Can I make extra payments on my personal loan?

How extra payments are applied matters. The standard treatment is principal reduction, which immediately shrinks your loan balance and reduces all future interest accrual. Some lenders default to applying extras as 'pre-payments' against next month's payment instead, which doesn't reduce interest paid. Confirm by reading the loan agreement or asking the servicer.

The cleanest workflow: make your regular payment on the due date, then make extra principal payments separately (most servicer portals have a 'principal-only' payment option). This guarantees the extra dollars reduce balance and total interest.