You do get some advantages when you decide to apply for a small personal loan online instead of going to a regular bank or financial institution’s office or local branch. By the way I am not saying you should stop going to your banks for loan applications and do everything online. There are always advantages and disadvantages of everything. It’s just that with the Internet you are able to carry out things a lot faster.
With that said, when you apply for loans using the Internet, you get to pre-qualify for the loan almost instantly which let’s you know whether the loan will be approved or not. Also, using the Internet to apply for small personal loans saves you a lot of time in the process. This is obvious, right? Using the Internet for loan applications allows you the opportunity to compare various lenders within minutes so that you can make up your mind quickly as to which lender you want to make your application with.
You may still be required to send your documents through the mail after the loan has been approved online. However, this is way better than the traditional way of doing loan applications. Here are 5 points you should take with you when applying for a small loan online.
1. Select the best offer by comparing different lenders. Using loan comparison websites, review lenders based on interest rates, amount of loan offered, repayment terms and fees. There are also other lenders who do not give loans to applicants from some states or regions so bear that in mind.
2. After you have selected a lender who offer acceptable terms you are comfortable with, fill out the pre-qualification forms from their website. They usually ask you for your full name, where you live and how long you have lived there, annual income, employment details and personal assets such as a home, if you have one. Some lenders will ask you for references and the reasons why you need the loan so have those ready just in case.
3. With a small personal loan application made via the Internet, you might get an instant response through your email address. However, before the loan is finally granted, the lender would need to verify that the information you supplied on the form is true and correct. They may contact your employer and references you provided to cross-check with them.
4. The lender may need some documentation from you. These may include 3 months bank statement and a copy of your driver’s licence. If you are self-employed, you may have to send your tax returns. You can send these through the mail, fax them or visit a local branch to give these documents.
5. Once they receive real copies of the documents, because the small personal loan has already been approved online, you will receive the paperwork (contract) with the terms and conditions of the loan from the lender.
When you get the paperwork, it is important and to your own advantage to read and understand the terms of the loan before you finally sign and send it back to the bank. If there is something you do not understand or are not comfortable with, don’t ignore it. Get back to them for clarification.
Many people have followed these steps to get small personal loans online, at very affordable rates and they will help you too if you use them when creating your applications.