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Fixed
Borrow up to $50,000 unsecured. Perfect if you earn more than $22,100 p.a. and have good to excellent credit. Multi-year winner of Mozo’s Experts Choice Unsecured Personal Loan Award, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024^'
Repayment terms from 2 years to 7 years. Representative example: a 5 year $30,000 loan at 6.75% would cost $35,430.23 including fees.
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about the NOW Finance Unsecured Personal Loan
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Fixed
Fast, easy and 100% online, this is a low cost loan with no ongoing fees or extra repayment penalties. It's perfect for savvy borrowers with great credit. If you’re over 18 and earn above $30,000, you could qualify (other eligibility criteria may apply).
Repayment terms from 3 years to 7 years. Representative example: a 5 year $30,000 loan at 5.76% would cost $35,173.52 including fees.
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about the Harmoney Unsecured Personal Loan
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Secured
Access fast finance on loans from $5,000 to $25,000 with a Jacaranda Finance Personal Loan. Terms from 24-48 months. Check if you qualify with no impact on your credit score. Enjoy a speedy, online approval.
Repayment terms from 2 years to 4 years. Representative example: a 3 year $10,000 loan at 14.95% would cost $14,324.71 including fees.
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about the Jacaranda Finance Express Personal Loan
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Excellent Credit
Competitive low rates for borrowers with excellent credit on 1-7 year loans from $2,001 up to $75,000, plus free extra repayments. Winner of Mozo's Experts Choice Excellent Credit Unsecured Personal Loan 2024 and Excellent Credit Secured Personal Loan 2024 awards ^. Min. income of 25k after tax, to apply.
Repayment terms from 1 year to 7 years. Representative example: a 5 year $30,000 loan at 6.57% would cost $35,528.12 including fees.
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about the OurMoneyMarket Low Rate Personal Loan
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Roll multiple debts into one loan to streamline your finances with one set of repayments and one interest rate. Competitive fixed interest rates with no monthly or early repayment fees and flexible repayment options. Easy online application and funding in as little as 24 hours (subject to approval).
Repayment terms from 3 years to 7 years. Representative example: a 5 year $30,000 loan at 5.76% would cost $35,173.52 including fees.
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^See information about the Mozo Experts Choice Personal loans Awards
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See more personal loan providersFinding a top $5,000 personal loan
A $5,000 personal loan can be used to fund all sorts of things, from holidays to weddings or small home renovation projects. The possibilities are practically endless! And so are the different loan and lender options.
With so many options around, finding the right personal loan for you can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for.
One important place to start when comparing $5k personal loans is with the interest rate. The lower the interest rate, the less you’ll pay in the long run.
Don’t just stop at the main headline rate, though. To get a better idea of the true cost of the loan, you’ll want to check the comparison rate. The comparison rate factors in both the main interest rate plus any additional fees that come with the loan.
Here are some of the lowest personal loan interest rates in the Mozo database right now (as of 18 December 2023):
Lowest fixed rate, unsecured loan: Harmoney’s Unsecured Personal Loan from 5.76% p.a. (6.55% p.a. comparison rate*).
Lowest variable rate, unsecured loan: Community First Bank’s Home Improvement Loan - rates from 5.54% p.a. (6.53% p.a. comparison rate*) for home renovations.
Lowest fixed rate, secured loan: Commonwealth Bank Secured Personal Loan from 5.99% p.a. (7.41% p.a. comparison rate*).
Lowest variable rate, secured loan: Illawarra Credit Union’s Online Personal Loan Package from 6.00% p.a. (6.64% p.a. comparison rate*).
Lowest rate green loan: Community First Bank’s Green Loan from 5.54% p.a. (6.53% p.a. comparison rate*) and Bendigo Bank’s Green Personal Loan from 5.49% p.a. (5.84% p.a. comparison rate*).
To see some of our Mozo Experts Choice Award-winning and editor’s choice personal loans, check out our best personal loans page. Otherwise, you can head to our personal loan interest rates page to find out more about personal loan interest rates right now.
There are several different types of personal loans, and the type of loan you choose will depend on your current financial situation. Let’s break down some of the different loan types to help you determine which one could fit you best.
Secured personal loans:
With a secured loan, you’ll need to put up an asset, like a car or house, against the loan as collateral. This gives the lender assurance that you’ll make your regular repayments - or your assets could be repossessed.
Since they carry less risk, secured personal loans tend to have lower interest rates than their unsecured counterparts.
Unsecured personal loans:
An unsecured loan, on the other hand, does not require you to use an asset as collateral against the loan. Instead, you are assessed solely on your credit score and other criteria.
As unsecured loans are considered more risky for the lender, interest rates on unsecured loans tend to be higher. However, not requiring a collateral asset could be a suitable trade-off for a higher interest rate, depending on your financial needs and circumstances.
It’s worth noting that in recent years, many personal loan providers have adopted risk-based pricing, so if you have a good to excellent credit score, you might qualify for a loan with a lower interest rate than someone who doesn’t.
Payday loans
A ‘payday loan’, or ‘small amount loan’, is a smaller loan that people use a bit like an advancement on their pay. Payday loans tend to range from $200 to $2,000, but there are $5,000 payday loans out there.
There is a catch to these loans, though. Payday loans generally need to be paid off quite quickly (usually within 16 days to 1 year) and tend to have super high interest rates.
Before taking out a payday loan, Mozo’s money experts recommend that you contact the National Debt Helpline to discuss your situation.
If you’re looking to apply for a $5,000 loan but are still on the fence, here are some of the pros and cons:
Pros of a $5,000 loan:
Cash boost you might need: Whether it’s for debt consolidation or a holiday, the one obvious advantage of taking out a personal loan is having some extra cash on hand to fund an upcoming expense.
Lower interest rates for better borrowers: If you have a good to excellent credit score, you might qualify for a lower interest rate on your personal loan. The lower your interest rate, the less you’ll pay on your loan over time.
Fast application process: If you have all the required paperwork ready, applying for a personal loan can be a relatively quick process (particularly when done online). Some lenders even offer same-day application decisions, and you could receive your loan in as little as 24 hours.
Build up your credit score: Taking out a loan and making on-time repayments over the course of your loan can help build up a positive credit profile, which could come in handy if you need a larger loan in the future, like a home loan.
Cons of a $5,000 loan:
Additional bill: While the extra cash might be nice, you’ll eventually have to pay it off. Taking out a personal loan means committing to repaying it off over a set term. With a solid budget, this can be manageable – however, it does create an additional financial responsibility.
Higher interest rates for less credit-worthy borrowers: While you might see a loan being advertised with low interest rates, keep in mind that lower rates may only be available to borrowers with a good credit score. If you apply for a loan and your credit score isn’t up to scratch, you could find yourself being offered a higher interest rate than anticipated, making the loan more expensive over the long term. Only commit to a loan if you’re certain you’ll be able to make the repayments.
Potential credit damage: Every time you miss a payment or even just apply for a loan, this is all recorded on your credit report, which could impact your credit score. Keeping a clean credit history is essential if you want to borrow in the future. So, before you apply for a personal loan, first, make sure you crunch the numbers and have a solid budget and plan in place for how you’ll make your repayments.
Not sure whether a personal loan is the right finance option for you? Here are some other alternatives to taking out a $5,000 loan that might be better suited to you:
Taking out a credit card
Like a personal loan, a credit card allows you to make a purchase now and pay it back later (plus interest). While credit cards generally come with much higher interest rates than personal loans, they can also have additional perks like points and interest-free days.
If you want to learn more, read our personal loan versus credit card guide.
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services operate quite similarly to a credit card, but instead of paying off a general balance, you pay off individual purchases in a specific number of instalments, usually interest-free. BNPL credit limits, however, tend to be lower than credit card credit limits, usually around the $200 – $2,000 mark.
To help you find the right personal loan for you, here are some answers to some commonly asked questions about finding the best $5,000 personal loan for your spending goals.
When you start comparing personal loans, you’ll find there are two main types: secured and unsecured. It’s important that you don’t just apply for the first loan you see, as there are big differences between the two, and you’ll need to choose the one that best suits your needs.
Secured loans typically have lower interest rates but require an asset as collateral, whereas unsecured loans usually have higher interest rates but don’t require collateral as security. The loan type you choose will depend on your own financial needs and circumstances.
The amount of interest you’ll pay will depend on a number of factors, like the loan term and the interest rate.
So you know you need a $5,000 personal loan, but do you know what features and fees you should be looking for? So before you start your search for the perfect loan, here are some of the things to keep an eye out for:
The interest rate
This is possibly the first thing you’ll consider when looking for a personal loan and can have a big influence on which loan you apply for.
To give you an idea of how much interest you could be paying over different loan terms, we took our personal loan repayments calculator for a spin. Say for instance you took out a $5,000 personal loan at a rate of 7.99%, over 5 years you’d pay $1,081, while the same loan over three years would only see you pay $640 - a difference of $441.
The comparison rate
You might notice that rates for personal loans often come in twos, the regular interest rate and the comparison rate. The comparison rate factors in not only the interest rate, but fees and other costs you’ll have to pay over your loan. While this can give you an idea of what your loan might actually cost, you should still take it with a grain of salt, as it is still an advertised rate. Your comparison rate will depend on your loan amount and borrowing capacity.
Loan fees
Regardless of if you’re after a $10,000 or $5,000 loan, you’ll likely have to pay a few fees. Two of the most common fees you’ll find with a personal loan are upfront and ongoing fees.
An upfront or application fee is charged at the start of your loan and is usually a one-off payment. These can reach up to $600, so you’ll need to make sure the benefits of the loan outweigh this cost.
Ongoing fees kind of a maintenance fee and are usually either charged on a monthly or annual basis. Other fees you may notice are late payment or discharge fees.
Repayment features
For some added flexibility in your loan, you may also have access to some handy repayment features. Having an extra repayments option attached to your loan can help you cut down on interest and pay off your loan faster. Just keep in mind that lenders may set a limit to how much you can repay and could charge a fee.
Your loan may also come with a redraw facility, where you can redraw your extra repayments to pay for unexpected bills or expenses.
Repayment flexibility
A final thing to mention is that once you start paying your loan off, you’ll often be able to make your repayments on a schedule that suits you best, either on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.
Although a personal loan can be handy, applying with bad credit isn’t always a good idea. Bad credit loans tend to have super high interest rates, that can go up to 48% and charges hefty fees. Plus, not only does your application have a higher chance of rejection, if you are rejected, it will go onto your credit history.
Want to know how much your repayments might be? Check out our personal loan repayments calculator.
Having a poor credit history does not mean you’ve hit a dead end, as you are able to repair it. Some of the ways you can work towards improving your bad credit history before applying for a $5,000 loan include:
Yes, there are some options. If you do apply for a no credit check personal loan, it means that your lender will not request your credit report from any credit bureau to check your borrowing capacity. The lender will check your bank statements and will look at your income and expenses. This is to determine if you can afford to repay the loan.
But just like applying with bad credit, this is highly risky to do because of the high interest rates and fees involved and remember, your application will appear on your credit file, regardless of if you are approved or rejected.
If you are thinking of applying for a $5,000 personal loan, depending on the lender, you may find that there are some eligibility requirements, like:
When you find the right loan and are ready to apply, you’ll need to provide your lender with some info and a few documents in your application to determine your reliability as a borrower and borrowing capacity, including:
If you are looking for a loan of a different amount, check out $10000 personal loans or even $50000 personal loans.
I have been with the Credit Union for 26 years, and have always had a great experience when it came to lending.
Read full reviewI have been with the Credit Union for 26 years, and have always had a great experience when it came to lending.
Really approachable and easy to get quotes, would recommend doing broader research and making sure it's right for you, customer service was the only limiting factor.
Read full reviewReally approachable and easy to get quotes, would recommend doing broader research and making sure it's right for you, customer service was the only limiting factor.
I love my WESPAC bank
Read full reviewI love my WESPAC bank
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