maryland residents are unable to apply for a Marcus personal loan. The company is working on fixing this as it is a limitation that can affect a large chunk of people.
What happens if your loan application is denied?
Don’t be disheartened if your Marcus personal loan application gets denied. They consider several factors in any loan decision. Marcus mails you a letter within ten business days that explains the reason for denied application.
Why should you care?
As the saying goes, knowledge is power. So, rather than guessing what you need to work on to improve your chances of approval, you can instead target the exact problem. For example, if your debt-to-income ratio is out of whack, you know to either pay down a little more debt or try to make a little more money.
Or, if your credit score is too low, you can work on improving that number with tons of different tips and tricks.
If your loan application is denied, Marcus does require that you wait a full six months before applying again. But this is a good thing because you’ll need time to work on most of the issues that caused your application to be declined in the first place.
Still Searching?
Check out our other personal loan reviews below to continue exploring your options.