Personal Loans: How to apply online? | Get Quotes

Get personal loans quickly, easily and online. Calculate fees, compare the best providers and get the amount of money you are looking for. Here you will learn how to use an online loan calculator to borrow money quickly.

We'll talk about the different loan amounts you may qualify for and the best options on the market. Likewise, we will show you the main requirements to access personal loans and the most known problems.

What is a personal loan?

A personal loan is a contract between a financial institution and a natural person, in which the former lends the latter a certain amount of money. The person acquires the obligation to return the amount, with the interest set and agreed by both, including expenses incurred to carry out the operation.

This loan usually have a certain maximum amount, which will depend on the institution in which you request it. This type of credit is linked to a higher interest rate. And, almost always, they are intended for consumption.

When you apply for a personal loan, one of the first things you should consider, in addition to the interest rate, is the payment term, which is always agreed upon before it is granted.

Characteristics of personal loans

Personal loans present a series of their own characteristics that you should know.

• They are normally used to acquire a consumer good or service.
• They can be useful to cover an emergency (eg a debt or medical expense)
• They do not require a guarantee. It is answered with its own assets.
• They generally do not require a guarantee.
• Depending on where it is requested, it may or may not require having a bank account.
• Normally they are low amounts of money due to their high payment risk.
• In general, they do not have a cost of granting.
• The procedures are usually simpler compared to other types of loans.
• They can be requested online.

How to apply for personal loans?

Applying for a personal loan at Quotes Advisor is easy, fast and you can do it online. What you must do is indicate the amount of money you need and the payment period in which you want to return it in our quote. Once this is done, we will provide you with a complete list with the best options at the moment and we will indicate the approximate amount of fee that you must pay.

How to get a personal loan with a good interest rate?

As you may be well aware, personal loans interest rates are set on the basis of different factors. Your salary and your credit history will play a great part in how low or high is the interest rate a lender can offer you. If, after evaluating your information, the credit lending provider concludes that you represent a low risk, then you will get a better rate. However, there is one thing you should consider to get the lowest interest rest possible: more months you take to pay back your loan the higher the interest rate.

How do I know if I qualify for a specific loan amount in South Africa?

Usually, to be eligible to request for personal loans, you need to be under permanent employment and many banks even ask you to earn a minimum amount each month to ask for their loans. This factors will mainly affect the amount you qualify for to borrow.

What are personal loans for? Examples

A personal loan is a way of acquiring money that will allow you to cover an economic need, for example, to acquire a good or service. Normally they are used to buy a vehicle/house, pay for studies, vacations or services. Given the case, they are also a good option if you need to pay a debt urgently or when you have a medical need but do not have the necessary money to cover it.

Applying for a loan is not something you should do lightly. Before doing so, you should consider the reasons why you are going to take this debt and know if you are in a position to do so. This is why it is always necessary to be informed about all the conditions and requirements to find the credit that fits you perfectly.

Recomendation: Always consider what situation you are in when taking a loan. You take into account the reason why you are going to request it and then the way in which you are going to pay it to see if it is within your possibilities.

What should you know before applying for a personal loan?

There are some important terms that you should know before requesting or applying for a personal loan, these are:

1. Principal: It is the amount of money that you borrow from the entity. For example. If you request a personal loan of $2.000, the principal is that value.
2. Interest: It is the charge that the entity that acts as a lender will include for granting you the money and returning it after a certain time.
3. Annual Percentage Rate (APR): Fee charged by the entity when making the loan, apart from the interest rate.
4. Term: The number of months in which you will return the money.

Type of loans in South Africa

There are different types of loans that can help you at different stages of your life and choosing the right one is of great importance. As we already mentioned, first take the time, research the different options, the benefits and the requirements of each one to choose the one that best suits your needs. Now we will let you know the different options that are in the South African market.

• Personal Loans: can be short or long payment period. In the short term they are excellent if you need a small amount of money to cover a debt or inject money into your capital, while in the long term they are good for investments such as the acquisition of a high-value asset.
• Fixed rate loan: the advantage of these is that the interest rate will not vary throughout the payment period. They are good to know the fixed amount that you will pay throughout the time of repayment of the loan.
• Payday loans: they are short-term loans, usually 28 days. They usually have high interest rates and if you do not make the payment on time they can have an even higher rate.
• Commercial loan: credits that are acquired in the name of a company, and are a good way to finance the opening of a new business.
• Vehicle loan: as its name suggests, they are optimal for financing the purchase of a vehicle.
• Mortgage loans: these credits are adapted to the needs of people. There are many options available.
• Pensioners loans: They are credits granted to retirees where pension payments are used as collateral.

How should I compare personal loan quotes?

If you are the kind of person who carefully investigates all the loan options available before making a decision, these 3 tips might help you out to look for in a comparison of loan quotes in South Africa.

There are three main aspects that you should have in mind to compare the personal loan quotes you got and choose the cheapest and safest one:

1. Is the loan secured or unsecured? Secured loans are the ones that require you to provide an asset as guarantee, for example, a car or a piece of jewelry. Conversely, unsecured loans are not protected by any item. Thus, if you take out a secured loan and fail to repay the loan, whatever asset you provided as guarantee will be used to procure payment.
2. How much can I borrow? Before you start your loan search, think about the amount of money you will need to borrow. This will help you narrow down your search, since not all providers offer the same maximums.
3. How quickly is the loan approved? Another factor which might determine the decision is how fast you need the loan. Traditional banking institutions tend to ask for stricter requirements, and, thus, they might take a little longer to approve your loan. If you want the money now, you can consider online lending companies that usually process the information much faster.

Why should you use a personal loan calculator?

A loan repayment calculator is a tool that lets you estimate the amount of money you will have to pay each month to repay your loan. We talk about “estimation” since, as we talked above, the loan will vary according to the interest rate you are eligible to. However, having an idea of what the installment amount will be will help you:

1. Evaluate if you will be able to pay that amount each month
2. Plan ahead and set a budget to avoid being overwhelmed by your expenses

We’re nearly at the end of our article. Before we go, let us congratulate you for taking the time and the trouble of investigating your options further. If you read through this article is because you want to find the best personal loans in South Africa without taking unnecessary risks. You are willing to use an online loan calculator to plan ahead and avoid ugly surprises: you go the extra mile. And that’s why we’re here for; to help you out in this important decision. We talked about the loans you can find, the amounts you can request, and how to use loan calculators to make a more informed choice.

Author: Agustin Scerbo

Updated: 03/06/2023