NEW YORK (MainStreet) – Going against the tide of rising fees, one bank took a look at the hard work our armed forces are doing overseas and came up with a nice “thank you” present  - unsecured personal loans of up to $10,000.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Pioneer Services Bank will use its own credit evaluation formula, which takes into consideration the key factors military personnel face so that even soldiers (active duty military personnel and retirees) with weak credit scores can get in on the action.

It’s about time, too. U.S. military personnel are no more of a credit risk than the rest of the population, and may even be less risky.

New recruits make an average annual salary of $37,637 according to ArmyPayScale.com, compared to $34,747, the average annual salary of a new college graduate with a liberal arts degree in 2010, as pegged by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Given that the average age of a military recruit is 19, according to ArmyPayScale, that’s a good investment.

With an installment loan you repay the debt over a specific term with set monthly payments that don't change. The details:

•    Loan amounts from $500 - $10,000
•    Up to 36-month terms
•    Available to all ranks and branches
•    Competitive interest rates
•    No collateral required
•    No hidden fees

The point about competitive interest rates may be a bit of a stretch, though. Many of the bank’s military-specific loans, such as bereavement loans, housing assistance loans and disaster relief loans offer an APR of 9.95% right now. That may well be “competitive” by general personal loan standards, but rates are all over the map these days, with some banks coming in with deals at 7%-8% interest, or some, like Citibank (Stock Quote: C) charging rates of 10.49% and higher, depending on your credit score.
Pioneer says it won’t rely strictly on FICO credit scores to approve the loans since it will use its own scoring model. To qualify for the loan, you must be full-time active-duty U.S. military, 20 year career-retired U.S. military, or Department of Defense GS-6 or above. Of course, you’ll need to provide a military I.D. to get the loan.

You can apply for the loan on Pioneer's website.

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