See your personalised rates
- Find lenders that can approve you
- Fast funding with no hidden costs
- One simple form to compare lenders
If you’re planning a large expenditure like some home improvements, a wedding or a new car, or if you’re looking to simplify existing debt, then an unsecured personal loan could help you. Here are some popular UK lenders that we review and compare.
Halifax was founded in 1853 and is now part of the Lloyds Banking Group. It offers personal loans from £1,000 to £25,000 for new and current customers, and existing customers can generally receive approval and funding in as little as 10 minutes.
Founded in 2004, Zopa took the lending market by storm being the only lender that offered peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. Since then Zopa has left the P2P market but still offers unsecured personal loans up to £35,000 for 1 Year to 5 Years. Borrowers will need to be 20 or over and earning at least £12000.00 Per Annum to be eligible for a loan.
Tesco Bank is the financial arm of supermarket giant Tesco, and offers personal loans for £1,000 to £35,000, with loan terms from 1-10 years. Tesco Clubcard members may be eligible for discounted interest rates, and borrowers with generally receive their funds within five working days.
Tesco Bank was also the winner of Finder’s 2023 Customer Satisfaction Awards for personal loans.
Sainsbury’s Bank is part of the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain and provides personal loans up to £40,000 for Nectar cardholders, or up to £25,000 for non-cardholders. Nectar cardholders may also be eligible for discounted rates.
Sainsbury’s Bank was also the winner of Finder’s 2023 Customer Satisfaction Awards for personal loans.
Santander is a Spanish bank and financial services company with a big presence in the UK. To be eligible for a Santander personal loan, borrowers will need to be at least 21 years old and earn at least £6,000 per year. New customers can borrow up to £20,000, and existing customers can borrow up to £25,000.
Santander was also Highly Commended in Finder’s 2023 Customer Satisfaction Awards for personal loans.
Part of the Marks and Spencer Group, M&S Bank offer personal loans from £1,000 to £15,000 over 1-7 years, or loans from £15,000 to £25,000 with terms of 1-5 years. M&S also offer discounted rates to existing customers, as well as loan repayment deferment options.
Founded in 1865, HSBC is one of the “Big Four” British banks, and provides personal loans up to £25,000, with loan terms from 1-8 years. Customers will need to be at least 18 years old and earn at least £10,000 per year to be eligible for a loan.
Another of the “Big Four” banks, Barclays was founded in 1690, and offers personal loans up to £50,000, with terms between 2 and 5 years. Existing customers can get instant approval, and loans can be funded immediately if it is signed online.
NatWest only offers personal loans to existing customers who have had another NatWest product for at least 3-6 months. Customers can borrow up to £50,000, and receive the fund within one business day of approval.
In December 2022, we asked 1,347 borrowers to rate their overall satisfaction with their lender and whether they would recommend it to a friend. We converted the results into the star ratings presented below.
Table ordered by percentage of customers who said they’d recommend the brand to a friend (recommendation score)
Personal loan provider | Customer satisfaction score | Customer rating |
---|---|---|
Tesco Bank | 86% | ★★★★★ |
Sainsbury’s Bank | 86% | ★★★★★ |
Santander | 87% | ★★★★★ |
Barclays | 83% | ★★★★★ |
AA | 83% | ★★★★★ |
NatWest | 83% | ★★★★★ |
Post Office | 79% | ★★★★★ |
Halifax | 78% | ★★★★★ |
Novuna (formerly Hitachi) | 77% | ★★★★★ |
M&S Bank | 75% | ★★★★★ |
Abound (formerly Fintern) | 80% | ★★★★★ |
HSBC | 77% | ★★★★★ |
Zopa | 74% | ★★★★★ |
In December 2022, we ran an independent customer satisfaction survey on personal loan providers. We received answers from 1,347 personal loan customers who gave us their opinion on their current lender.
Full details of our star ratings for this sector are on the personal loans rating methodology page.
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
The customer satisfaction score (“You say”) is based on a survey of 1,347 customers carried out in December 2022.
Please note: You should always refer to your loan agreement for exact repayment amounts as they may vary from our results.
Late repayments can cause you serious money problems. See our debt help guides.
Find out how you can start building wealth by investing just £100 a month along with some of the best ways to invest.
We’ve tested, analysed and scored trading apps to find the 10 best trading platforms in the UK, who they’re best for and the pros and cons.
Everything we know about the Shein IPO, plus information on how to buy shares.
Help your kids learn to budget, manage their money and save this festive season with these simple money lessons.
Robinhood is close to launching in the UK. Find out when it’s happening, what investments will be available on the commission-free trading app and how it plans to make money.
There’s one week to go until FinTech Connect 2023 returns to London on 6 and 7 December. Get 20% off your ticket with Finder.
We look at the average APR on credit cards in the UK and how credit card interest rates have changed over time.
Finder collaborated with the smart money app, Plum, to compare how easy access savings rates around the world compared with the local base rate.