Splash Financial Review

Tuesday, January 21st

2025 Personal Loan Reviews

Splash Financial

• Operates as a loan referral service
• Primarily works with student loans, but expanded to include personal loans
• 0.25% discount when you set up autopay
• Origination fees of 0 to 12%, depending on the chosen lender
• "A+” rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business since 2013

Founded in 2013, Splash Financial emerged from a desire to alleviate the burden of debt experienced by friends and family. Operating from a modest office in Cleveland, OH, this company established a marketplace connecting individuals with banks and credit unions eager to assist in refinancing student loans, offering competitive rates nationwide. Over the years, Splash Financial has evolved into a prominent player in the student loan refinancing arena, facilitating over 100,000 accounts and managing over $6 billion in refinancing requests.

Service now offers personal loans

Expanding its services, Splash Financial has successfully launched personal loans, maintaining its dedication to customer service. Despite its growth, Splash Financial remains committed to its initial goal: empowering individuals to conquer their debt. Utilizing innovative automated underwriting technology, Splash Financial streamlines the loan process, offering personalized solutions and connecting customers with a diverse range of lenders, including small banks and credit unions, all accessible online for a seamless and efficient experience.

Some application questions go beyond the norm

You can find out what personal loans you qualify for in as little as three minutes. You'll start by creating an account (not our favorite intro, to be honest) with your email address and desired password. Indicate your requested loan amount and what you intend to use it for (pay off credit cards, make a major purchase), employment situation, and so forth. One question we got here that we didn't see elsewhere: "In the last 6 months, how many credit card cash advances have you taken?” We were also surprised to see an option to enroll in autopay, even before knowing which lenders we might be matched with; fortunately, you can always click on "decide later”, if you wind up opting to work with a financial institution who gives you a discount on your interest rate for doing so.

Personal loans funded anywhere from 1 business day to 2 weeks

Once Splash Financial verifies your identity from the information you provided, you'll be shown multiple offers from their financial partners. Many of the lenders they work with can get you your loan proceeds within one business day after you complete the full application, but Splash has a disclaimer that it can take as long as two weeks. As you'd anticipate, it depends on your situation and the lender you choose.

Gets high marks for customer service

We're happy to note that Splash Financial is "A+” rated and accredited by the Better Business Bureau, with only 5 complaints filed there over the last three years. While most of the people leaving feedback with the BBB and in other places like Trustpilot are typically commenting on student financial products (like loans and refinancing), it's still worthwhile to point out that over 800 people have given Splash Financial a 5-star rating. One commenter sang this company's praises for being able to get them a personal loan when every other service rejected their application. Several others gave Splash Financial kudos for having knowledgeable and friendly customer representatives: "it was nice to talk to an actual person” and "it's true when they say ‘we'd love to talk'” are just some of the compliments that stood out to us.

Could be more open about their lending partners

But, there are a couple of downsides to Splash Financial that are worth mentioning. First, they're extremely tight-lipped about which lenders they use to fund personal loans. While most of their rival referral platforms not only tell you who they use upfront, but they also give you ample information and reviews from borrowers, Splash Financial says next to nothing. Digging around online, we found that some of their lending partners are probably credit unions, and taking out personal loans there typically comes with a membership requirement (which is usually easy enough to do by creating a savings or checking account).

Higher-than-average rates and fees are possible

Second, Splash Financial's partners had a starting interest rate that was several percentage points higher than many competitors' published rates. Granted, most people aren't going to qualify for loans at that end of the spectrum anyway, and Splash's partners' high end was the same as what you'll see in most other places (35.99% APR at the time of this evaluation). But, we also noticed that the origination fees through Splash's network can go as high as 12%, and that definitely won't save you money in the long run.

Not closely focused on personal loans

Finally, this service is heavily focused on student loans and refinancing them. Yes, they've expanded into personal loans and we're here for that. But, it keeps them from competing with some of our higher-ranked options that have a strong emphasis on personal loans (and thus with a broader, more transparent network of lenders who specifically offer this type of financing).

Good but not quite great

Generally speaking, there's nothing overly concerning about Splash Financial. You could definitely use this referral service to get a personal loan, and if you need any guidance along the way, you can certainly count on receiving personable help from their reps. But, if you really like the idea of completing a single online application to get offers from an openly-disclosed set of financial institutions, you should check out some of Splash's competitors first.