What Are Online Loans and How to Find the Best One?
With the rise of the Internet, a lot of daily tasks became much easier. We can chat with people that live in other corners of the world, buy products and services without leaving home, study, play, and basically, live online. Quick cash loans now are also available online.
Earlier, people in need had only three options:
- contact a bank or a large offline lending group,
- borrow from close ones
- go underground and deal with illegal firms.
That was inconvenient, unprofitable, disruptive, and even dangerous, sometimes…
modern borrowers face other questions. For example, how to find the best personal loan lenders? Let’s answer it
Luckily, nowadays, customers can discover personal loans without any risk. It’s enough to open Google and type something like «best online payday loans» to find popular companies with dozens of offerings. It’s still possible to cooperate with banks, governmental teams, and private lenders.
But modern borrowers face other questions. For example, how to find the best personal loan lenders? Let’s answer it.
Table of Contents What Are Online Loans?
Online Loans in a Nutshell
Firstly, we want to agree on basic terms and other key points. Without a clear vision on the concept of online loans, you barely can answer which lender is the best one, obviously. We will provide information about this form of borrowing, businesses involved, and options for clients.
An online loan doesn’t differ too much from traditional alternatives. The main advantage is that borrowers can find offers, compare them, submit applications, get approvals or refuses, and receive money online only! Means, you don’t have to visit offices to get the best personal loans.
In this case, you should be aware of two main online loan categories:
- Traditional online loans. Feature familiar conditions, including interest rates, amounts, terms, and credit checks.
- Paperless loans. Come without interest rates but with fees. Rarely check credit histories because getting the data are taken from online bases.
Further, we will focus on the first point only.
See also: 11 Best Alternatives to a Payday Loan
Good and Bad Types of Online Loans
There are a few classifications, generally. For example, you can find different loan terms so the types will be like a short-term offer for 7-60 days or, say, a long-term one with the repayment plan up to 20 years. As well, loans may come with different amounts, interest rates, collateral requirements, and so on.
Oh, and also don’t forget about types of loan companies. You can find private groups such as banks or direct payday loan lenders, governmental teams like SSS or Pag-IBIG, and peer-to-peer networks where common people lend and borrow money. We will cover different companies later.
However, we want to unveil a few types based on purpose. To get the idea, you will need to move through acceptable reasons for taking a loan and really undesired ones.
Good
- Business: startups, new equipment, expansion.
- Education: college, workshops, summer classes.
- Smart reloans: restructure debts to pay less in the future.
- Urgent needs: when you’re starving or may become homeless.
- Vehicles: only if you really need them, e.g. for work.
Bad
- Entertainment: vacation, games, movies.
- Expensive purchases: cars and gadgets without need.
- Plastic surgery: unless it’s required for medical reasons, too.
- Quitting a job: extra money to abandon the main income source.
- Unprofitable reloans: if they don’t help to save on current ones.
Pros and Cons
Moving to other important features of online loans, we can’t miss the comparison of advantages and drawbacks. We will compare these offerings with the traditional land-based analogs. Also, note that the article is dedicated to personal loans for citizens of the Philippines. Some points may also refer to business offerings and other areas, though.
The importance of understanding positive and negative sides is undeniable to Anne Fargo. She complains: «I heard that online loans are perfect so just found one and applied for it. It was around P10,000. Today, I owe more than P250,000 because of predatory rates. Just do your research, please.».
Advantages
- Extra services. Apart from loans, online lenders can take care of refilling your account regularly or send money to other creditors if you want to consolidate debts. Just be sure that these additional features are free.
- Next-gen requirements. Often, clients look for the best personal loans for bad credit. Online firms don’t focus on this point only as they also may check education or even social media activity. Thus, people with a poor credit score can get money, too.
- Previews of conditions. When dealing with land-based lenders, you have to provide sensitive info prior to getting all the data about your loan. Online, it’s easy to check estimated rates without delivering real documents.
- Quick comparison. Similarly, there are no problems to compare several rates. Using online aggregators, customers get access to dozens of loans from different companies. All you need is to pick the best one.
- Undeniable convenience. Overall, the Internet has made the process of selection and purchasing extremely handy. You can finish all stages using a computer or even a smartphone, without personal visits.
Disadvantages
- Cyber threats. Various phishing sites and scam agencies are lurking online to steal your personal info and, possibly, money. Just send applications to trusted companies only and never provide initial deposits before receiving your loan.
- Large sums, usually. In the Philippines, you will find offerings from P5,000, as a rule. Lower amounts and short terms will feature high-interest rates. Thus, if you need a few hundred only, consider land-based alternatives.
- Loan sharks. Surprisingly, predatory lenders migrated to the web, as well. When you see a company that delivers loans without credit score checks, just ignore it. Loan sharks lend money under extremely high-interest rates and they’re illegal.
- Relatively high costs. Compared to traditional businesses, online companies may feature pretty high rates and prices on other services. The catch is that each lender has its own pricing formula so you should check all the offerings.
- Require Internet connection. Technically, it’s impossible to apply for an online loan without being, well, online. It may be difficult for some Filipino citizens to access websites so land-based options work better for them.
The Step-by-Step Guide to Get an Online Loan
Fine. Hope, you know why is it good to opt for traditional or payday loans online and when you should consider traditional options. Remember that it’s better to face stricter requirements and pay a bit more than to get free money without credit score checks and then end up with giant debt.
Further, we list five essential steps to find the best personal loans for fair credit, compare them, choose the most suitable one, apply for it, and, finally, getting funds. Let’s start!
1. Do Your Due Diligence
The very first thing to complete is research. It’s hardly possible to find good loans without looking for them. Start with Google, then move to comparison resources, ask your friends and other borrowers. Make a list of several trusted and reputable platforms that deliver loans relevant to your wishes.
2. Compare the Chosen Loans
The next step is to compare rates and other conditions. Obviously, opt for the lowest interest rates and, especially, APR or annual percentage rate. It should be lower than 36%. Also, be sure that you will be able to get your application approved and repay the loan on time.
3. Double-Check the Requirements
When you’ve chosen the loan, evaluate it once more. Is the amount acceptable? Will you be able to return money if you lost your job? Overall, do you meet all the requirements like credit score and a stable income? If everything’s OK, move to the next step. Otherwise, find another loan.
4. Submit an Application
This part is similar to almost all online personal loan lenders. It includes three stages:
- Provide basic personal info: name, age, address, phone number, ID.
- Provide sensitive financial info: proofs of income, bank account credentials, etc.
- Upload the requested documents from the previous steps.
As a rule, lenders will deliver your estimated rates after the first or, rarely, the second step. If you can’t find extensive info about the chosen loan, don’t deal with this company.
When the application is ready, send it to the lender. Then, it may return the offer, refuse the request or provide extra checks. Anyway, when the offer is signed, you will receive the money.
5. Get the Money
Congratulations! The majority of online lending firms send funds right after you accept the offer. Sometimes, they want printed, signed, and scanned documents but, usually, they don’t mess with paperwork. No phone calls or signatures needed to get your loan.
Hints on Choosing the Best Online Loan
Before we proceed to the last section, let’s take a quick look at a few suggestions from our experts. There are hundreds of unfair and simply illegal lending teams in the Philippines. But we work with trusted ones only. We guarantee that all our partners are safe and legal entities.
Nevertheless, you may conduct extra research so here are tips on finding only fair companies:
- Moderate to strict requirements. When a lender can allow delivering money to safe customers only, this lender is safe, too.
- Not predatory rates. Loan sharks feature up to 10,000% annual percentage. Don’t exceed 36% if you want to be able to repay.
- Official registration. All loan groups must be licensed in the Securities and Exchange Commission. Non-registered brands are illegal, mainly.
- Professional reputation. When a company is known in the industry, it’s reputable. Banks and governmental groups may provide relevant feedback.
Top-Rated Online Lending Companies
Finally, let’s reveal the best places to get a loan. In the Philippines, there are several lenders divided into three large groups. Choosing among banks, governmental bodies, and P2P platforms, you can find the most suitable option. Here are a few start-points:
These groups are famous and legal so check their packages. Surely, feel free to add more points to this list to expand your search.
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day, you always want to get the best online loans with instant approval, favorable conditions, quick delivery, and so on. But it’s required to understand that perfect deals are impossible. There always will be points to prioritize and some not cool features to accept.
We want to finish with the story of Edwin Dungog from Manila: «I looked for an online loan to invest in the business. Surely, wanted low rates but then thought that it’s better to opt for long repayment. I got a shiny offer for 3 years but had to go through numerous checks.».
That’s it. If you want the best conditions, be ready to provide proofs that you can return the money. Otherwise, agree on higher rates or lower amounts. Anyway, online loans are wonderful because they provide for great choice and flexibility.