It is an effective financial plan that one can consider during hard times. Emergencies and unexpected expenses cannot be predicted. Personal loans is repaid over time with a set number of scheduled payments. The term of this loan may be as little as few months and as long as 30 years. This financial plan will let you borrow sufficient amount of funds that you repay over a period of time in fixed amounts.
Table of Contents
Pros and Cons of Personal loans
With equal and predicted payment over a period of time, Personal loans is generally considered more reliable loan offer than any other forms of credit.
Pros
- Best to be applied in hard times
- With this type of loan you exactly know how you need to repay each month
- Easy to anticipate
- Simple qualifications
- Such loan typically offer fixed interest rates for the duration of the loan
- Borrowers with good credit score can get low interest rate that could help them save hundreds of dollars over the loan term
Cons
- Such kind of loan is less flexible
- It often carry prepayment penalties
- It tempt you to borrow more than required as the applicants are generally approved for good amount of sum
- It may require collateral such as a certificate of deposit, savings account or the equity in your home
Payday loans South Africa
Payday loans are short-term based loans that provide immediate financial relief during emergencies. They are generally provided to all those salaried people who are living their life paycheck to paycheck and got caught with unexpected expenses.
How do payday loans work?
Payday loans process is easy, smooth and straightforward. It is just a matter of few minutes to complete the application. Payday lenders will conduct a credit checking on all the applicants to determine their credit worthiness. When the loan is approved, funds will be directly deposited to your bank account in few working days.
Pros and cons of payday loans
Pros
- Payday loans are easy to access
- Quick and easy application process
- It is an unsecured loan
- No restrictions on the usage of borrowed funds
Cons
- Payday loans are expensive
- High rate of interest and high APR
- They are considered predatory
- It’s easy to get trapped in a debt cycle
- Payday lender target low-income people, minor communities
- Payday lenders can sue you for the money you owe
Qualifications for a loan
- An applicant should have legal age of eighteen years or more
- It is required to hold a valid active bank account that accepts direct deposit
- It is required to prove your South Africa citizenship or permanent ZA residency proof
- An applicant needs to be show his/her regular income proof
Where one can find a loan
After you have qualified for an personal loans, you can begin comparing loan offers to find the lucrative loan deal. Here what you can consider-
Traditional banks
There are various banks in South Africa that offer installment as well as payday loans. Besides finding the best loan deal, you must also check if there are any hidden charges and fees. Just remember that each bank application may result in a hard credit check, which can negatively affect your credit.
Online lenders
Online lenders may be a convenient option, as you can complete the loan application process while just sitting at your home comfort, in just few clicks of mouse. Most online payday lenders allow you to submit a loan application with a soft credit check which won’t hurt your credit score. Another perk of shopping for loans with online lenders is that how quickly you will receive your funds once approved.
Credit unions
Another finest option to apply for loans is from an established credit union, such as Navy Federal, Alliant and PenFed. Also, credit unions have some of the lowest APRs, which will surely work in your favor as it can give you a small monthly payment.
The difference between personal loans and payday loan
Personal loans and payday loans have structured differently. Personal loans are meant to repay in a number of small and fixed installments. These payments generally occur on a weekly, fortnightly and monthly basis. On the other hand, payday loans are designed to repay quickly, usually within 1 to 6 months. They are required to be repaid in lump sum (the principle loan amount as well as the interest charged). Payday loans are expensive as they are charged with higher rate of interest, due to it short term and collateral free nature. Thus, borrowers are more likely to trap in cycles of debt.
Personal loans tend to be for larger sums of money than payday loans. The principal of a payday loan is usually up to R5,000 while the principal of an personal loan is generally more than R8,000 and can be tens of R30,000, especially for mortgages.
The repayment term for personal loans is longer as long as 10 years in the case of a mortgage and that’s why the payments are quite affordable. The longer the repayment term, the smaller the regularly scheduled payments are. The typical APR for an installment loan is much lower than that for a payday loan, which can be as high as 400 percent. These high APRs combined with the short repayment term of payday loans often make it difficult or almost impossible for borrowers to repay.
The Conclusion
By comparison, personal loans are considered such safer way to borrow money in hard times than that of payday loans. They are safer, higher-Rand and longer term than predatory payday loans which are short, expensive are designed to trap when you are financially vulnerable.