Lowest interest rate Personal loans in South Africa
Offering competitive interest rates and flexible repayment terms, a personal loan should be your first choice when it comes to long-term lending that is both affordable and flexible.
Many South Africans are in a difficult financial situation due to the ever increasing prices and unstable inflation rates in the country. When you find yourself in need of cash, you can apply for one of the many personal loans available on the South African loan market. These products are designed to provide an easy, quick and simple solution and we can help you find out how they work, how to get them and how you can use them effectively.
Apply for a Personal loan online
One of the fastest and simplest ways to get the personal loan which you require is to use an online loan application form. These are offered directly on the websites of these South African lenders, which you can find at the bottom of this article, along with complete information on the loans on offer including interest rates, fees and loan terms.
In order to apply for one of the many available personal loans in South Africa, you need to fill out an application form on the website of the lender. Once the lender gets your application, they will perform a credit check and if you get approved, you will receive a set of documents including a personal or payday loan agreement. You need to then sign the documents and return them to the lender. Once the agreement has been signed, you will receive the cash in your bank account.
Quick approval on most Personal loans
All those who make an online loan application for a personal loan will receive their money quite quickly. Usually, the cash will be in your account within 24 hours. Many lenders guarantee receipt within 24 hours, but it is worth noting that this depends on your bank as well.
How much does a Personal loan cost?
Before you take out a specific personal loan, you should consider several important factors. The first one is the interest rate. It is typically high if the loan term is short and lower if the loan term is longer. You have to take into account the additional fees charged as well. Finally, you must calculate the total cost of the loan and confirm that you will be able to repay it based on your own personal budget.
Personal loans & the National Credit Act
All registered online lenders are required to be compliant with National Credit Act just as those offering loans in brick and mortar offices. As long as the lender is NCR registered, your rights as a borrower are fully guaranteed.
You should definitely take advantage of the protections offered to consumers under the National Credit Act. The interest rates charged by lenders must not exceed a set upper limit. If a lender sets a higher interest, you can readily move to the next one. Additionally, lenders must specify the full details of every personal loan so they will be able to analyse its affordability with ease.
Responsible lending practices
The principle of responsible lending is defined in the NCA and all credit providers in South Africa must follow it. Under this principle, lenders may grant loans only to applicants who can afford to repay them. In order to determine the affordability of an applicant, the lender evaluates them based on their gross, net and disposable income.
If you have a high gross income and a large amount of debt at the same time, your chances of getting approved will be lower. Hence, the three forms of income are equally important.
How much money do you qualify for?
It is up to every lender to determine how much income the applicant must have left in order to repay the personal loan. Basically, each individual lender sets an approval limit for online loans. This is not regulated by the National Credit Act.
The situation is different with the home loans, for which approval is granted only when the monthly loan payment is lower than a third of the applicant's gross income.
Credit checks for Personal loan approval
The applicant's evaluation is based on their income and on the information provided by the credit bureaus. That is why you must be extra careful and diligent about the management of your finances and of your debt, in particular.
Choosing the ideal Personal loan
You can also use the disclosed information on a lenders website to find the most affordable loan there is. You can select the loan amount and calculate exactly how much you will need to repay per month for the duration of the loan term.
You have to make all necessary provisions for the repayment of the loan. It is advisable to plan your monthly budget so that you have sufficient cash available to repay the loan. Manage your finances strictly and avoid getting things which are outside of your budget in order to be able to repay your loan on time and avoid penalties.
It pays off if you plan for emergencies in your budget as well. That way, you will improve your chances of repaying your debt in full on time.
What are your Personal loan options?
There are two main types of personal loans which are distinguished based on their terms as either a short term personal loan or a long term personal loan. The term is a major determinant of the maximum loan amount which can be granted and of the repayment structure.
Short & Mid-term Personal loans
Short-term loans range from 30 days to 24 months. These include fast cash loans, payday loans, bad credit and blacklisted loans and loans for financing small purchases. Credit cards and overdrafts also belong to this even though they are short term, revolving credit lines rather than once-off loans.
Short-term loans range from as little as R100 to as much as R250,000. In certain circumstances, borrowers may be able to take out even more. The maximum amount which you can borrow depends on your ability to repay the loan. In turn, this ability of yours will depend on your current income and expenditure. Since most of these quick loans are unsecured, they have fairly high interest rate. The rate is set based on individual factors such as the credit rating of the applicant. The lower it is the higher the interest rate will be.
Long-term Personal loans
Long term loans have a term of anything from 24 months to 10 years and the loan amounts are quite large. Most of the long term loans are secured by some form of collateral. This collateral is an asset which the lender can repossess if the borrower defaults on the repayment of the loan.
Types of collateral for Personal loans
The type of collateral used for long-term loans, home equity loans and debt consolidation is typically property or the available equity that a borrower has in their home loan.
In conclusion, personal loans are fairly easy to obtain as long as you have a stable income, fairly low debt and a good credit history. They are highly useful tools to use in cash emergencies and for the financing of major purchases. At the same time, they are not a good solution for repaying existing debt as they come with higher interest rates compared to secured loans.
Struggling to repay your Debt?
If you’re struggling with the repayment of your debt, there are a range of options that you can consider to assist you in becoming debt-free. Two of these options include credit counselling and debt consolidation which are readily available in South Africa.