The term is the number you control
At the same lender and the same APR, stretching $10,000 from 36 to 60 months cuts Discover's best-case payment from $308.73 to $197.96 and lifts the total from $11,114 to $11,878 (checked 2026-08-25). The lender sets the rate; you pick the term.
Why is the term the one number you decide?
Because the other two numbers on a loan page are set by the lender after you apply. The APR is chosen from a published range, and the origination fee, where one exists, is chosen from a published range too. The term is the one input you select from a menu, and it is the one that moves the payment most.
The provider list shows every lender's published term menu. Discover offers 36 to 84 months, SoFi 24 to 84, and Tesco Bank 12 to 120 (checked 2026-08-25). The article APR, fee, and term explains how a range becomes a payment; this one holds the lender and the rate still and changes only the months.
What happens at one US lender when 36 becomes 60?
The payment drops by about a third and the total rises by more than $700. At Discover's published floor of 6.99% APR on $10,000, the 36-month schedule is $308.73 a month and the 60-month schedule is $197.96 a month (checked 2026-08-25).
The longer term buys $110.77 of room in each month and charges $763.78 for it over the life of the loan. Discover's page publishes the rate and the term menu but not the total, which is why what a personal loan costs walks through the formula.
How do four US lenders compare at both terms?
They move together, and the gap between terms is bigger than the gap between lenders. The table holds each lender at its own published floor for $10,000. Every row is a best case at the lowest rate the lender publishes (checked 2026-08-25).
| Lender (best case) | 36-month payment | 36-month total | 60-month payment | 60-month total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happen (5.96%) | $304.04 | $10,945 | $193.14 | $11,589 |
| Discover (6.99%) | $308.73 | $11,114 | $197.96 | $11,878 |
| LightStream (7.24%, with AutoPay) | $309.87 | $11,155 | $199.15 | $11,949 |
| Citi (9.99%, with autopay) | $322.62 | $11,615 | $212.42 | $12,745 |
^ $10,000 at each lender's lowest published APR, no origination fee in the best case; computed from the lenders' rates pages, Happen is LendingClub's new name (checked 2026-08-25).
Read the table two ways. Down a column, the lowest and highest 36-month totals are $669 apart. Across a row, Discover's own 60-month total sits $764 above its 36-month total (checked 2026-08-25).
For these four lenders, switching from the cheapest to the dearest floor costs less than switching Discover from 36 to 60 months. That is the sense in which the term is the number that matters. It is also why the site publishes a separate best-case list for $10,000 over 60 months rather than folding both terms into one ranking. The calculator lets you set any amount, rate, and term in the published menu and see both figures.
Does the same shape hold in the UK?
Yes, and two lenders' own pages confirm the 60-month figures. Tesco Bank publishes a representative example of £10,000 over 5 years at 6.4% APR: £194.35 a month and £11,661.00 in total. Nationwide publishes £10,000 over 60 months at 5.9%: £192.15 a month and £11,529.00 in total (checked 2026-08-25). The site's formula reproduces both, which is the check figure for every UK row.
| Lender (representative APR) | 36-month payment | 36-month total | 60-month payment | 60-month total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationwide (5.9%) | £303.07 | £10,911 | £192.15 | £11,529 |
| Tesco Bank (6.4%) | £305.22 | £10,988 | £194.35 | £11,661 |
| HSBC UK (6.5%) | £305.64 | £11,003 | £194.79 | £11,688 |
^ £10,000 at each lender's representative APR, no origination fee published; computed from the lenders' rates pages with the UK effective-rate convention (checked 2026-08-25).
The UK pattern is the same as the US one. Tesco Bank's 60-month total is £673 above its 36-month total, while the spread across the three lenders at 36 months is £93 (checked 2026-08-25).
One caution belongs here. A UK representative APR is the rate at least 51% of accepted customers are expected to receive, so a reader can land above it. The representative-APR article on this site covers that difference; the 60-month UK ranking is on the best-case list for £10,000 over 60 months.
Does the extra cost grow at a higher rate?
Yes, and by more than the rate rises. The tables above sit at the floor of each range. At the ceiling, the same 24 extra months cost far more, because every month of the longer term carries the higher rate.
| Lender (worst case) | 36-month total | 60-month total | Extra for 60 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discover (24.99%) | $14,312 | $17,607 | $3,296 |
| Citi (17.49%, with autopay) | $12,923 | $15,070 | $2,147 |
| Upstart (35.99%) | $16,487 | $21,676 | $5,189 |
^ $10,000 at each lender's highest published APR; Discover and Citi publish no origination fee, and Upstart's page does not state one; computed from the lenders' rates pages (checked 2026-08-25).
At Discover's floor the longer term adds $764. At Discover's ceiling it adds $3,296, more than four times as much, on the same $10,000 (checked 2026-08-25). The monthly relief is larger too: $397.55 falls to $293.45 at the ceiling. The point is that the price of the longer term is not fixed. It scales with where you land in the range, and the lender decides that after you apply.
Does the fee change with the term?
No. An origination fee is a percentage of the amount borrowed, taken once. SoFi publishes an origination fee of 0% to 7%, deducted from the loan proceeds. In the site's worst case for $10,000 at SoFi, the amount signed for is $10,753 whether the term is 36 or 60 months (checked 2026-08-25).
What the term changes is how many months that larger balance carries interest. SoFi's worst-case 36-month total is $16,385 and its worst-case 60-month total is $21,483 (checked 2026-08-25). The fee is the same in both. The difference is 24 more months of interest at 35.49% on a balance that started $753 higher than the cash received.
Why does the payment matter less than it looks?
Because a payment is a monthly figure and the total is the price. A loan page presents the payment because it is the number that fits a budget, and a longer term always makes it smaller. The same page rarely prints the total, and the total is the only figure that moves in one direction as the term lengthens.
I built the site around the total for that reason. Every lender page states the payment and the total at both ends of the published range, for 36 and 60 months. It also states the amount signed for once a fee is counted. When two lenders are close on the total, the article how to choose between two lenders shows how to read the gap at both ends first.
Where the answer changes
- If the lender's term menu does not include 36 or 60, the figures above do not apply. Upstart publishes 36 to 60 months only, and Citi publishes 12 to 60; the menu is on the provider list (checked 2026-08-25).
- If your rate lands near the ceiling rather than the floor, the extra cost of 60 months is a multiple of the best-case figure. Discover's extra rises from $764 to $3,296 between its two published ends (checked 2026-08-25).
- If the two totals you are comparing differ by less than the gap between terms at one lender, do not decide yet; the four US floors above are $669 apart at 36 months, while Discover alone moves $764 between terms (checked 2026-08-25). The term choice is doing more work than the lender choice.
Who this article is not for
This article does not help a reader who has already been quoted a rate and a term by a lender. That quote replaces every figure here, and the only useful step is to multiply the quoted payment by the quoted months and compare the result with the cash received. It also does not help with terms outside 36 and 60 months, since the site publishes only those two.
Sources
- Discover personal loans page, https://www.discover.com/personal-loans/, checked 2026-08-25
- Happen personal loan page (formerly LendingClub), https://www.happen.com/personal-loan, checked 2026-08-25
- LightStream personal loans page, https://www.lightstream.com/personal-loans, checked 2026-08-25
- Citi personal loans page, https://www.citi.com/personal-loans, checked 2026-08-25
- Upstart personal loans page, https://www.upstart.com/personal-loans, checked 2026-08-25
- SoFi personal loans page, https://www.sofi.com/personal-loans/, checked 2026-08-25
- Tesco Bank loans page, https://www.tescobank.com/loans/, checked 2026-08-25
- Nationwide loan rates page, https://www.nationwide.co.uk/loans/loan-rates, checked 2026-08-25
- HSBC UK personal loans page, https://www.hsbc.co.uk/loans/products/personal/, checked 2026-08-25
- FCA Handbook CONC 3.5, representative APR, https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/CONC/3/5.html, checked 2026-08-25
How this article was made. Written by Kaz, an independent publisher. All figures come from the companies' own published documentation or regulator publications; each figure carries the date it was last checked. I have not borrowed from these lenders, nothing here is a personal test result, and nothing here is financial advice. The arithmetic is shown so you can recalculate with your own numbers. Found an error? Use the contact form; corrections are logged on the Editorial policy page.
Related articles
- APR, fee, and term: the three numbers behind the payment
- What a loan marketplace is paid for
- What the headline APR leaves out
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.