This report covers the US personal loan industry in detail. Providing data-backed analysis of the personal loan consumer and competitive landscape, this report enables a forward-looking strategy to go to the next level.
Below, we’ve summarized the core areas analyzed and provided hand-selected findings from the full document.
Core Areas Analyzed
- Market drivers impacting personal lending.
- Usage levels of personal loans.
- Types of providers consumers use for personal loans.
- Motivations behind opening personal loans.
- Future plans to open personal loans.
- Key factors when seeking personal loans.
- Behaviors of current personal loan owners.
US Personal Loan Industry Overview
Market landscape
The industry is characterized by a focus on rates, a need for convenience, and a diverse consumer base with varying financial health and preferences. Lenders must compete on both quantitative factors like rates and qualitative factors like customer experience to maintain and grow their market share.
Consumer preferences
- Consumers are less tied to traditional banks and more lender-agnostic, prioritizing rates and terms over existing relationships with lenders.
- The market has seen a consumer shift from a bank-first approach to equal consideration of all lender types, with online banks gaining market share.
- There is a growing preference for branch-based engagement during the lending journey, and seven in ten Millennials would refinance their debt if the rate was appealing.
Opportunity
Lenders should consider financial wellness offerings, such as access to budgeting tools or affordable advisory services, to help consumers manage their finances and build trust and loyalty. This approach is supported by the fact that paying off debt and covering basic expenses are the two biggest reasons consumers open personal loans.
Buy this report today and accelerate your insight strategy. Readers of this report may also be interested in our unbanked and underbanked consumer report.
Additional Features Included in Your Report
- Different Digital Formats: PDF for conveniently sharing with your team, PowerPoint for quickly including in your presentations.
- Custom PowerPoints: Incorporate our consumer research data into your own work so you can win over your clients and stakeholders. Select insights from your report to create a custom presentation that is ready to download in minutes.
- Interactive Databook: Each Databook is provided as an interactive website where you can deep dive into our consumer research data on your chosen topic so you can draw your own conclusions.
- Mintel’s Clients Portal: Our portal provides instant access to actionable analysis, podcasts, and trend pieces relevant to your industry that are published almost daily, as well as our annual Global Consumer Trends. You can also browse our extensive library of market research reports.
Expert Analysis
Leading finance analyst Amr Hamdi delivers expert industry insights with this in-depth report.
Personal lenders must adapt to meet the changing preferences of borrowers while navigating an increasingly competitive landscape.
Amr Hamdi
Finance Analyst
Collapse All
-
Executive Summary
- What you need to know
- Consumer trends: key takeaways
- Credit unions have an opportunity to convert interest into acquisition among Hispanic consumers
- Graph 1: types of personal lenders Hispanic consumers use, 2024
- Hispanic adults are most interested in taking out a personal loan from credit unions and online-only banks
- Financially healthy consumers are more aspirational in their personal loan usage
- Graph 2: reasons for opening a personal loan, by financial situation, 2024
- Millennials are driven by convenience-based factors when choosing a lender
- Graph 3: top factors when choosing a personal loan – NET – any rank , by generation, 2024
- Market predictions
- Opportunities
- Financial relief offerings can lend a helping hand to struggling customers grappling with the high-rate environment
- Refer-a-friend offers can be a successful acquisition tool given younger consumers' social preferences
-
Market Dynamics
- Market context
- Market drivers
- Rate cuts could stimulate personal loan demand
- Personal lenders could be braced for a busy summer
- Market landscape
- Total household debt rose to $17.5 trillion in Q4 2023 – a 3.6% year-over-year increase
- Graph 4: total loan debt, by type, 2019-23
- Credit cards continue to lead in account openings
- Graph 5: number of loan accounts, by type, 2019-23
- Auto loan and credit card delinquencies are on the rise
- Graph 6: percent of balance 90+ days delinquent on loans, by type, 2019-23
-
Consumer Insights
- Consumer fast facts
- Personal loan ownership and interest
- Consumers have steadily accumulated more debt since 2022
- Graph 7: types of debt owned, 2022 and 2024
- Banks have captured the lion's share of the rise in personal loan ownership in the past two years
- Graph 8: types of personal lenders used over time, 2022 and 2024
- Hispanic and Black adults have the highest share of personal loan debt
- Graph 9: types of debt owned, by race and ethnicity, 2024
- How lenders can enhance the financial literacy of multicultural consumers
- Reasons for opening a personal loan
- Paying off debt and basic expenses are the two biggest reasons for opening a personal loan
- Graph 10: reasons for opening a personal loan, 2024
- Multicultural consumers are most likely to open a personal loan for debt consolidation and covering basic expenses
- Graph 11: reasons for opening a personal loan, 2024
- Personal loan plans
- Over half of Millennials foresee themselves applying for a personal loan within the coming year
- Graph 12: % of consumers that plan on applying for a personal within the next 12 months, by generation, 2024
- Differing levels of planning confidence from varying income brackets present opportunities for tailored messaging
- Graph 13: % of consumers that plan on applying for a personal within the next 12 months, by household income, 2024
- Factors when choosing a personal loan
- Price remains most important when seeking a personal loan
- Graph 14: top factors when choosing a personal loan, 2024
- Younger adults lean harder on family/friend testimonials when seeking a lender
- Graph 15: top factors when choosing a personal loan – NET – any rank, by age, 2024
- Personal loan behaviors and attitudes
- More consumers are weighing up their options before deciding on a personal lender
- Graph 16: personal loan behaviors over time, 2022 and 2024
- There is a growing preference of branch-based engagement during the lending journey
- Graph 17: personal loan behaviors over time, 2022 and 2024
- Nearly a third of financially struggling consumers have trouble making on-time loan payments
- Graph 18: personal loan behaviors, by financial situation, 2024
- Parents are much more likely to have trouble paying off their personal loans
- Graph 19: personal loan behaviors, by parental status, 2024
- Seven in 10 Millennials would refinance their debt if the rate was appealing enough
- Graph 20: refinancing attitudes, by generation, 2024
- There is a significant opportunity for fintechs to penetrate the multicultural market
- Graph 21: openness to non-traditional lenders, by race and ethnicity, 2024
- The majority of consumers would prefer to take out a loan with their primary bank, but the importance of low rates is ultimately too great
- Graph 22: attitudes towards lenders, by generation, 2024
-
Innovation and Marketing Trends
- Marketing and advertising
- Discover highlights how its personal loans can make debt a thing of the past
- SoFi stresses its cost-effective personal loans for those with a penchant for home improvements
- Millennials lead in personal loan usage via traditional banks
- Graph 23: types of personal lenders used, by generation, 2024
- Citi flexed its brand equity as one of the reasons prospects should selected them for a personal loan
-
Appendix
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
Market Intelligence Made Easier With Mintel
The first Mintel Market Intelligence report was published over 50 years ago. Since then, we have provided our unique insights and understanding of consumers, innovation and global markets to thousands of customers worldwide. Here’s why our customers rely on Mintel:
- Gain a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the market: Mintel reports blend consumer research, market forecasts, product innovation tracking, and competitive analysis, allowing businesses to see every angle of their industry and identify new opportunities quickly.
- Make decisions with confidence, grounded in robust data: Each report draws on up-to-date, reliable information from trusted sources and industry experts, ensuring your strategies are based on solid evidence rather than speculation.
- Benefit from expert analysis and practical recommendations: Mintel’s reports are written by experienced analysts who interpret complex data and provide clear, actionable insights you can trust to guide your next moves.
- Stay ahead with actionable intelligence on market trends and consumer behaviour: By combining fresh research with long-term market monitoring, our reports help businesses anticipate changes and adapt strategically. So you’re prepared to make informed decisions and drive growth.
What goes into a Mintel Market Intelligence Report?
Curious about how a Market Intelligence report comes together? We like to think of it as building a detailed puzzle. We start with individual pieces: data from consumers, market statistics, industry trends, and online conversations. Then our expert analysts add world-class human insight and industry knowledge. The pieces are assembled to reveal a clear, comprehensive picture of a market.
The Four Pillars of Our Research
We use a combination of four main research methods when creating our reports, each adding a valuable perspective:
- Consumer Research: Direct surveys with real people, giving us clear, current insights into what people think and do.
- Desk Research: In-depth review of trusted data sources. We use this rich database, plus powerful internal tools that track new products and market sizes, to detect trends and guide forecasts.
- Trade Research: Insights from conversations with industry experts. Their real-world experience helps us understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
- Brand and Social Media Research: Analysis of online opinions and trends. This lets us spot trends, measure brand sentiment, and capture feedback in real time, adding further depth to our research.
Bringing It All Together
Each of these four pillars provides a different piece of the puzzle. Consumer research tells us what customers think, desk research provides the factual framework, trade research offers an insider’s view, and social media analysis reveals public sentiment.
Our expert analysts are skilled in weaving these diverse data streams together. They apply a range of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques to uncover the deeper story, connecting the dots to deliver clear, actionable insights. This comprehensive, multi-layered process is how we transform raw data into a market intelligence report you can trust to inform your most important business decisions.
$ 4,995 (Excl.Tax)
-
Download today with instant access
Pay via credit card or invoice (net 30 payment terms)
-
Multiple formats provided
We send a PDF, Powerpoint and Excel Databook straight to your inbox. An interactive version of the report is also available on our online platform
-
Interactive databook included
Focus on the data that matters most to you with a customisable databook avaliable on our platform
-
Save up to 20% when you purchase multiple reports
Discount automatically applied in basket
Next Starts Here
Whatever your business needs, we have the solution. From market intelligence reports to customised growth strategies.
Learn moreTrusted by global industry leaders
Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.
It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.
Pauline Robson, Managing Partner, Mediacom
At Jackman, we believe that powerful strategies are based on human insight. Mintel’s leading-edge reports and insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors are an important input as we develop and execute strategy.
Alana Gavin, VP Research and Insights, Jackman
We’ve found it so useful working more closely with Mintel. They helped support our recent flagship event for our top suppliers by providing a really unique viewpoint on the future of online retailing.
Nick Carroll from their Retail Team was also an excellent panelist, sharing useful and actionable consumer insights. We definitely look forward to working with Mintel again on future projects.
Zac Steele, E-Commerce Trading Development Manager, Waitrose & Partners
We utilize Mintel Reports, Trends and Comperemedia to mine for insights across the numerous business verticals that Epsilon serves, such as CPG, automotive, telecom, healthcare/pharma, retail and financial services.
By integrating Mintel insight into new business opportunities, we have been able to gain the competitive edge necessary to advance partnerships with global brands and key business players.
For our organization, it’s about depth and breadth. Having one without the other doesn’t enable success in our business.
Virginia Harvey, Secondary Research Manager, Epsilon
Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.
When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.
The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.
Ben Zeidler, Director - Research and Analytics, Tenth Wave
Next Starts Here
Whatever your business needs, we have the solution. From market intelligence reports to customised growth strategies.
Learn more
