The 6% Interest Rate Cap
Upstart SCRA: Email scrabenefits@upstart.com, 10-Day Response
Part of: The Complete Guide to the SCRA
What Upstart owes you
The cap is retroactive to your first day of active duty, and the excess interest is forgiven rather than deferred. Put your numbers in to see the size of your claim, then generate the letter that asks for it.
Simple-interest estimate on a fixed balance, capped at 6%: the 6% statutory ceiling (50 U.S.C. § 3937). Upstart publishes no lower rate, so 6% is your guaranteed floor. A revolving balance that moved over the period will differ. It sizes the claim; it is not an amortization schedule and not legal advice.
Write the letter to Upstart
Written notice is what starts the clock. Fill these in and the letter below is yours to copy, print, and send with a copy of your orders.
Where to send it: Email or mail only; loan-specific follow-up through Contact Us in your My Account dashboard Upstart states it takes You should receive a response within 10 days of submitting your request.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser. The letter is built on this device.
Upstart is a lending marketplace, not a bank. Its own disclosure reads “Upstart is not the lender. All loans on Upstart’s marketplace are made by regulated financial institutions,” and that detail decides your SCRA rate. Upstart’s help center article on active-duty benefits states that for most borrowers, interest and fees above 6% charged during active duty are refunded to your bank account on file. For loans made by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), the same page states a 0% cap during active duty plus one year after service (verified August 2026).
The route is unusually concrete for an online lender: an email address, a mailing address, and a stated response time of 10 days. Upstart’s own representative example on its personal-loans page is a 23.37% APR, so the arithmetic is not small. A $15,000 five-year loan at 25% opened before you entered service accrues about $3,750 of interest in the first year at the contract rate and about $900 at 6%. Size yours in the savings calculator.
What Upstart’s page states
| Item | Upstart Help Center (August 2026) |
|---|---|
| Rate | Interest and fees above 6% refunded; FNBO-made loans capped at 0%, service plus one year |
| Eligible loans | Accounts opened before active duty; dependents in some cases |
| Documents | Written request plus orders or a commanding officer letter with name, SSN, active duty start date, and branch |
| Verification | DMDC check on every request; benefits applied automatically if DMDC confirms and no documents were sent |
| scrabenefits@upstart.com | |
| Upstart Loan Operations, P.O. Box 1503, San Carlos, CA 94070 | |
| Response time | Within 10 days |
| Deadline | As soon as possible, no later than 180 days after active duty ends |
| Refunds | Overcharge refunded to the bank account on file (FNBO: applied to any balance first) |
The article also lists waived or reduced fees on your loan or Cash Line and protection against repossession of personal property without a court order, which matters if your Upstart loan is an auto loan.
Filing with Upstart
Send Upstart your SCRA request
- Write the request. Upstart prints an example sentence to use: “I am a servicemember (or legal representative) who has been called to active duty. My name and date of birth are provided below. I hereby request the benefits and protections guaranteed under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act for the loan(s) identified below.” The letter generator produces a version that also cites § 3937.
- List every Upstart loan ID, open or paid off, that predates your active-duty start date.
- Attach your orders or a commanding officer letter on letterhead showing your name and Social Security number, active duty start date, and branch. A DMDC certificate is a useful second attachment.
- Email scrabenefits@upstart.com, or mail Upstart Loan Operations, P.O. Box 1503, San Carlos, CA 94070. If a spouse or family member will manage the loan during deployment, include a notarized power of attorney; Upstart asks for it by email or mail.
- Mark the calendar for 10 days. If nothing arrives, call borrower support at 1-855-438-8778 or use Contact Us in your My Account dashboard, and reference the email date.
- Check the next statement for the reduced rate, the lower payment, and the refund to your bank account, and keep the confirmation. If the loan was made by FNBO, confirm 0% and the extra year.
Where Upstart borrowers lose money
Not knowing which bank made the loan. Your loan agreement names the originating institution, and on Upstart’s own page that name changes the benefit from a 6% cap to a 0% cap for FNBO-made loans, plus a year after service. Look at the agreement before you file, and name the bank in the request.
Relying on the DMDC match alone. Upstart’s automatic application is convenient, but the page itself notes DMDC records are generally limited to Title 10 orders. Guard and Reserve members on other orders, and anyone whose status just changed, should send the orders rather than wait. The Guard and Reserve guide explains which orders qualify.
Filing one loan and forgetting the rest. Upstart tells multi-loan borrowers to include every loan ID, and it separately confirms that a paid-off loan can still be refunded if you file within 180 days of leaving service. One email can carry all of them.
Missing the two statutory cutoffs. Upstart’s stated denial reasons are the statute’s own lines: a loan opened during active duty is not covered, and a request after the 180-day window is late. Loans opened during service are a Military Lending Act matter, and Upstart states its Cash Line is not offered to MLA-covered borrowers at all. If a request that meets both cutoffs is refused, the escalation playbook is the next step.
See how Upstart’s terms compare with banks that publish sub-6% programs on the bank leaderboard.
The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3937
Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service: read the statute , or see where it sits in the whole Act .
Frequently asked questions
What does Upstart say the SCRA rate is?
Upstart states that for most borrowers, any interest or fees charged above 6% during active duty will be refunded to your bank account on file, which is the statutory cap. For loans made by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), the same page states the interest rate cap is 0% during active duty plus one year after service ends, with the overpayment applied first to any outstanding balance and then refunded to your bank account (verified August 2026).
Where do I send an Upstart SCRA request?
Email scrabenefits@upstart.com, or mail Upstart Loan Operations, P.O. Box 1503, San Carlos, CA 94070. Include a written request for SCRA relief and a copy of your military orders or a commanding officer letter on official letterhead showing your name and Social Security number, active duty start date, and branch. Upstart says you should receive a response within 10 days. Borrower support is 1-855-438-8778.
Do I have to send orders, or will Upstart check DMDC?
Both work. Upstart runs a DMDC record verification as part of every review, and it states that if you submit a request without documentation, benefits are applied automatically if the DMDC search confirms eligibility. It also warns that DMDC records are generally limited to members serving under Title 10 orders, so Guard and Reserve members on other orders should attach the orders themselves.
Why would Upstart deny an SCRA request?
Upstart lists three reasons: the loan was opened during active duty rather than before it, the request arrived after the 180-day post-service window, or the documentation was insufficient to verify active duty status or dependency. The first two track 50 U.S.C. § 3937 exactly; the third is fixable by resending orders or a DMDC certificate.
I already paid off the loan. Can I still get the overcharge back?
Yes. Upstart states that if you overpaid on a loan while on active duty, you may be eligible for a refund if the request is submitted within 180 days of leaving service. Put the loan ID for the closed loan in the same email as any open loans.
Does the Military Lending Act change anything at Upstart?
Upstart states that its Cash Line (Personal Line of Credit) is not available to borrowers covered by the MLA. Personal loans opened during active duty are MLA territory, not SCRA, and Upstart limits SCRA benefits to loans opened before service.
Sources
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.