What is a personal loan?
A personal loan is an unsecured loan you can use for any purpose, renovations, holidays, unexpected expenses or consolidating other debts. The amount and term depend on your income.
On Kreditano you compare offers from several banks and non-bank lenders (IFN) in one place, see the APR and estimated monthly payment, then apply directly with the chosen lender: for free.
- ✓Amounts from 1,000 to 120,000 lei
- ✓Terms from 6 to 60 months
- ✓No collateral or guarantors in most cases
- ✓Comparing doesn't affect your Credit Bureau score
What you can use a personal loan for
Unlike a car loan or mortgage, a personal loan has no fixed purpose — the lender does not ask for receipts or proof of how you spent the money. In practice, four reasons dominate at bank counters: home renovation (typically 20,000 to 80,000 lei), consolidating other more expensive debts (revolving cards, active IFN loans), medical or dental expenses not covered by insurance, and family events (wedding, school, holiday).
This type of loan almost always works without collateral and without a down payment: no mortgage on a property, no assignment of future income, and in most cases no guarantor. The bank assesses your repayment capacity based on monthly net income and your Credit Bureau history. The trade-off: a higher interest rate than secured loans, because the lender carries more risk.
Before applying, calculate your debt-to-income ratio — current monthly payments plus the new one, divided by net income. Above 40%, the application is very likely to be refused, per NBR Regulation 17/2012. And a detail many forget: you can repay early, partially or in full, at any time, with no fee on variable rates and a legally capped fee on fixed rates.
How Kreditano compares loan offers
All offers on Kreditano are sorted by ascending APR by default — the cheapest offer appears first. According to the National Bank of Romania, this is the fairest way to compare two loans, because APR includes not just the nominal interest rate but all mandatory fees: origination fee, monthly admin fee, mandatory insurance costs, and other recurring charges.
Two lenders with the same 9% nominal rate can have very different total costs because of these fees. On Kreditano you see APR alongside the estimated monthly payment for your chosen amount and term, plus the total cost — how many lei you pay in total by the end of the loan. In practice, total cost is the most relevant indicator when deciding between two similar offers.
No lender can pay to appear higher in the list. The displayed order is algorithmic (lowest APR first) and identical for every visitor. The only exception is when we explicitly tag an offer as "sponsored" or "partnership" — in that case the label appears visibly above the card.
How an application affects your Credit Bureau score
Simply comparing offers on Kreditano leaves no mark at the Credit Bureau. There is no inquiry, no score change. Your data is not transmitted anywhere at this stage.
A Credit Bureau inquiry only happens when you actually apply with a lender — that is, when you fill out the application form of the chosen bank or non-bank lender. This is a "hard inquiry" with a slight, temporary impact (usually minus a few points for a few months). If you apply for multiple loans within a short window (14–30 days, depending on the lender), the Credit Bureau may treat them as a single inquiry for the same loan type — by design, to encourage comparison.
Payment history matters most. Paying installments on time raises your score monthly; a single delay over 30 days drops your score significantly and stays on file for years. Before applying for a new loan, make sure you have no active delays and that your debt-to-income ratio doesn't exceed 40% (the National Bank of Romania's regulated maximum for most lei-denominated loans).