RateDial — Consumer Credit Rates, Dated

Douglas Hartley

Sun, 08 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Personal Loan Refinance: The Break-Even Month From Fee and Rate

Sun, 08 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Personal Loan Refinance: The Break-Even Month From Fee and Rate

The quote arrives with a rate and no month. A $30,000 personal loan at 15.99% APR, 60 months, 24 payments made: payoff $20,749.33, payment $729.38. Refinance it at the 12.36% index a 700-score borrower is quoted today¹, on the same 36 months the old loan has left, and the payment drops $15.21. The fee is $622.48. The break-even is month 41 - five months past the payoff date of the loan being refinanced. A lower rate is not a refi - the break-even is. This article computes the month, the payoff shift and the cost from dated inputs, and says act or wait.

Damon Wells

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What APR Should I Accept? The Benchmark Table by Product and Band

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What APR Should I Accept? The Benchmark Table by Product and Band

The number first. On 2026-11-04 the Bankrate Monitor printed 12.36% APR as the average three-year personal loan rate for a borrower with a 700 FICO score and a $5,000 loan¹, and 19.71% as the national average credit card rate². For your band, the fair APR is the one that sits at or under the printed benchmark for your product, in your score band, on a date you can point to. Anything above it is not “the market” — it is a gap, and the gap has a price. A 16.99% offer on a $20,000, 60-month loan against the 12.36% benchmark is 4.63 points, $2,904.49 in lifetime interest and $48.41 a month¹. Dated, or it’s a guess.