2023 Wells Fargo Personal Loan Review

 Our verdict: Wells Fargo Bank is a solid option for personal loans because of its few fees, competitive interest and flexibility to fit a variety of financial needs. To qualify, you must be an existing banking customer with Wells Fargo.

  Read more about how we rated Wells Fargo.

Established in 1852, Wells Fargo offers personal loans with a variety of perks such as no origination fees, fast funding and flexibility when it comes to loan amounts and terms.

• Must be a current Wells Fargo customer: Wells Fargo only offers personal loans to current customers of the bank.
• APR discount: Wells Fargo offers a 0.25% to 0.50% annual percentage rate (APR) discount if you have a Wells Fargo personal checking account and sign up for autopay.
• Flexible loan amounts: Consumers can borrow anywhere from $3,000 to $100,000  from Wells Fargo, one of the most flexible loan ranges on the market.
• History of regulation violations: Unfortunately, Wells Fargo has made headlines multiple times throughout the years for violating regulatory legislation, including with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Department of Justice (DOJ).
• No origination fee: Wells Fargo personal loan customers can skip origination fees. These are administrative fees commonly associated with personal loans and typically run anywhere from 1% to 8% of your total loan amount.
• Best for large loans: Because of its flexible loan amounts and repayment terms, this lender may be a good fit for current Wells Fargo customers looking to cover large expenses, such as a home improvement project.

Wells Fargo pros and cons

Like with all lenders, Wells Fargo comes with both benefits and downsides to those who choose to get a loan with the bank. Before agreeing to a loan, it’s important to weigh both pros and cons.

Though it does charge late fees, Wells Fargo customers won’t have to worry about having to budget any origination fees that would come out of the loan’s total balance. If you have a Wells Fargo personal checking account and sign up for autopay, you may receive a 0.25% to 0.50% APR discount. Wells Fargo’s quick credit decisions also may make this ideal for those looking to get a quick loan.

You’ll need to be an existing Wells Fargo customer before you can get a personal loan with this lender. And if you don’t have great credit, you may not qualify for a Wells Fargo personal loan as the bank doesn’t offer the option to submit a joint application.

Wells Fargo regulatory action

Over the last several years, Wells Fargo was issued multiple large penalties for regulatory violations.

In December 2022, the CFPB issued a $3.7 billion penalty against Wells Fargo for violating regulation across multiple financial products. The CFPB claimed that Wells Fargo took part in the following, affecting more than 16 million accounts:

• Improperly applied loan payments
• Wrongfully foreclosed on homes and repossessed vehicles
• Charged incorrect fees and interest
• Unlawfully charged surprise overdraft fees
• Illegally froze accounts

In a separate instance in 2020, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3 billion as part of an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California and the Western District of North Carolina, the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bank was accused of illegal practices such as opening customer accounts without the individuals’ permission or under false pretenses between 2002 and 2016. According to the DOJ, this was due to unrealistic sales goals that Wells Fargo placed on employees.

Wells Fargo requirements

Wells Fargo doesn’t offer a lot of information around its personal loan eligibility requirements; however, if you want to get a Wells Fargo personal loan, you’ll need to meet or provide the following criteria:

If Wells Fargo’s loan options won’t work for your borrowing needs, shop around for a lender that helps you meet your financial goals and can offer you the best-fitting rates, terms and amounts.

How to get a loan with Wells Fargo

To get a Wells Fargo personal loan, you’ll need to go through the following application process.

Check if you prequalify

Wells Fargo allows you to prequalify for personal loans, meaning you can check what kind of rates, terms and amounts you may qualify for without any impact to your credit score.

To do this, you’ll need to provide your contact information, your income, your employment status and information around your desired personal loan. This includes how much you want to borrow, your preferred terms and how you plan to use the loan.

Verify your information

If you prequalify for a loan and want to proceed with Wells Fargo as your lender, you’ll need to verify the information you provided. In particular, Wells Fargo will want you to provide documents verifying your identity, address and income. The bank may require you to submit documents such as pay stubs, W2s, tax returns, utility bills and a copy of a government-issued identification.

Once you’ve verified your information, Wells Fargo will run a hard credit inquiry on your credit background. This will allow Wells Fargo access to your credit report and may make your credit score drop by up to five points.

Close on your loan

If Wells Fargo officially approves you, you’ll need to sign your personal loan contract and officially close on the loan. Once you’ve closed on your loan, it can take anywhere from one to three business days before your funds are deposited into your account.

If you’re denied a personal loan, you may want to look into ways to increase your odds for approval. In particular, this involves increasing your credit score and building your credit profile to show creditors you are a reliable borrower and will repay your debts on time and in full.

How Wells Fargo compares to other personal loan companies

Even if you believe Wells Fargo aligns with what you’re looking for in a personal loan, it never hurts to shop around and compare other lenders. Here’s how Wells Fargo stacks up against similar personal loan lenders.

How we rated Wells Fargo

To come up with our star rating for personal loan companies, LendingTree considered 22 data points across three categories:

• Accessibility: We paid attention to whether lenders offered loans to nontraditional borrowers, as well as those without excellent credit scores. We also checked if lenders offered soft credit pulls, and whether they were transparent about eligibility criteria other than credit scores.
• Rates and terms: We wanted to know if lender rates, terms, amounts and fees were not only transparent, but competitive.
• Repayment experience: We based this category on lenders’ reputations, customer support availability and unique benefits.

The data points reflect every step of the process to shop and apply for, borrow and repay personal loans. A five-star lender, for instance, has flexible eligibility requirements, offers you the chance to prequalify without commitment and supports you in zeroing your balance.

The 22 data points, culled from the lenders themselves, determine the overall rating. We score lenders consistently, sometimes awarding partial points, so that you can make apples-to-apples comparisons when shopping around.

LendingTree isn’t paid for conducting these reviews, and lenders don’t have control over their content. With our reviews and ratings, we aim to give our users the objective and exhaustive information they need to make the best possible decisions.