Formerly known as CitiFinancial, OneMain Financial has been consolidating debt for over 100 years and have worked with thousands of Americans in that time. They offer personal loans, which can then be used to clear debts, but while this is a good idea on the surface, it's not quite what you would expect and there are a lot of issues here that we need to point out.

As you would expect for a company that receives one of our worst ratings, there are a number of faults with regards to how OneMain Financial operates and if you're one of the many people considering signing up for their services, make sure you read this guide first.

About OneMain Financial

OneMain Financial is an online provider that specializes in personal loans to help people get rid of the debt accumulated from credit cards, loans, and pretty much everything else. They offer personal loans for home improvements, unexpected expenses, life events, and for debt consolidation, which seems to be the main reason that people signup for their services.

It is important to know that OneMain Financial does not offer a debt consolidation program nor do they offer a debt management plan. The only service offered at OneMain Financial is consolidation loans that help customers consolidate all of their debt into one new personal loan.

In some instances, customers are able to substantially lower their interest rates. On the plus side, OneMain Finance offers a variety of free educational resources like quizzes, articles, and calculators, among other things.

Basic Information

  • Address: 601 NW Second St., Evansville, IN 47708
  • Web Address:
  • Date of Founding: 1912
  • Contact Number:(812) 424-8031
  • BBB Accredited? Yes, since 1985.

The Company

OneMain Financial is huge. Let's get that out there straight away. It may come across as a smaller company in places, but make no mistake about it, these guys are big. They claim to have helped over $10 million customers nationwide, they have thousands of locations and they have over 10,000 employees.

We have reviewed big companies in the past, including GreenPath Financial Wellness, but few have come close to OneMain Financial and that's impressive. However, that's about where the pluses end, because it all goes downhill after that.

They were founded in 1912, but they underwent a big transformation in 2011. So much so, in fact, that many review sites claim they were founded in 2011. Just to be clear, they were not, and their history dates back much further, but the modern company is completely different to the one that launched and to the one that existed a few decades ago.

OneMain Financial Reviews

The Services

OneMain Financial is a personal loan provider. You come to these guys if you want a quick and easy loan that you can then use to clear your debts. If you have a lot of debt with many different companies then we would not recommend them ahead of a debt management company, but if you have debt that doesn't quite pass the threshold required by a lot of debt management companies, or if that debt is with one lender, then they might be the best option.

You can borrow anywhere from $1,500 to $30,000 with varied interest rates that can go as high as 35.99%. In most cases you will pay a lot less than this, but the amount you pay will still be higher than what you would get with a debt management company, and that's one of the reasons we struggle to recommend OneMain Financial in their place.

The Employees

As mentioned above, OneMain Financial hire over 10,000 employees–a vast umber of people that work in over 1,500 locations across 44 states. This is a huge company, and as you would expect for a company this big, it's not uncommon to find disgruntled former employees and to hear complaints that will shock you.

However, on the whole those employees report pleasant experiences, with most complaints relating to the things that you would expect, such as overly bossy managerial staff and low pay.

The Reviews

There are not many good reviews out there for OneMain Financial, but this is a personal loan company that targets people who are down on their luck, so it is to be expected. They may come across as being friendly and helpful, ensuring you have an option when it seems like you're dead on your feet, but if you fail to meet repayments then that friendly attitude goes out of the window and they become as ruthless as everyone else.

It's their right to be. You have their money after all. But this is also where a lot of the bad reviews come from, with customers complaining that they weren't given a second chance (and some complaining about not being given a third or fourth chance).

So while there are a lot of bad reviews, we feel it would be unfair to judge them purely on that. That's why we asked our own team of researchers and reviewers to take a look and see what they could find.

OneMain Financial Review

OneMain Financial is not one of our preferred providers. We don't always agree with the practices offered by personal loan providers and in the past we have called out Best Egg and several other loan companies for practices that we have issues with. There are those that we have rated highly, including Self Lender (see review here) but OneMain Financial is not one of them.

To learn more, read our OneMain Financial review below.

OneMain Financial Review

The Good

  • Free consultation
  • No tight restrictions on loans for consolidation

Free consultation

If you are struggling with your debt and you would like to be informed about what kind of options you have, you can call OneMain Financial for a free consultation with a debt specialist.

The counselor will go over any plans that fit your circumstances and determine if this is the right option for you. As is the case with most companies offering this kind of service and this free introduction, they are always going to sway you to their debt management plans. It's a given, but that doesn't mean that the advice they provide won't be helpful and that they won't be honest in their approach.

All Inclusive Consolidation Loans

This is actually quite a substantial positive. It's not enough to change our overall review of OneMain Financial, as you will find out, but it's worth pointing out nonetheless.

Basically, the loans offered by OneMain Financial are tailored to most customers. You should not be turned away for bad credit, because according to the company they don't have a minimum credit score requirement; you won't be turned away if you are heavily in debt, because that pretty much accounts for all of their customers.

It's not as easy as clicking a few buttons and then watching $30,000 drop in your bank account, and there will be some collateral and some other checks, but it shouldn't matter if you have bad credit.

The Bad

  • Lacking educational resources
  • Loans in place of consolidation
  • Lacking transparency in key areas

Lack of Educational Resources

Although OneMain provides debt consolidation and personal loans, it appears that their services stop at that. The company does not provide credit counseling to help educate consumers of the downside and upside of debt consolidation, nor do they offer informative articles on the subject. The type of articles you will find on their site will be general information that can be obtained from anywhere like a bank or credit union.

Loans in Place of Consolidation

The company’s main service is personal loans, and although they do offer consolidation loans, these are very much different than an actual consolidation service. Most consolidation companies will combine all of your credit card debt into one monthly payment with a lower interest rate.

Lack of Transparency

The company does not disclose much information such as, even though their customers have this information listed openly on their sites. This makes it difficult for a customer to make an informed decision and to discover if OneMain Financial is a good fit for them. It also makes our job that little bit harder when it comes to ranking them.

Poor Customer Reviews

OneMain Financial reviews are mostly negative. One underlying theme we see is that their consolidation loan requires collateral and that it doesn't even get them to a most affordable interest rate.

Many customers also report feeling frustrated with the poor level of customer service. This is something we have seen with other companies in this sector and it is not uncommon, but it's not a welcome sight either.


The Bottom Line

We can safely say that the cons outweigh the pros where this personal loan provider is concerned. OneMain Financial is a large corporation that does business more like a bank than a personal loan provider who has the customer’s best interest at heart.

They don't offer credit counseling, and their lack of transparency with interest rates and fees leave a lot to be desired. Overall, we recommend taking a look at our top recommended companies for consolidation and counseling needs and giving this one a miss. Some of the better rated companies on this site include Freedom Debt Management and Navicore Solutions.