Achieve Personal Loans Review

Achieve, formerly known as FreedomPlus, is an online provider of unsecured personal loans, with a strong focus on debt consolidation and resolution. Well qualified applicants might be turned off by their high rates and fees, but they could be a good option for subprime borrowers looking to refinance expensive debts.

Loan Options

• According to their website, Achieve personal loans are generally between $5,000 and $50,000

• Loan lengths typically range from 24 to 60 months.

• Achieve support the inclusion of co-applicants and will consider their income in the application process.

Interest & Fees

• APR: 6.25%-35.99%. Their top rate is limited to borrowers with excellent credit, taking a loan of less than $12,000 over a 24-month term. According to their website, you can unlock their lower rates by adding a co-borrower with sufficient income, letting them pay your creditors directly or showing retirement savings.

• Origination Fees: Vary from 1.99% to 9.99% depending on your state of residence and other factors.

• Prepayment Penalty: Borrowers do not incur any fees if they wish to pay off their loan early or make additional payments.

• Late Payment: Not disclosed on their website.

• Unsuccessful payment: Not disclosed on their website.

How long to receive funds?

Achieve advertise that funds are sent in as few as 24 hours once you are approved. Their FAQ also mentions a same-day loan decision, which is a separate step from the money reaching your account. No average funding time is disclosed for personal loans.

Geographical Availability

Achieve personal loans are available in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Credible report that they are not available in Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin or Wyoming.

Loan Eligibility

Achieve's disclosure puts the minimum credit score at 560. The 640 quoted elsewhere on their site is the threshold for their "Fair Credit OK" claim rather than the floor. Loans of $35,000 or more require 660+.

Income Requirements

No information on minimum income thresholds has been publicly disclosed.

Are they legit?

Yes. Achieve Personal Loans (NMLS ID #227977) launched as FreedomPlus in 2013 and took the Achieve name in a 2022 rebrand. The wider business dates to 2002, and Achieve say they have served over 2 million consumers, resolved over $22 billion in debt and facilitated over $15 billion in personal loans and home equity lines of credit in that time. Achieve partners with banks to originate its loans, namely Cross River Bank and Pathward- Achieve handles the customer service, application process and loan management, while the actual funds are provided by the bank.

Reviews & News

At the time of writing, Achieve had approximately 90% 5-star reviews on Trustpilot from a total of nearly 13,000, with an average rating of 4.8/5.

On their A+ accredited BBB profile, they have an average rating of 4.12/5 from just over 300 reviews, with 109 complaints closed in the last 3 years.

Do They Report to the Credit Bureaus?

Yes. Achieve report monthly loan status and payment history to the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Regular on-time payments in your credit file will likely increase your credit score and improve your chances of qualifying for credit in the future. However, failure to satisfy your repayment obligations could damage your credit score, making it more difficult to borrow again.

Get in touch

You can contact the Achieve customer service team at 800-920-0045 6AM-8PM AZ (Monday-Friday), 7AM-5PM AZ (Saturday & Sunday). Note that Arizona is on Mountain Time but doesn't observe daylight saving time. Alternatively, you can send a message on their website here.

What we like?

Multiple discounts available: Borrowers can reduce their APR (and save money) by including a co-borrower with sufficient income, allowing Achieve to pay your creditors directly with your loan proceeds and/or providing proof of retirement savings (e.g. 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, etc.).

Check your rate: Borrowers can check their rate on the Achieve website, without any impact to their credit score. Completing the application process will trigger a hard inquiry, which could impact your credit score. Even if you have an offer elsewhere, it might be worth seeing if Achieve can beat it.

Co-borrowers allowed: Achieve allows co-borrowers on loans, which could improve your chances of approval, as the legal responsibility to repay the loan will be shared by multiple people.

What we don't like?

Origination fees: Achieve will charge origination fees of between 1.99% and 9.99% of the approved loan amount. Origination fees are automatically paid at the time of funding. For example, if you are approved for $10,000 loan with a 5% origination fee, you'll only receive $9,500 in your bank account. Many lenders don't charge origination fees, so you may wish to look elsewhere to avoid them.

Restrictive loan options: The lowest size loan generally offered by Achieve is $5,000, with the shortest available term being 2 years. This may not suit the intentions of customers looking to borrow a smaller amount to a cover a short-term financial emergency e.g. car repair.

Summary

Achieve is a decent option for borrowers with limited or mixed credit history. They offer mutliple discounts, so they might be particularly appealing if you can satisfy some or all of those conditions. More qualified borrowers will want to avoid their origination fees and high interest rates.