Posts tagged: credit

Why you should Fintechs instead of Private Banks for your credit requirements

banking servicePrivate Banks have always been the leaders as far as offering credit products are concerned. This has however, changed in recent times, thanks to the emergence of Fintech companies. Popular surveys have indicated that Fintechs command a larger market share in the lending space, and this has occurred due to a lot of reasons. While we look at these reasons, we’ll go on to determine why Fintechs are a better option than traditional lenders for instant personal loans.

Turnaround time for loans from Fintechs vs turnaround times of banks

The equation is quite simple and straightforward actually. While traditional lenders take at least 7-8 business days to complete the processing and subsequent disbursal of your loan amount, Fintech companies boast ridiculously low turnaround times of 24-48 hours.

Eligibility Parameters – Fintechs vs Traditional Lenders

Traditional lenders generally have stringent eligibility parameters as far as the credit score, income and other parameters are concerned. For starters, applicants need to have a minimum credit score of 750 to qualify for a personal loan with a traditional lender. However, most Fintechs allow individuals with low credit scores to apply for loan, with the more popular ones such as Fintechs requiring scores of as low as 575 to become eligible. As far as the income parameter is concerned, top private banks require applicants to have minimum monthly income levels of at least Rs. 30,000 to qualify, while on the other hand, Fintechs allow for income levels starting at Rs. 20,000 per month.

Processing of application – Fintechs vs Traditional lenders

Fintechs are literally the reason why instant personal loans have evolved. Unlike traditional banks that haven’t shifted completely to paperless and digital processing, Fintechs have made the transition to a digital and paperless application, thereby saving a lot of time and resources. Moreover, applicants can get instant approval when the apply for a loan based on their credit assessment – which is performed by a credit assessment algorithm – allowing them to choose a different lender if they face rejection.

Loan Options Available if You Have Less Than Perfect Credit

loan approvalMost people will encounter a time in their lives where they fall short on cash and need to borrow to cover their expenses. If you have a savings established you simply have to make a quick withdrawal. However, if you have no savings set up for emergencies and your credit is less than perfect you may think that you have no options. Luckily there are lenders willing to loan money to people who have a lower credit score, as well as other options available.

Short Term Loans

When you think of short-term loans, you may think that the only one you will qualify for is a very high-interest payday loan. Thankfully, there are payday loan alternatives. There are online lenders who offer low-monthly installment loans to people with less than perfect credit. And, unlike a payday loan, you have several different repayment options.

Title Loans

If you own your vehicle, there are lenders who are willing to use your car as collateral against a loan. Depending on the Blue Book value, this type of loan can give you access to more money than a short-term loan.

401K

If your company has a 401k plan and you are a contributor, you can borrow up to 50 percent of the vested amount. Since you are borrowing the money from you, the chances for a quick approval are very good. The best part about this type of loan is that while you will pay interest, you pay it back to you.

Pension

While you should never touch a retirement fund. If an emergency arises and you need the cash to prevent losing your home or your vehicle, and the company you work for allows it can give you access to a lot of cash in a lump sum. If you are less than 59.5-years old there is an additional fee of 10 percent plus the 20 percent withheld for the IRS.

Borrowing from Family

If you don’t have a savings account, a 401K or a pension that you can withdraw from, you can see if a family member is willing to give you a loan. If someone in your family does front you a loan, remember to treat it the same as you would any other lender. Come to an agreement before accepting the loan and then stick to it. It’s very easy to put a family member on the back burner and pay other bills first. Make every effort to repay per the terms agreed on and if you should have a rough month contact them and advise them when the next payment will be. This way you’ll stay on good terms should you need their help in the future.

Take on a Part-Time Job

If you find that you are having trouble making ends meet often, you may need to find a way to bring in more money each month. If you have a talent, you can sell items or services to fill in the gap until you reduce your overhead. If not, you may need to consider taking on a second job for a while to get you on your feet.

Hard times can happen to anyone. Maybe you lost your overtime or you have extra expenses like school or medical bills. Whatever the reason, there are many ways to dig out from under and get on an even platform. If your monthly expenses are very high, look at your bills and see where you can make cuts, even for the short-term. For instance, if you have a large cable bill, go to basic service. Also, if you eat out often, reduce it to once a month as a treat, brown bag your lunch for work and use coupons when going food shopping. By pulling in your belt, you will have the money you need to cover your expenses and work towards improving your credit score.

The Pros And Cons Of Your First Credit Card

money cardsYour first credit card is milestone in being able to stand on your own two feet. Not only can you improve your credit score, making mortgages more available to you, you can afford more bills and groceries each week, and you have plenty of backup cash in storage just in case of an emergency. However, we all know it isn’t simply sunshine and roses, so we need to think about the benefits and drawbacks of having a credit card. If you’re a young adult or someone older who never got the chance to before, and you’re just deciding to invest in a card of your own, here’s the biggest things for you to consider.

The Pro: Credit Cards Have Reward Systems

Credit cards, the more you use them, often have rewards for you to use at the end of the week or month. This makes them a lot more useful when it comes to shopping, and provides a little more incentive to use a credit card in a healthy manner. For your first card, looking into the systems each provider offers can require a bit of shopping around (to make sure you can use them for all purchases), so don’t make any decisions based on simple want alone!

The amount of different cards there out there means rewards can vary wildly from person to person. For example, with this in mind, you can get a variety of things on your credit card use, such as cashback for the standard types, or free flights for people using a travelling orientated card. It’s often a good idea to have more than one card in your possession, as being able to handle more than one at a time shows off how versatile and responsible you can be with money. It also means more rewards!

The Con: Debt Can Pile Up

Let’s face it, we can lie to ourselves a lot when it comes to money: ‘I need a new TV’ or ‘A few more dog treats won’t hurt!’ Even just thinking about the hypotheticals shows off how many different walks of life can bring in some debt when we let ourselves lose control.

At its core, credit is predatory, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use it safely. With this in mind, we can all agree that debt is a big drawback of using a credit card, and using your available credit too much is dangerous. Even the fact that credit card consolidation loans exist suggests that this is a common habit for people to fall into, so be aware of making excuses for yourself to use your credit card.

Don’t let yourself be intimidated by the amount of options there are on the market for getting a credit card. They’re there to help you rather than hinder you, and there’s no trap for you to fall into when you fully research terms and conditions, and any better alternatives! Balancing a checkbook gets easier and easier when information is so accessible like this.

Are House Prices Likely To Go Down?

balance house pricesWhenever you hear people talk about the housing market it’s all doom and gloom. Prices have been rising consistently for years and there’s a serious fear that a whole generation of young people isn’t ever going to be able to afford a house. Last year was set to be a positive one for housing and an increase in house building was predicted, but the reality is, that didn’t happen. Things did improve a little but not as much as we hoped they would. So, it doesn’t look good at the moment and it feels like it’s never going to get better, but is that really true? Nobody knows for sure but these are some of the major predictions from experts.

Prices Will Rise, But Not As Much

This is good news and bad news. Prices rose by a significant amount every month last year, especially in the latter half of the year. Some people predict that trend will continue, but the increases will slow right down. There are a couple of reasons for this prediction. Firstly, unemployment is going down and people are able to afford houses more easily. Demand is stronger and there will be a slight increase in the number of people that are actually buying houses.

Another factor to consider is the number of people opting for alternative housing situations. More people are opting for prefabricated mobile homes, sometimes called mobile homes. These are far cheaper because the components are made separately, shipped over, and constructed on site. The impact of this is minimal but people choosing to go for alternative housing is going to alleviate some of the strain in terms of housing shortage. It also means that houses can be built far more quickly.

On the other hand, real estate as an investment is on the rise so if all of the houses are being bought up by investors, prices could carry on increasing.

This prediction is good news overall because what they’re essentially saying is that, while there won’t be an immediate turnaround in house prices, we’re coming toward the top of the peak and will soon start to see a downturn in prices.

Affordability Will Go Down

Wages are forecasted to grow in some of the larger cities in America which you would think is good news for buying houses, unfortunately it’s not. The amount of homes that are affordable to somebody on a medium income isn’t growing. That means they are unable to access the cities where wages are growing in the first place, so they can’t get the higher wages they need to buy a house. This disparity is one of the biggest problems in the housing market at the moment. Even if house building does increase this year, they aren’t likely to build the affordable housing that is needed to redress that imbalance.

Credit Availability Could Improve

After the crash of 2008, the availability of credit was regulated more strictly in order to avoid the same thing again. However, the new Trump administration has floated plans to roll back a lot of that regulation so banks will be more free to lend money again. It could go one of two ways; either they’ll start lending more freely and people might be able to afford to buy a house, or they may carry on operating the way that they are at the moment.

There’s no telling exactly what will happen with the housing market but these are three of the best theories so far.

Negotiating and Settling Debt: Tips for Talking to Creditors

settlement with creditorsWhen money is tight, and your expenses are high, you may find yourself in a pickle with creditors. It’s often an inevitable part of life as you learn and progress – but when the creditors are more than just one or two, the problem seems to snowball a bit too fast. It’s impossible to keep up with, the phone never keeps quiet, and life seems so very unfair.

You can solve it all in one go, though, by learning how to communicate effectively with those dreaded people on the other end of the line and negotiate a good deal.

Here is a handful of the best advice from money experts out there, giving you and your finances some peace of mind at last.

Be honest to generate sympathy

So creditors may be unpopular, but they’re just regular folks like you and I. Pick up the phone, talk from the heart, and stick to your story – especially when you’re dealing with multiple creditors. They don’t want to hear about all the problems you’ve had the past year, of course, but a quick explanation will soften even the toughest creditor.

If you’ve been ill or away from work for a couple of months, it’s a good idea to make them aware of this. The same goes for any other problems you’ve had in the household lately, if your husband has been laid off, or if you’ve run into unexpected medical expenses.

Life is, after all, just life and creditors deal with it too. Check out entrepreneur.com for some top tips on how to convince them not to ruin your credit score.

Stay calm, by the way, and whatever you do, don’t lose your temper with them. To be overdramatic or show childish anger won’t get you anywhere when you’ve passed the age of ten.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions

Remember that this conversation is for your benefit as much as the people you owe money. When the ruthless creditor tells you that you may risk losing your house or be sued, try not to run away from it all but ask specific questions instead.

When can you expect further action to be taken? Is it a good idea to find a personal loan to cover the most pressing expenses? When can you expect the money to be withdrawn from your account? You can have a look at personalloan.co to have a backup handy in case another loan may keep you from being sued.

Some of the threats they make may be illegal, by the way, so ask questions and take note of their answers for your own record.

Understand your situation

Do yourself a massive favor and be prepared the next time they ring. When you know how much you’re able to afford, it becomes a lot easier to keep up with the negotiations and find a realistic solution – otherwise, you may end up in the same situation in a few months.

Dealing with creditors is never much fun, but it’s inevitable when you’d like to put the past behind you. Get it over with as soon as possible, improve your credit score, and start to live within your means again.