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My first home was a real fixer-upper. The two furnaces didn’t work; there were literal holes in the exterior walls and, of course, the bats. We needed to make a couple of big-ticket purchases — over $10,000 each — to repair some of those issues. We didn’t want to add to our mortgage or charge our credit cards due to their high interest rates. And we didn’t have enough money in our bank account. That’s when we decided to search for a personal loan.
No matter your reasons, it can be scary terrain if you’re also loan shopping. Do you choose a local credit union or an online bank? Prioritize financial services or credit repair? Credit Sesame is one lender that might strike the right balance, especially if you don’t have access to traditional loan options. I’ll break it down below.
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What is Credit Sesame?
Credit Sesame started as a credit monitoring company that provided consumers with free credit scores. In 2020, they also began offering an online bank account — Sesame Cash — so that members could build their credit and cash at the same.
A Sesame Cash account comes with a prepaid debit card and a credit builder card. Additionally, Credit Sesame can match members with third-party lenders for personal, auto, or student loans. They also offer additional financial products like identity theft insurance and savings recommendations.
To get started with a Credit Sesame loan, visit Credit Sesame and browse for a loan that makes sense for you — personal, student, or auto.
Next, you’ll be taken to a login screen. You can sign up for free if you’re not already a member. (This allows you to get free daily credit-score updates.)
If you’re signing up, you’ll enter your email address and create a password. Then, you’ll add your personal information like name and date of birth, current address, phone number, and last four digits of your social security number.
Next, you’ll enter a security code to verify your account.
Once you verify your account, you gain access to a dashboard with your credit score from TransUnion (which is based on your VantageScore, not your FICO score), along with a quick look at the factors impacting your credit score, from payment history to credit usage, credit age, account mix, and inquiries.
You’ll also be able to search for available offers for credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, home loans, auto insurance, home insurance, and life insurance.
Once you select a loan type, you can check your loan rate with a soft credit check or browse Credit Sesame offers without a pre-qualification. Looking through the list of personal loan offers, for example, I saw offers from affiliate lending companies like Upgrade, Avant, and OneMain Financial.
How much do Credit Sesame loans cost?
Credit Sesame offers free membership and some free services, but loans always cost money in terms of an annual percentage rate (APR). When I browsed available personal loans, I found options that claimed to range from 7.90% to 35.99% APR, depending on credit history, income, and collateral.
Additionally, you’ll have to pay extra ($19.99/month) for the Premium Sesame features. These include credit alerts, full credit reports from all three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian), and the ability to report rent payments to the credit bureaus, which can help you build a positive credit history.
Credit Sesame is, first and foremost, a company that provides credit information to consumers so they can make better personal finance decisions. Along with that comes easy access to your credit factors, like credit utilization and credit limit, as well as your debt analysis and a full report from credit bureaus within just a few clicks.
Even though I wasn’t shopping for a new credit card, my Credit Sesame account bombarded me with “suggestions” on how to raise my credit limit and reduce credit usage to help improve my credit score. These suggestions came in the form of a carousel of credit card options complete with features, star ratings, annual fees, APRs, and my chances of getting approved.
Who is Credit Sesame best for?
Credit Sesame is best for people who don’t have access to traditional loans or who need help shopping for credit cards without getting dinged with hard credit checks every time they apply. Credit Sesame can be great for building credit. They can match you to lenders that may help you build up your credit even more while providing necessary funds for a student, auto, or personal loan.
Who shouldn’t use Credit Sesame?
If you have access to a traditional loan from a credit union or bank with an actual charter, you should go that route instead. Keep in mind that anyone in the U.S. can get a free credit report each year from AnnualCreditReport.com. So, if you’re simply monitoring your credit, you can do so for free through the Annual Credit Report site without going through Credit Sesame.
Pros and cons of Credit Sesame
Pros
Easy to search for personalized loan or credit card offers without hard credit checks.
Personal loans and mortgages, same-day funding available, instant loan offers with pre-qualification
Credit Karma
Credit Karma offers benefits similar to credit sesame (in addition to a FREE tax filing service). They also offer some cash back in the form of an “Instant Karma” winning. In other words, you MAY win some cash back using your Credit Karma Visa Debit Card.
Rocket Loans allows consumers to apply and get loan funds (up to $50,000) the same day. Like other online lending platforms, Rocket Loans (formerly Quicken Loans) is NOT the actual lender. Rather, you apply for a loan through Rocket Loans and pay through them, but Cross River Bank funds your loan.
Credit Sesame uses Community Federal Savings Bank (CFSB). The Sesame Cash debit card requires users to open a secured line of credit with CFSB. Loan offers you may get through Credit Sesame are made by third parties, which often use different banks.
Does Credit Sesame require a minimum balance?
No. Credit Sesame confirms their debit card does not require a minimum deposit or balance. For Credit Sesame loans, your loan offers (including minimum loan amount or collateral) will be determined by the third-party lenders and your individual banking, employment, and credit history.
Does Sesame Cash have transaction fees?
No. Credit Sesame doesn’t charge consumers transaction fees to make purchases with its debit card. They do charge out-of-network and international ATM withdrawal fees ($2.50),as well as a fee of $2.00 to get a check refund when you close your account.
The bottom line
Given your credit score's importance to your overall financial health, you should have something that regularly tells you what that is. If you don’t already have an account that does that (a credit card or other financial account), you should consider Credit Sesame. The free account offers enough information to make better decisions and keep tabs on your financial situation. In the process, you may also get access to some loans you may or may not need — but that’s between you and your bank account.
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A veteran wordsmith and research nerd, Brittany Wren spent a decade working in higher education where she helped people overcome challenges to chart a path forward. These days, she writes about personal finance, careers, parenting and education. Her content has been published by a wide variety of brands including T-Mobile, Intuit, LifeLock, Reliant Fund Administration and CURO Financial Technologies Corp.
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