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What Is Debt Consolidation?
Debt consolidation is taking out a single loan to pay off the combined debt of multiple unsecured loans, meaning things like credit cards and personal loans.
A debt consolidation loan doesn’t reduce your debt, it just makes it easier to manage. You are now making one payment to one source once a month.
The other advantage to debt consolidation is that you should be paying a reduced interest rate – considerably reduced in some cases – on the unsecured debt. Credit cards, for example, have an average interest rate of 16% in 2021 and many customers pay 20%-25% or higher because of late payment penalties.
Another advantage is that your interest rate is fixed, while credit card interest rates can change if you miss a payment or are consistently late. Consolidating your debtsshould help you become debt-free faster.
What are you waiting for?
Benefits of Online Debt Consolidation
Technology has made the financial world an easier industry to navigate efficiently and the debt consolidation loan process is a perfect example.
There is no need to drive around town comparison shopping banks and credit unions only to find out you don’t have the right paperwork and have to go home again, or worse, you don’t meet their qualifications and your time is wasted!.
If you have the proper documentation handy, you can get through the entire application and approval process in minutes, without ever leaving the house. All you need is a computer and some workspace.
The rates, terms and conditions are provided on the website so comparing lenders is just a matter of a few keystrokes instead of jumping in the car and driving from one lending institution to another.
The online applications will ask for the same information you would need at a bank or credit union – proof of identity, income, bank account information, listing of assets and liabilities, etc. – all of which you can submit with a few keystrokes.
You fill out the application at your own pace and submit when ready. If you are approved, many lenders will pay off your creditors directly, or you can receive a lump-sum check and pay them off yourself.
Online vs. Traditional Debt Consolidation
You’re eager to get your debts, interest rates and payments under control (accompanied by curbing the unsustainable spending habits that got you there). Great!
Now, you could try calling around — debt-counseling agencies, banks, credit unions, even thosedebt settlementcompanies you hear on radio commercials — and wind up spending hours on the phone being shuttled from one specialist (or, in some egregious cases, from one huckster) to the next.
The upside: You will talk to lots of other humans and you’ll get plenty of ideas about how you might consolidate or otherwise manage your unsecured debt.
The downside: Turning all that information into an actionable spreadsheet with a clear and decisive plan may not produce easily managed results. And you’ll be out all those hours of telephoning.
There is an alternative. Some might even call it a better way.
This is, after all, the 21st Century — the Digital Age. Opting for an online solution lets data-driven experts (preferably representing a nonprofit debt-counseling agency) crunch your numbers in apples-to-apples comparisons. You converse in live texting conversations with debt counselors, put your numbers into adebt consolidation calculatordesigned to distill data to the consumer’s advantage, and — voila! — a plan is recommended.
Maybe it’s a consolidation loan. Maybe it’s another program entirely. Maybe it’s a hybrid involving several approaches. Whatever the solution, it’ll be laid out with precision that can be saved and reviewed against other recommendations.
Online Debt Consolidation Process
In post-Great-Recession America, revolving, unsecured debt — that is, debt not backed up by something tangible, such as a house or a car — is substantial and growing. The average household has $5,700 incredit card debt; including households where balances are paid off monthly, the figure is even more daunting: $9,333.
And until it paused in the winter of 2019, the Federal Reserve’s incremental boosting of interest rates didn’t help those carrying a balance get out from under their debt load. Average interest rates on credit card balances have surged nearly two points since February 2018, to a record 17.55%. Yours may be substantially higher.
Small wonder plenty of consumers consider debt consolidation — particularly online debt consolidation — a solution to an increasingly pressing problem. There’s a lot to love, after all: a single monthly payment that most likely will be lower than the sum of your current minimums, and a lower overall interest rate, giving you a chance — assuming newfound budgetary discipline — to pay off your debt sooner.
The online process begins with searching and shopping. Punch in “debt consolidation” to your favorite search engine and go.
You’ll find plenty of opportunities to apply, all asking essentially the same questions:
- How much debt do you want to consolidate?
- Who is applying?
- What is your annual income?
- What is yourcredit score?
The higher your provable income and the better your credit score, the more likely you are to qualify for the full amount you’re seeking at an advantageous interest rate. Some new-wave debt-consolidation lenders — particularly peer-to-peer lenders — take into account the length of your credit history, the type of job you have, and your educational background.
Do yourself a favor. Shop around.
Choosing an Online Debt Consolidation Company
Whatever your choice, be wary as you enter the process. Many online debt consolidators are far more interested in profiting from your financial troubles, and not so much in helping you resolve them. Avoid companies that want money up front, or those that boast they can settle your debts for pennies on the dollar.
How to pick an online debt consolidation company:
- Decide what type of debt consolidation program would work best for you. The choice is between debt management, debt consolidation loans, and debt settlement. A free credit counseling session may help you arrive at the answer.
- Research popular debt consolidation companies that provide the service you need.
- Read reviews and check each company’s BBB profile. Find out if they have a pattern of similar complaints.
Best Online Debt Management Companies
Debt management often operates in conjunction with credit counseling. Professionals provide financial counseling through a credit counselor. At the same time, the debt management company (usually a nonprofit) contacts the clients’ creditors and works with them to lower interest rates and restructure payment schedules.
Debt management programs won’t thump your credit score, but your credit options might be limited while you’re in the program. They will ask you to give up all but one credit card and that is only to be used in emergency situations.
Top drawer debt-management companies (all nonprofits) include:
- InCharge Debt Solutions, which vows to simplify clients’ lives by lowering interest rates, reducing monthly payments, eliminating fees and over-limit charges, designing a realistic budget, and ending debt collectors’ harassing calls.
- Cambridge Credit Counseling, which boasts “simple, safe debt relief services” that reduce credit card interest rates by two-thirds, slice payments by a quarter, and complete the program in 48 months or fewer.
- GreenPath Financial Wellness, which promises respectful, compassionate, professional people-centered guidance.
Best Online Debt Settlement Companies
Debt settlement involves attempting to get some portion of your debt forgiven (written off, actually) by the lender.
Debt-settlement customers simply stop paying their monthly credit card bills, and instead fund savings accounts; when the accounts reach a certain level, the debt-settlement company attempts to persuade the unpaid card-issuer to settle for a fraction of the balance owed.
What could go wrong? Hmmm.
For openers, there will be late payment charges because you stopped paying and those add up fast with the high-percentage interest you’re charged. Also, service fees charged by debt-settlement companies can hit 25% of the balance the company is attempting to settle. You could be on the hook for taxes on the forgiven balance, which the IRS will consider ordinary income. And if it’s not already, your credit score will look like it was run over by a bankruptcy bus.
Popular debt settlement companies include:
- National Debt Relief
- Freedom Debt Relief
- Pacific Debt Inc.
- DMB Financial.
Best Online Consolidation Loans
Eager to do it yourself, to capture your debts in a consolidation loan with a reasonable, predictable interest rate and one lower payment per month? Here are some recommendations to get you started.
Best in Class
- Marcus (Goldman Sachs) markets loans up to $40,000, doesn’t require sterling credit (660 qualifies) to apply, and boasts extremely competitive rates for better borrowers. Better still, its slogan — “Personal Loans With No Fees. Ever.” — commanded our admiration.
- Lending Club, the largest peer-to-peer lender, offers loans up to $35,000 to borrowers with credit scores of 600 and higher. Its interest rates generally are competitive and fixed, resulting in fixed monthly payments. Pay it off ahead of time? No problem; Lending Club assesses no prepayment penalties or fees. Downsides: Not available in Iowa, and when you pay by check (rather than electronic transfer, for instance), you’re dinged a $7 processing fee.
- Discover Personal Loans offers fixed rates (6.99%-24.99%) on loans up to $35,000 with no origination fees. Borrowers need credit scores 660 and up, but those who qualify can stretch their loan payoffs up to seven years.
- SoFi is another nontraditional lender. Besides offering loans up to $100,000 with fiercely competitive rates (6.99%-14.99%) — reflecting its high bar for entry: 680 credit scores and above — SoFi screens its applicants for level of education and career trajectory. Loan periods are from three to seven years. Also in SoFi’s favor: no origination, prepayment, or late fees.
Best for Troubled Credit
- PersonalLoans.com, connects applicants with a lender or lending partner within its network. A low credit score may complicate the matching process, but no one is turned away. Interest rates on loans as high as $35,000 range from 5.99%-35.99%, with repayment schedules up to 72 months.
- BadCreditLoans, around since 1998, has been helping consumers “who are struggling … in times like these.” The company not only connects borrowers to lenders, but also offers online advice about when to borrow, how to pick just the right loan and spend the proceeds wisely, and how to set a budget to pay off your loan quickly. BadCreditLoans partners lend up to $5,000 at rates ranging from 5.99%-35.99%.
- Upstart, launched in 2012 by former Google employees alarmed by what they considered predatory lending practices, is another peer-to-peer lender that considers where an applicant attended school, area of study, profession, and job history. Upstart loans go as high as $50,000 for up to five years at rates between 8.09%-35.99%. Be alert, however: Upstart charges an origination fee.
