If you have been seeking a good value loan at a rate that you can afford then it pays to shop around. The rate of interest that you may have to pay for a particular loan can vary from just a few percent for loans from a high-street bank, to tens of thousands of percent for loans from payday lenders.
In many ways payday lenders have become the new loan sharks of the modern age, and all too easily your debt can spiral out of control if you take the quick and easy route that these loans seem to offer.
Instead of simply opting for the loan that is the easiest to apply for you instead need to make sure to check several aspects of any loan.
1. What is the interest rate that will be charged?
Payday Lenders will try to confuse you into thinking that APR rates don’t matter (because their rates are ridiculously high). But the fact is that the APR is the most transparent measure of how affordable a loan really is.
You should be sure to shop around and try to find loans that are as cheap as possible from the perspective of interest rates.
Avoid Payday Loans whenever possible – These companies may seem to be a short term answer, but any loans that you take out with these companies will very quickly build to become a millstone around your neck.
You should only take out loans that you have a realistic expectation of being able to pay back, because otherwise you can very swiftly find yourself mired in debt that you can never escape.
2. Try out your current bank first for a loan
You may search online for phrases like “personal loan” with the intention of finding a variety of different lenders, but the fact is that you should always start off by approaching the bank that you already have a relationship with first.
Often times the banks save their very best deals for existing customers, and so you may find if you inquire that they are able to offer you a loan at a substantially better rate then they are advertising to borrowers that do not have any track record with them.
If you currently have a good credit history then you will often find that you will be offered deals that are superior to the ones that are being offered publicly.
Personal Loans are an area that you should approach with care and be sure to carry out careful research on before taking out a deal.
There is no shortage of companies who will lend money and so you can afford to be picky about the one that you choose to go for.
Above all, know exactly what you are signing up to and read any terms and conditions very carefully before signing on the dotted line.