
LightStream Reviews
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About LightStream
LightStream is an online lender that helps people obtain funds for major purchases, home remodeling and debt consolidation. It offers competitive fixed rates on loans, and there are no fees or penalties for early payments. LightStream is a division of Truist, a bank formed by the merger of SunTrust Bank and BB&T.
- Easy online application
- Rate Beat Program
- Loan Experience Guarantee
- $5,000 minimum
- Unclear credit requirements
LightStream Reviews
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Reviewed Sept. 18, 2024
I was instantly approved for a 22,000 personal loan. I called them the next day coz I accidentally picked the wrong loan type, I was told to submit a new application and it would be fine… Well I did that and then they contacted me wanted all this information that they didn’t ask when I was already approved for the money…They wanted my bank statements, w-2’s,tax returns, etc. I told them, I’m not buying a dang house, it’s a personal loan, you don’t need all that. My credit score is 772 and I already have a loan with y’all with perfect payment history. I sent them my proof of income and bank statements, then was denied, their reasoning was they could only verify half of my income
Reviewed June 6, 2024
I have applied for multiple loans from Lightstream throughout the years, with every application resulting in a decline. I have top tier credit and employment history and plenty of assets, I believe this is now discrimination and violates regulation B of the ECOA. If you look at the reviews online, this seems to be happening to more and more people. If this happens to you I HIGHLY recommend filing an online complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FDIC, and your states attorney generals office. I believe lenders like these should be held accountable for their actions.
Reviewed May 21, 2024
Lightstream advertising up to 100k on personal loans for debt refinancing. Their website was easy to use but do not check / follow up on things before they deny you. It feels automated. Don't waste your time with them.

Reviewed May 18, 2024
Do not try to work with this company. It's a scam with the gift card purchase. Tried it and the checks they deposited in my account all bounced. Now they won't answer the phone. Lost over 1000 dollars.
Reviewed May 9, 2024
I got a call on May 8th, 2024 inquiring about my loan application by a ** descent named "Brad" after 30 mins of dancing around the APR Question, he told me I was approved. He gave me my load amount and monthly payment amount for 24 months. I was fine with that, he then told me he would put xyz amount in my account, then go to Walmart and with draw the funds and send it to him, then he would send the entire amount direct deposit.
Well Well Well on May 9th, he was Ali, I asked if he was Brad, he said no. Well 30 mins into the conversation, guess what I was approved again and go to Walmart or Walgreens to withdraw $ 200.00 of the funds and he would direct deposit of the total funds. He assured me that he was going to run away with my money. They ask for your user name and password for your bank account and as soon you withdraw the fund they empty your account.
This happened a couple of years ago with Chase Bank I withdrew $ 200.00 for the day and by the end of the day any reoccurring accounts that pay (mortgage) I had was reversed and Chase would not help because I gave out that info. Unsure of why they make you wait 20 minutes for a lender to call you back and it's the same person.
Reviewed May 7, 2024
One of the worst lender and crappy experience. Tried two times and always the same crappy experience. They are very consistent in that. They always pull hard credit as opposed to soft pull just to review and then ask for all documents, income info etc and then reject with no apparent reason. They rejected a loan request of $100K - with 780 Credit score and $350K income and 2 millions in asset. Very incompetent and stupid people. Don't waste your time and damage your credit report.
Reviewed April 9, 2024
They were always on time and worked efficiently. Service is always top notch. I am very happy with my purchase and would refer.. What they would do, what my bill would look like, and so far, everything's been right on.
Reviewed July 15, 2023
They deferred our payments for Covid and didn’t tell us that the end date of our loan wasn’t changing so the entire amount came due with two weeks' notice. They could not produce any documentation showing where they told us this. They refused to refinance because the remaining amount wasn’t large enough, they also refused to let me pay it off with a credit card, then they also refused to change the date of the final draft. I had to pay to put a stop payment at my bank to give me a little more time to get the cash. Will never ever use them again. With all the lending options I really don’t know how they are in business with their extremely poor customer service.
Reviewed March 26, 2023
I received a letter from Lightstream that due to my past history with them I was pre-approved. The letter included a code to expedite my new application. I applied to consolidate current debt of $25k and was hopeful to simplify 6 payments per month into just one and lower overall monthly payments by at least $700. To my surprise, I was denied because my current debt exceeded acceptable limits. DUH, this is why I was applying!!!! My credit score was 730 with exceptional payment history at all 3 credit reporting agencies. I had a prior loan history with them for $35k that was paid back in 6 months. What gives? Now I have an inquiry that I would not have had on my credit reports had I not fallen for their deceptive marketing. I truly thought they had appreciated our prior working relationship. Sucker! Never again, from now on all mail from Lightstream is a trash can magnet.
Reviewed March 16, 2023
LightStream continues to falsely advertise APRs that it doesn’t honor, even for excellent credit profiles. According to their tv commercials & website, LightStream offers credit card consolidation loans with APRs starting at 7.99% for applicants with excellent credit profiles who agree to autopay. Their website has an interactive calculator in which you select the loan purpose (credit card consolidation) & enter a loan amount that then returns a range of APR rates & monthly payment amounts based on the different term lengths they offer. The lowest APR (7.99%) is offered for the shortest term length (36 months). I was interested in a 60-month term, which showed an APR of 9.74%.
Knowing my credit profile is excellent, I applied but was offered a higher APR. When I inquired why, they initially told me it was due to my credit profile. I pushed back and said I have excellent credit & therefore wanted to know exactly what impacted their decision to not offer me the lowest rate. They told me to contact the credit bureau. I stated that the credit bureau cannot tell me why LightStream made the decision to offer a higher APR despite my credit reflecting an excellent profile. The LightStream rep told me I could view the report they used to make their decision, & it was available in the portal. Upon logging in to the applicant portal, I downloaded this report, which only contained my excellent credit score.
I also found a link to view LightStream's rate ranges. I clicked the link & a chart appeared in a pop-up window broken out by loan-amount ranges with a subset of term lengths for each amount range, & APRs displayed for each instance. This chart included the same disclaimers as the calculator (e.g., the rate ranges were based upon excellent credit profiles, autopay discount). This “new” chart of rate ranges were higher than the calculator rate ranges & both are reference charts for the exact same loan purpose & cover the same information with the same disclaimers.
Early in this ordeal, I ended up on the phone with one of the underwriters who walked through the steps I’ve described while I was on the phone, & he was able to recreate the issue & validated the conflicting rate ranges. This higher rate range is only visible after the applicant has already given approval for a hard credit hit. Regardless, it’s unlawful to advertise rates you don’t honor. If they do honor these rates, to whom??? Clearly not excellent credit profiles. When confronted, they talk in circles about how it’s varied based upon all the things I’ve accounted for (e.g., loan purpose, applicant’s credit profile, term length, etc). More importantly & concerning, there are ZERO accountability avenues for consumers to ensure these companies are held responsible for blatantly disregarding the laws meant to protect consumers’ rights!
These so-called protection agencies accept public “complaints” & serve as a pointless liaisons. The BBB, for example, rates LightStream as A+ despite more than 4,000 consumer reviews that average a 1.1 star rating. What does the BBB claim to base this A+ rating? The ONLY box that LightStream checks is that they “respond” in a timely manner to complaints. Responding to thousands of complaints means nothing to a consumer if they’re not making things right, correcting the violations the company seems to have been doing for years now! The CBFP is the agency responsible for enforcing the advertising acts that LightStream is violating. You can file a complaint with the agency, but that’s all you can do. There are no follow up options, & judging by the similar (& far, far worse) complaints & reviews starting years ago, LightStream doesn’t seem to have to answer to authorities & the laws don't seem to apply to them.
Reviewed Jan. 18, 2023
I've had a terrible experience with LightStream, including being blatantly lied to and horrible customer service. If you need a loan, try one of the legitimate companies out there, not this one. LightStream needs to work on improving both their rates as well as their customer service.
Reviewed Dec. 25, 2022
We have been customers of Lightstream for several years, my husband and I have excellent payment history, never late ( auto payment). Our current loan amount was for $25,000. We are $1,500 from paying off the loan. We are both self employed and have been for over two decades, We both have credit scores over 730, so 10 days ago we applied for a loan of $50K for kitchen updates (didn't want to take a HELOC loan due to fees, wait time, and closing cost) so lightstream requested all documentation. We proceeds to provide it including bank states, income taxes and so forth. We were then declined after we make well over $200K combined annual.
If you're going to ask this company for a loan and you're self employed they are not the company to come to.... They obviously don't have underwriters that can truly READ income information to make an approval decision. After we pay our existing balance of $1,500.00 we will NO LONGER be doing business with this company!!! If you are W2 wage earners only you'll be fine, but they just don't have experience loan officers for the self employed, or at least at this time. Pre covid they might have had more experienced underwriters.
Reviewed Dec. 1, 2022
I have a tier 1 FICO score (800+) and tried to get a rate quote on a $10k personal loan from Lightstream. They want all your personal financial data before giving you a quote. I mean everything, bank deposits, how much in bonds, amount in home equity, tax records, driver license, I mean everything before they would give a quote. Pulling your FICO wasn't enough for a quote. When I refused to give them all my data before an exact rate quote, they denied my application. It's a massive data mining operation they a running. They don't care about the loan...the data is more important to them.
Updated review: Dec. 1, 2022
No fee was added.
Original Review: Nov. 16, 2022
Took a 2 year loan out with plan on paying in one year. 6/6 months paid double the payment. They keep pushing to lower the payment to get more interest out of you. I put too much towards stocks and bonds that for the first time in many years I overdraft one of the two payments. What a headache. They send to their internal collections. They add huge fees. It's been decades since I've done this but man do they not make it easy. I've paid double each month and will continue to.

Reviewed Oct. 10, 2022
There is a wild amount of positive reviews. Definitely fake. This company features an incredibly disturbing business model. They are seeking individuals with poor credit scores. They are hoping to 'trick' people who are fiscally irresponsible into a bad contract and a bad loan. Do not work with this company. If an auto dealer is trying to get you to work with this company, they are trying to take advantage of you. Walk away from the car with the price that is too good to be true. It is.
Reviewed Oct. 4, 2022
I co-signed a loan for my ex husband. In the divorce papers it states he is responsible for this debt. Lightstream refused to remove me as a co-signer... Skip forward 2 years, I'm still the co-signer but there has never been a late payment. Until August 22. I HAD A BABY IN AUGUST!!! And didn't check to make sure my ex had made the payment! Turns out he didn't.. I received a letter in the mail after it was 30 days past due. I paid the outstanding balance and set it up on my account for auto pay because I didn't want it to affect my credit and I would settle the debt with my ex husband outside of Lightstream. Noooo, Lightstream refuses to remove a late payment from a new mother's credit report even though there has never been a late payment before and the account is current!!! Do not use Lightstream ever!!! They are Heartless and verge on Predatory lending!!!
Reviewed Aug. 14, 2022
Absolute dog water of a lender. Their reviews on their website are fake. You aren't allowed to leave a review if you're not already approved either. I make $250k a year with less than 1p% credit utilization and a 740 FICO. I took one month off to get a medical procedure done so I did not have a pay stub last month. They also demanded a pay stub for $250,000. I spoke to a rep on the phone and told them I can give them 2 years tax returns and last 6 months paystubs and 2 years W2, minus July because I'm on a short leave. You can call my employer to verify (Fortune 500 company). I also am going to get $12k a month from short-term disability. She took the notes and sent it back to the credit team.
I only applied for a $30k loan. 20 minutes later I got a decline saying I don't have the ability to repay the loan and a bunch other lies such as multiple delinquencies and high credit usage and collections. I have perfect credit payment history, less than 10% credit utilization, never had a collection account in my life. As someone who works in finance lending I can say this company is hot garbage. Will be disputing the inquiry and filing a complaint for deceptive lending practices. They also fail to disclose what documentation is required to obtain credit. I'm surprised this company hasn't been hit with massive fines.
Reviewed June 23, 2022
I just finished paying off my loan 14 months early. That's how much I HATED this company. My biggest complaint was with how long it took for them to report my current balance. My credit report was consistently updated 2 days before my payment. Therefore, my account balance was only accurate for 2 days each month. My final payment (early payoff) of $4987 was made 6 weeks ago and the bureaus finally updated my credit score 3 days ago. My score went down 9 points. How does that happen? My current score is 774. I have been told that there was a statement added to my credit report. Probably because I told them they are LAZY and WORTHLESS. There you go, I said it again. My advice, join a credit union. Most credit unions offer a variety of loan products and you will deal with someone local. Good luck.
Reviewed June 4, 2022
BUYER BEWARE - I applied for a car loan yesterday evening and expected a “fast decision” based on the website's deceptive marketing. I received an email at 6:27 AM the next morning asking for me to call back to answer a couple questions. I called and received an automated message saying that your offices are closed and to call back between 10 am and 6 pm. I waited until 10 am and called again. Agent asked a couple identifying questions and reassured me I would receive an answer “today”. Received an email at 10:24 am asking me to upload documents. I did so and completed the project within an hour.
Didn’t hear anything back, so at 2:40 pm, I called again. The agent said it is currently under review, but not to worry because I will receive a decision “TODAY”. I said “that’s great, because I plan to go car shopping tomorrow.” I didn’t hear back by 6 pm, so I called again, but offices were already closed. Lovely. Logged into the application online and it appears that it’s still in process.
Sent them an email to inquire at 7 pm and received a decline email at 9 pm. According to your system, I have an 802 credit score. I have millions of dollars in investments and real estate. I have very little, to no debt at all. Clearly you’re only looking to approve consumers with low income/credit so you can justify charging high-interest rates. Your marketing of interest rates starting at 4.19% is deceptive and misleading.
Reviewed April 6, 2022
Let me start by saying I have an 800+ credit score, a long mortgage history, auto loan history, perfect payment history, and run several large businesses. I chose to use LightStream for a home improvement loan to keep more cash in my bank during this crazy time. I figured this would be a no brainer and simple process. LightStream is a nightmare. Their criteria for loans is very selective and borders on unethical or illegal. I'm not sure what they do behind the scenes, but I started at the large amount I actually needed, got denied, and worked all the way down to $5k (min amount allowed) and was still denied. The service is terrible and they have no response why they can't do it. I would highly recommend to STAY AWAY because they take a hard credit pull and this will only hurt your credit. Try a different lender 1000%.

Reviewed Feb. 1, 2022
I've used them several times in the past, always a good experience. However, not sure if it's the merger or what, but repeat customers no longer mean anything to them. Got a better deal on a loan from Discover than LightStream, despite their match it claim. Discover's customer service is far above Lightstream now. I'll never use them again. A complete turn-around from my previous review.
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2022
Applied for a home reno loan. I own two houses, but my income more than generously compensates for both houses. I also have a 0% car loan. Otherwise, no debt, even though I have well over 80K in available credit through credit cards at my disposal. My transunion credit score on my denial notice was 827. Reason for denial listed was "debt owned on existing accounts." You mean my two houses that have over 300K in home equity? Not worth the ding.
Reviewed Aug. 27, 2021
I was trying to help out a friend during these difficult COVID times because I have not been impacted financially. Despite an excellent nearly 800 credit score, Lightstream battled me every step of the way on a car loan. It threw several excuses my way, hung up on me five or six times and even tried to deny the financial statements from my bank and investments. They ultimately denied the loan with PISS poor customer service and an even worse/negligent loan department. I would avoid LightStream if possible.
Reviewed April 23, 2021
I applied for a Lightstream loan and I am a current customer with an active loan with 50% paid off perfectly in a little more than one year. No late payments and always paid ahead. Credit scores are 800+ all 3 bureaus. I was declined for an unknown reason and cannot locate the reason on their site. I am not a consumer with bad credit and used to being declined for credit after having a flawless payment and credit history with any credit card or bank. Total insult...

Reviewed Oct. 1, 2020
Lightstream could not be any more user friendly and customer driven! They plant a tree for every loan! They offer lots of repayment options and allow you to change payment time and amount whenever you need to make it more convenient.
Reviewed Aug. 13, 2019
I wanted to get my loan as quickly as possible and I communicated that to my loan agent. He was prompt in his responses to my questions and was always respectful. The company was organized and had a good website for facilitating document scanning and communications. When it was time for them to make their final evaluations of my documents, I was given a date when I could expect a decision. The decision was prompt, and the funding was wired to my account exactly when I had been told to expect it. I would rate LightStream 5/5 for their commitment to their client, the competence displayed in their organization, and their reliability. They exceeded my expectations and I would not hesitate to recommend them to others.
Reviewed March 20, 2019
Wow, I have FICO score is 806... with the three scores being 806, 825, 821 and I STILL DIDN'T Qualify for the lowest APR... this is absolutely ridiculous. I decline their offer and am taking my business elsewhere. Absolutely crazy. Stay away because it seems that it simply doesn't matter what your credit is. Shameful.
Reviewed March 15, 2019
Looked up on Lending Tree Saturday morning. Was speaking to LightStream Sunday afternoon. The funds were in my account by Wednesday morning. They offered me a low rate with a reasonable monthly payment and were able to stretch it out for longer than most other banks we looked into. FYI - they do look at all on your credit report, even if it should be gone because it’s been 10 years and your score is high now. They are looking to make sure nothing has been paid late for 5+ years! Website was so simple to upload documents to, very simple process.
LightStream Company Information
- Company Name:
- LightStream
- Website:
- www.lightstream.com

