This Fiona loan review will obviously focus on why this platform has been tagged as the fastest, easiest, and most comprehensive way to search for loans from different top providers in the industry. This will help you pick the right lender for you given the fact that you get to check different lenders all at the same time in just one platform.
Unless you were born wealthy and have overflowing money, you will always loan money at least once in your life. It’s like part of life. There really comes a time in our lives when we just have to borrow money to be able to pay off something within the allowed time frame or in some cases, we loan money because of emergency situations.
Loaning money is not a bad thing. Not at all. It’s a pretty normal thing to do. What makes it bad or troublesome is when you neglect your obligations in paying off the loaned money.
RELATED ARTICLES:
As a borrower, it is important that you know, once and for all, your limitations in terms of money. That way, even if you borrow money from a bank, or a loan company, or someone you know, you will not have a problem paying off.
As we have said, when it comes to borrowing money, know that you are not alone.
In fact, in a report published by Chamber of Commerce, it says that “19.1 million consumers currently have an unsecured personal loan, compared to the 176 million Americans with credit cards. In total, personal loans amount to less than 1% of total consumer debt, a fraction of credit card debt’s 7.27% share. The average debt per borrower is $8,402.“
You see, the number is huge. You are not the only person who has or thinking about loaning money.
But here’s the thing, if you are thinking of loaning money, you have to do your part, and do research for the right company to deal with. Make sure you know the company, how it works, and of course, if the terms they give are reasonable enough and attainable given your personal circumstance.
Now, having said that, we are giving you one of the options or platforms that you can check on when it comes to personal loans. It’s Fiona. While it is not a lending company, Fiona provides you with a list of various lenders – top in the industry.
No need to go elsewhere because we are doing this Fiona loan review with people like you in mind. Allow us to share with you some very essential information about this company, and how it works.
In particular, we are going to talk about the following:
- What Fiona is all about?
- Who is Fiona good for?
- How does Fiona loan work?
- What are the features of Fiona?
- How much Fiona personal loan interest rates are?
- How to get started with Fiona?
- Is Fiona safe?
- How is Fiona’s customer support?
- What are the pros and cons of the Fiona loan?
These are just some of the most commonly asked questions especially of those people or loan borrowers who are just scouting for the right loan provider to deal with.
Anyway, if you are ready, let us start.
WHAT IS FIONA ALL ABOUT?
Fiona is an online loan marketplace and loan comparison tool. The company, which was created back in 2015 by its parent company, Even Financial (a leading search and comparison engine for financial companies), is based in New York City.
As we mentioned earlier, Fiona is tagged as the fastest, easiest, and most comprehensive tool to search for loans from some of the best providers in the industry. True to this claim, in 2019 alone, the company originated more than $600 million in personal loans.
Impressive? Well, we cannot agree more.
Anyway, Fiona uses its built-in algorithms to be able to offer potential clients real-time pre-qualified personal loan rates. The company is able to save both borrowers and lenders a lot of time and money by simply be a channel for both. With just a single form, Fiona gets to provide both sides particularly the lender all the necessary information they need to approve or reject a loan application.
As mentioned earlier, Fiona is under Even Financial, which makes it easier for the company to have a partnership with various major lenders, which include Prosper, Rise, LendingClub, SoFi, Goldman Sachs, LightStream, Avant, as well as Vouch.
WHO IS FIONA GOOD FOR?
Fiona marketplace is ideal for people who want to go through a selection of different potential lenders all at the same time.
Just keep in mind though that Fiona is not a direct lender, which means, you have to submit an application directly with any lender of your choice.
Through Fiona, you will get to find lenders for loans such as the following:
- Credit Card Debt Refinancing
- Debt Consolidation
- Home Improvement
- Special Occasion Expenses
Do take note that every lender has different repayment terms, loan amounts, as well as interest rates, and fees. Thus, it would be best to make time to review company disclaimers, as well as terms and conditions before you make a final decision, which is to send you an application to your preferred lender.
HOW DOES FIONA LOAN WORK?
Technically, Fiona acts as an aggregator for personal loan lenders. This means they do not provide the loans themselves. They are just acting as a middleman between borrowers and lenders. They are the ones that connect both sides.
For you to be able to review your personal loan options, all you got to do is fill out a single form. This will enable Fiona to do the work — match and compare offers behind the scenes — and pair you with the best loan offers from their various lending partners. This way, you, as a borrower gets to save a lot of time and effort. Imagine, you no longer have to do your own comparative review.
Anyway, once you receive loan offers, you will be given the freedom to review each of the offers. This will help you come up with an informed decision. Once you are done reviewing all the offers, you can eventually decide the best offer for you, and ultimately, close the deal. Do not worry, you are not forced to close a loan offer if you feel like it’s not for you. At the end of the day, you got the last word.
Once you have finally decided, you will have to formally apply for and close the loan through the lender. This time around, Fiona’s role is done. This means that should you have repayments or any issued regarding your loan, you will have to discuss it directly to the lender. Fiona (the matchmaker) is already offhand.
WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF FIONA?
This Fiona loan review will not be complete if we are not going to tackle other features you will find in Fiona.
Apart from helping customers find the best personal loan deals, Fiona can also help you find a number of financial products.
Some of the other things that are searchable and comparable through Fiona are as follows:
CREDIT CARDS
Yes, Fiona can also help you find the right credit card provider for you.
Using the same technology used for personal loan shopping, Fiona can assist you in finding the right credit card for you based on your qualifications, and also, it will help you compare APRs from different providers all in one place.
More so, Fiona allows you to search via annual fees, as well as by rewards like airline miles and cashback. What’s even more interesting is that there are secured cards for those with poor credit.
HIGH-YIELD SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
Who does not want to learn how to save money, right? In these times of uncertainty, it pays to have money saved. Apart from loans and credit cards, Fiona is also a tool that can be used by people who are looking for the best savings account out there.
The thing with savings accounts is the annual percentage yield or APY. Just in case you do not know, the higher the APY is, the better. That means you will earn more interest on your money/savings. Who doesn’t want that, right?
With Fiona, they will help you in searching the savings accounts with the highest APY. This way, you get to earn more from your savings.
Apart from that, Fiona will also provide you information like fees, as well as pros and cons so you can way better your options.
STUDENT LOAN REFINANCING
Just like their personal loans marketplace, Fiona also helps you find better rates for their student loans.
To start your search, all you have to do is enter the amount that you still owe. Fiona will then give you an estimated monthly payment, as well as provide you with loan refinancing offers. This feature lets you compare terms as well as interest rates to be able to find the best refinancing loans, which in turn will help you manage your student loan.
HOW MUCH FIONA PERSONAL LOAN RATES ARE?
If you come to think of it, Fiona gives you an amazing service. With that, the next thing in your mind is the cost – which finds very important as well in a Fiona loan review such as this.
That’s a very valid question or thought, don’t worry. After all, we’re used to paying for services — especially as excellent as this.
But here’s the thing, Fiona does not cost anything.
Yes, you read it right. Fiona can be freely used by anyone.
So, where does Fiona earn money? Well, the answer to that is through their lending partners. Fiona’s lending partners pay the company to have access to their customer base.
Now, when it comes to personal loan amounts, borrowers can search for loans amounting from $1,000 up to $100,000. These loans are unsecured. Unsecured loans refer to the type of loan that does not require you to own a property to qualify. Also, the nice thing about it is that your loaned money may be transferred to your account as soon as the next business day. Awesome, right?
With loans, APRs range from 3.84% to 35.99%. Meanwhile, repayment terms are between two and seven years. Again, Fiona has nothing to do with it. It’s between you and the lender you chose.
Furthermore, depending on the lender, you may have to pay for fees like late fees, origination fees, as well as ACH/check refund fees. Just so you know, origination fees can be anywhere between 1% and 6% of the total borrowed amount.
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH FIONA?
As part of our Fiona personal loan review, we are going to check the process as well.
Fiona’s personal loan process is very upfront. In fact, it only takes a few minutes to finish.
To start with, you will have to ensure that you qualify based on their requirements, which include:
- Must be at least 21 years old
- Must be a citizen or a permanent resident of the United States of America
- Must have a good to excellent credit score
If you meet all the above-mentioned requirements, you can immediately proceed with a lending request.
The lending request can be found on Fiona’s homepage. You basically have to complete a form that requires you to input personal information (which will be the basis in checking with their lending partners for pre-qualified rates).
In the form, you will have to provide the following:
- Name
- Birthdate
- Your estimated credit score
- Address
- Phone number
- Employment status
- Whether you rent or own
- Annual income before taxes
- Loan purpose
- Desired loan amount
There is some feedback that Fiona’s form is a little cluttered compared to other loan marketplaces out there. But if you do not mind the clutter, this should not be a big issue.
Anyway, once done providing your personal information, Fiona will then conduct a soft inquiry into your credit to confirm your identity, as well as your credit score. Don’t worry as this will not harm your credit at all. This, instead, will help you get the most accurate rates.
After that, Fiona will get back to you will all the qualifying offers sorted by APR. You have the choice to filter and sort the offers depending on your preference, or certain factors like fees and loan terms.
If in case you did not hear from Fiona, you may check with their customer service representatives as you may have encountered a system error. Otherwise, it may mean you did not qualify for any rates at all.
Now, once you have already reviewed and have already picked a loan offer, you may click “Continue” to proceed with a loan offer. By this time, you will be taken to the lender’s site already. Once you are at the lender’s site, you will then need to fill out an application, and close the loan. In some cases, this may require more documentation or information from you.
IS FIONA SAFE?
Overall, we got to say that Fiona is safe to use. Fiona understands that data security is of utmost importance in this day and age.
Both Fiona and its parent company, Even Financial pride themselves on partnering only with lenders that they feel are trustworthy and legit.
While your information is shared with their lending partners, your data are not sold to any third-party companies.
With regard to data security, Fiona uses 256-bit encryption to secure information, which is what most bands are using.
Finally, Fiona uses a Programmatic Compliance tool, which is a relatively unique feature. This basically scans their partner sites’ webpages to find information that may raise red flags.
HOW IS FIONA’S CUSTOMER SUPPORT?
Fiona has a customer support team that can be reached through email (help@hifiona.com) or phone (800-614-7505). The team can help you with any issues you encounter on their site, in filling out the information, or whatever questions you have about finding personal loans.
Fiona does also has an FAQ page, as well as an educational blog on its website where you can try finding information that you may need.
WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF FIONA LOAN?
Our Fiona loan review will not be complete without providing you with the pros and cons we found about the platform.
Having said that, here are some of the advantages and disadvantages that we found:
PROS
- It’s free for use.
- It compares offers from the best lenders out there.
- It provides a trusted and experienced service.
- It does not have any negative credit consequences.
- It provides additional free benefits.
- Fiona’s parent company, EVEN Financial has been Better Business Bureau (BBB)-accredited since 2015. It also has an A rating on the official BBB website.
- Fiona provides free educational resources.
CONS
- Some of its partner lenders charge fees like origination, late, or processing fees to cover a lower APR.
- You have to be at least 21 years old to qualify.
- There is a chance you get telemarketing calls in the future.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON FIONA LOAN REVIEW
Overall, we only have good words for Fiona. It basically serves its purpose. But more so, we like the fact that they give you the best options possible. Needless to say, they partnered with the top lending companies you will find out there.
We like the fact that they know exactly what their customers need and that they provide it to you free of charge. That is definitely the best deal ever, right?
So, how do you find Fiona?