Do I have to pay the full “total cost” of the loan shown in my loan offer even if I make early payments?

No. You can reduce your total cost by making early payments! This is a benefit we hope our borrowers take advantage of. When you apply for a loan, we show you as many details as we can upfront. One of those details is the total cost of the loan, which is the total amount you’ll pay over the scheduled lifetime of the loan. Our calculation of the total cost assumes that you will pay off your loan by making monthly on-time minimum payments for your entire loan term, which is either 36 or 60 months. The total cost includes (1) the origination fee of 5% of your loan amount, (2) the loan amount, and (3) the interest accrued over the lifetime of the loan. Ascent’s Short Term Loan offers 12-month and 24-month loan terms.

With our loans, you can make early payments or fully pay off your loan at any time with no prepayment fees. Many of our borrowers graduate from their programs, land jobs, and pay off their loans early! This is a financially smart move, because if you make early payments, you’ll accrue less interest over the lifetime of your loan. In summary – we don’t hold you to the total cost you see in your loan offers. If you make early payments, you can reduce the interest you accrue, which reduces your loan’s total cost!