Stilt Personal Loans To Help Immigrants and Undeserved

Stilt personal loans are perfect if you are an immigrant or an international student who needs financial assistance. Here is everything you need to know about the key features and policies of Stilt loans. 

Stilt Personal Loans – Quick Overview 

Saving money is essential and helps a lot during financial crises, but it’s not always a stroke of luck if you have hundreds of finances to bear at your doorstep. When it becomes difficult to save a significant amount of money in advance, you can always opt for a loan considering a few financial factors. 

• Unlike many other loan service providers, Stilt works in a different niche, and its target audience includes immigrants, the underserved, non-US citizens, and visa holders.

Stilt is officially based in San Francisco that allows people who have no Social Security Number or a co-signer to get the loans at a very competitive interest rate. Not only this, but it also helps you improve your credit score by reporting your on-time payments to credit bureaus. 

So, if you are an international student or an immigrant and in need of a loan, Stilt can help you with it. Stilt considers people for the loan amounts that have any of the below-mentioned visa types.

• Curricular Practical Training CPT 
• Optional Practical Training OPT 
• Specialty Occupations H-1B
• Extraordinary Ability O-1
• Intracompany Transfer L-1 
• NAFTA Professionals TN 
• Cultural Exchange J-1
• Childhood Arrivals DACA

Stilt Loans Key Features 

Stilt loan aims to assist international students with their educational funds and living expenses depending on how they fit in the category. Several lenders, however, initially determine the borrowers’ risks and perform a soft credit check of their credit history. 

Here are the key features of Stilt personal loans and what they have to offer the customers to the best of their abilities: 

Loan Amounts	$1000 to $35,000
Loan Terms	6 to 36 months
Interest Rates (APR)	7.99% to 35.99%
Lender Type	Direct Lender
Promotions	None
Prepayment penalty	None
Origination fees	0% to 5%
Late fee	4% to 5% of monthly payment
Grace period	Interest-only payments for up to 6 months
Rate Type	Fixed
Eligible Schools	N/A
Autopay Discount	None

Current Employment or Employability 

Your employment status helps them determine whether you are eligible to repay shortly or not. Greater chances of your employability mean that you will be able to pay back and is a positive sign for your application’s approval process.

Education

Another determining factor of financial responsibility is that of education. If you are a student with excellent and authentic education background or current enrollment, there are high chances of your approval for the loan. 

Financial Behavior 

Many people have poor spending habits and do not have any record of maintenance of their monthly budget. Here is when things go south financially, which is another critical factor. Both your debit and credit accounts are monitored to understand how you manage your finances.

Defaults, Collections, or Bankruptcies 

Defaults or collections in the previous accounts are a massive turn-off when applying for a loan at any loan provider institute. To top it all, bankruptcies create a negative image in the lender’s mind and could directly impact the decision of your potential loan lender. 

Credit Score 

As mentioned earlier, any loan lending company needs to ensure that the person they are lending their money to can repay within the designated time. So, the credit bureaus require your credit histories to prevent any inconvenience. 

Pros 

• Any person who does not have a social security number can avail of the loan from Stilt. 
• As mentioned earlier, you can qualify for the Stilt loan if you hold certain US visas. 
• The company only pulls a soft credit check and has no impact on your credit score. 
• The applications are approved within the period of 24 hours. 
• Even if you do not have any credit score, Stilt considers you for the loan. 
• It does not require you to have a co-signer or collateral to qualify for the loan. 

Cons 

• It is not a traditional bank and is led by its investors. 
• It has a relatively high APR than others. 
• The loan amount is not that huge and cannot help you with several vast purchases.  
• It has shorter repayment terms and gets difficult to repay in a short time. 
• It is not available to people in all the states. 
• Few complaints have been lodged about the incomplete transparency about the interest rates. 
• Unlike other loans, stilt loans do not offer specific provisions to the borrowers. 

Eligibility Criteria 

Stilt has some deciding factors which you must fulfill to avail of the personal loans without any barriers. The eligibility criteria for Stilt loans is mentioned below.

• You must have an address in any US state among AZ, IL, FL, TX, PA, CA, MI, NY, NJ, UT, WA, GA, VA, OH, NC and WI. 
• To get the Stilt loan, it would be best to have a US-based bank account and a personal phone number registered in your name. 
• Your visa must be valid and legal for at least six months minimum. 
• You must have an I-20 form and attend a Title IV school.
• Visa types eligible for attaining the loan include DACA, H-1B, O-1, TN, L-1. F-1, OPT, and J-1.

Obtain Stilt Loan – Step by Step Guide 

The application process is simply straightforward and online, and all you need to make sure of is that you have all the documents to upload on the portal. To apply for the Stilt personal loan, here is what you need to do.

1. Go to the online website of Stilt. 
2. Submit an application there, which takes less than 5 minutes, and upload the documents required.
3. Once done, verify the information to avoid any inconvenience. 
4. Wait for the approval in the next 24 hours. 
5. Next, you will receive an offer without any hidden fees.
6. Once you do, they send you a promissory note that you need to sign. 
7. As soon as you do it, they initiate the transfer, and you get your funds in 2-3 business days. And that’s it!

Should You Apply for Stilt Loans? 

As we have mentioned earlier, it is one of the very few companies that considers the financial needs of international students and help them bear their expenses outside their hometown. Any service has its upsides and drawbacks, and it is essential to consider them before applying. 

If you are really in need of finances and can manage to repay despite comparatively higher interest rates of the Stilt, then you can go for it.

• It also helps you build credit in the US as it informs of your on-time payments to the credit bureaus. 

To dive in, you must keep in mind that it also allows you to apply for a prequalification and see whether it is a perfect fit for you or not. But it does not mean that you will qualify when you officially apply for the loan, as it depends upon several other financial factors. 

Stilt Alternatives to Consider

If Stilt does not fit your choices and you feel you cannot meet the specific criteria, there are other alternatives too to help you with your budgeting: 

• Earnin

Earnin does not need an SSN, and with Cash Out, you can get up to $500 of your paycheck per pay period. 

• MoneyLion 

MoneyLion comes with a monthly membership fee, and you need to have a valid US SNN to apply for the loan here. 

• MPOWER Financing 

It does not need a US consigner, and the repayment terms are up to 10 years with 5% origination fees. 

• Ascent

There are no origination fees with Ascent, and the payment terms range from 5 to 15 years.

The Bottom Line 

Stilt is a loan provider platform that uses vast machine learning technology and statistical models that determine the lowest possible interest rates to ease the customers with loan lending procedures.

• All you need to do is submit an application, receive an offer, and start making payments through the account. 

It performs a soft credit check as a screening tool to determine which candidate is the most deserving and who fits the best to the eligibility criteria. So if you think Stilt is the right option for you, don’t wait up and go for it! 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Are Stilt loans available in all states? 

No, it is only present in 16 of the total states.

Do Stilt loans report to credit bureaus?

Yes, it does report to the credit bureaus by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Is Stilt a bank? 

Stilt launched a bank account a couple of years ago for newcomers to the US.

Can you apply for a second loan at Stilt? 

You can only apply for the second loan when you are halfway through the loan term and have made timely payments monthly.