Credible Review: Student Loan Refinancing And More!

Credible is a student loan marketplace that allows borrowers to shop around for both student loan refinancing and private student loans. We have been fans of Credible for a long time, because we're fans of being able to shop and compare the best rate - and Credible makes this easy.

If you're looking to get a better interest rate, or maybe lower your payment for your student loan debt, one of the best options (especially for private loans) is to refinance your student loan. However, finding the best interest rate and terms for your loan can be tough.

There are dozens of student loan lenders and refinancing companies out there, and where do you even start? And will applying at each place hurt your credit? That's where Credible comes into play.

Let's dive into Credible and see what it's all about. Hopefully you'll see why we love them too. Here's our Credible Review:

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What Is Credible Student Loan Refinancing?​

If you have a private student loan, and want to lower your interest rate or change your payment terms, one of the best ways to do that is by refinancing your student loan. You can also refinance Federal student loans, but it's typically not advised.

When you refinance your student loan, you're taking out a brand new loan, that pays off your old loan. This new loan hopefully has a lower interest rate, or maybe a longer repayment period, which will lower your monthly payment.

The hard part is finding this "magical" loan. That's where Credible comes into play. On Credible, you can fill out a single form, and it will compare multiple lenders at once for you, so you can find the best rate and terms for your student loan.

It compares options from many of the top lenders: CommonBond, RISLA, Citizens Bank, and more.​

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What Are The Qualifications Required?

It's important to note that Credible itself does not lend any money. Instead, they are a comparison platform. But they advertise on their platform that there are NO minimum qualifications to use Credible. However, you must be 18 years or older and have at least $5,000 in student loan debt you're looking to refinance.

In reality, we've found that to get the best rates and terms, you need to have good credit and stable income. In using the platform, we've also found that most lenders require a minimum credit score in the mid-600s. You can read all about the basics of student loan refinancing here.​

In many cases, if you don't have great credit or a stable income yet, you can qualify with a cosigner.​

How Credible Works​

Credible is one of the easiest platforms we've used. It's very straightforward and it takes about 2 minutes to find your rate.

1. Find My Rate

The first thing you do is click "Find My Rate" and fill out the short form. It takes about 2 minutes to enter your information.

You need to provide information about your education and finances, as well as how much student loan debt you're looking to refinance.

The great thing about this is this doesn't impact your credit score. 

2. Compare Your Options

After you enter your information, you'll see a dashboard of the various offers you might qualify for. I say might because none of these are 100% guaranteed - since none of your information was verified and your credit wasn't checked, this is still subject to change.

3. Apply For Your Student Loan

Once you decide on a lender, it's time to apply. During the application process, you'll be asked much more in-depth questions about your loans, your financial history, and the lender will run a real credit check.

After you complete this process, the lender will work with you directly to finalize all the details.​

Credible Private Student Loans

Credible also offers private student loans for students who are still in school. They offer both fixed rate and variable rate private student loans.

Just like for student loan refinancing, you can fill out a simple form and compare offers from multiple private student loan lenders all at once (without a hard credit check). 

With private student loans, it's important to make sure you fully understand what you're getting. We typically don't advise people to take out private student loans if at all possible. If you think it's necessary, though, using a service like Credible makes a lot of sense. You need to shop around.

Final Thoughts

We're big fans of Credible because they make it easy to shop for student loan refinancing by comparing multiple lenders in just minutes.

If you're looking to refinance your student loan, or even to take out new private student loans, make sure you shop around. We also compare all of the student loan refinancing lenders, so leverage us to do your research as well.​