3 personal loan lenders that offer an interest rate discount for signing up for autopay

Personal loans are a common way to borrow money for large expenses — like weddings, funerals and home renovations. Of course, the money must be paid back over a fixed period of time with interest. The interest charges can sometimes make the loan seem more costly to many borrowers. Fortunately, though, some lenders offer a way to alleviate a little bit of that strain when it comes to interest charges.

Some lenders offer what's known as an autopay discount. Autopay gives you the ability to have monthly payments automatically deducted from your bank account and sent to your lender. It can come in handy since you won't risk accidentally forgetting to make a payment one month and incurring late fees. Some lenders actually give you an interest rate discount — usually 0.25% off the APR — for signing up for autopay.

CNBC Select rounded up some personal loan lenders that provide an autopay discount. We also looked at key factors like interest rates, fees, loan amounts and term lengths offered, plus other features including how your funds are distributed, autopay discounts, customer service and how fast you can get your funds. (Read more about our methodology below.)

• Best overall: LightStream Personal Loans
• Best for borrowing higher amounts: SoFi Personal Loans
• Best for debt consolidation: Upgrade Personal Loans

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Who's this for? LightStream offers some of the lowest interest rates compared to many other personal loan lenders, but with an autopay discount of 0.50%, borrowers can end up securing an even lower rate — especially when paired with a good or excellent credit score.

LightStream provides personal loans for just about every purpose except for higher education and small businesses. And, you can apply for as much as $100,000. You'll generally receive your funds on the same day as long as you apply during a banking business day, your application is approved, you can electronically sign your loan agreement — you won't need to visit a physical branch to sign anything — and you verify your direct deposit banking account information by 2:30 p.m. EST. And if you can't meet that deadline for same-day funding, you'll still usually be able to receive your funds on the following business day.

LightStream also doesn't charge any origination, administration or early payoff fees, while its loan repayment terms range from 24 to 144 months, making them some of the longest terms on our list.

Who's this for? SoFi Personal Loans allow applicants to borrow as little as $5,000 and as much as $100,000, which makes SoFi personal loans a great option for those who need more money to cover bigger expenses.

SoFi offers a 0.25% APR discount when you sign up to make your monthly payments using autopay.

Many personal loan lenders only offer fixed APR's but with SoFi, there's some more flexibility when it comes to choosing the type of interest rate you receive. Loan applicants can choose between variable and fixed APR. Fixed APRs give you one rate that you pay for the entirety of your loan, and variable interest rates fluctuate depending on the market, but SoFi caps them at 29.99%. Fixed rates can therefore make it easier to budget for your monthly payments, but variable rates could potentially save you money or make you pay more interest.

Lastly, after your loan is approved, you can expect to receive the funds in your bank account within a few days. Applicants can choose from term lengths from between 24 to 84 months.

Who's this for? Upgrade allows you to apply for up to $50,000 and typically requires good credit to receive a loan. This lender is a great choice for debt consolidation since it allows you to have your funds sent directly to your creditors (otherwise, you'd have to wait for the funds to hit your bank account and send the money to each of your creditors yourself).

Just keep in mind that Upgrade personal loans have an origination fee of up to 9.99%, which is deducted directly from your loan proceeds. So, if you know you'll need a specific amount, you should account for the origination fee.

Upgrade doesn't have any prepayment penalties, but it does have a late fee: If you pay late or miss a payment, you could be hit with a $10 late fee if your payment is not received in full within 15 calendar days of the due date. Despite these fees, though, borrowers still have the opportunity to save on their loan by signing up for autopay to receive a 0.25% APR discount.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal loan review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of loan products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best personal loans.

To determine which personal loans are the best, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of U.S. personal loans offered by both online and brick-and-mortar banks, including large credit unions, that come with fixed-rate APRs and flexible loan amounts and terms to suit an array of financing needs.

When narrowing down and ranking the best personal loans for fair or good credit, we focused on the following features:

• Fixed-rate APR: Variable rates can go up and down over the lifetime of your loan. With a fixed rate APR, you lock in an interest rate for the duration of the loan's term, which means your monthly payment won't vary, making your budget easier to plan.
• Flexible minimum and maximum loan amounts/terms: Each lender provides a variety of financing options that you can customize based on your monthly budget and how long you need to pay back your loan.
• No early payoff penalties: The lenders on our list do not charge borrowers for paying off loans early.
• Streamlined application process: We considered whether lenders offered same-day approval decisions and a fast online application process. 
• Customer support: Every loan on our list provides customer service available via telephone, email or secure online messaging. We also opted for lenders with an online resource hub or advice center to help you educate yourself about the personal loan process and your finances.
• Fund disbursement: The loans on our list deliver funds promptly through either electronic wire transfer to your checking account or in the form of a paper check. Some lenders offer the ability to pay your creditors directly.
• Autopay discounts: We noted the lenders that reward you for enrolling in autopay by lowering your APR by 0.25% to 0.5%.
• Creditor payment limits and loan sizes: The above lenders provide loans in an array of sizes, from $500 to $100,000. Each lender advertises its respective payment limits and loan sizes, and completing a preapproval process can give you an idea of what your interest rate and monthly payment would be for such an amount.

After reviewing the above features, we sorted our recommendations by best for having no credit history, borrowing smaller loan amounts, flexible terms, applying with a co-applicant and getting secured loan options.

Note that the rates and fee structures advertised for personal loans are subject to fluctuate in accordance with the Fed rate. However, once you accept your loan agreement, a fixed-rate APR will guarantee interest rate and monthly payment will remain consistent throughout the entire term of the loan. Your APR, monthly payment and loan amount depend on your credit history and creditworthiness. Before providing a loan, lenders will conduct a hard credit inquiry and request a full application, which could require proof of income, identity verification, proof of address and more. 

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