American Express Personal Loans Reviews

Since you must be an existing cardholder to be offered an American Express personal loan, these loans aren’t very accessible to the average borrower. This, coupled with the fact that Amex doesn’t disclose important information such as its annual percentage rate (APR) range or term lengths, makes it hard to consider for anyone who is not already an Amex member.

That said, it isn’t recommended that you apply for an Amex card just to receive a personal loan offer. Unless you specifically want an Amex credit card, you should consider a personal loan from a local bank, credit union or online lender.

American Express offers one personal loan, which is only available to existing cardholders. When you log into your Amex account, you’ll see if you’ve been preapproved for a personal loan.

Amex’s personal loans are unsecured, which means they don’t require any collateral, and can range from $3,500 to $40,000, with fixed interest rates.

Your loan can be used to cover most expenses, such as consolidating (non-Amex) debt, paying for home improvements and making big purchases like a vacation or new refrigerator. However, Amex specifically states its loans can’t be used for:

• Paying off or consolidating Amex-issued cards
• College expenses
• Real estate
• Business
• Vehicles (unless used as a down payment)
• Illegal activities

Unfortunately, Amex doesn’t disclose its APR range publicly. To get an idea of how much your APR will be, and if you are already an Amex cardholder, you should consult the preapproved personal loan offer sent to you by Amex. Your actual APR will not exceed this APR if you proceed with your application.

Amex does give an example APR on its website of 7.89% on a $10,000 loan, although the APR offered to you could be much higher depending on your loan amount, repayment term and creditworthiness.

Amex doesn’t charge application fees, origination fees or prepayment penalties if you decide to pay off your loan early. However, it does charge a $39 late payment fee if your payment is overdue or returned due to insufficient funds.

Before you can apply for an American Express personal loan, you’ll need to be sure that you’re eligible. To be eligible, Amex requires you to:

• Have received an offer to apply for a personal loan through your American Express online account
• Be a current Amex cardholder
• Be at least 18 years old
• Be a citizen or resident of the U.S. or its territories

You can then apply online or over the phone. Amex will let you know the maximum you can borrow, as well as your maximum APR, before you proceed with the application process.

If you decide to continue, Amex will ask you to provide the following information on its application:

• How much you want to borrow
• Your income
• What you need the loan for
• What payment term you’d like

Amex offers near-instant approval for most applications, but loan decisions are sometimes delayed if it needs to further verify the information you provided. If approved, your loan will be deposited to your bank account on file within three to five business days.

Unfortunately, Amex doesn’t disclose much of the information needed to truly compare it to its competitors. Due to this, you’ll need to review your loan offer before comparing it to other personal loan lenders.

With that in mind, here is how Amex measures up to a competitor, Best Egg, based on what information it does disclose:

American Express has over a century and a half in business and has built a reputation as a trusted financial services company. As the largest global payment network, Amex reported having over $244.9 billion in assets as of June 2023 and is FDIC-insured.