Payday Loans are in the news daily at the moment, but most stories about payday loans seem to regurgitate the same old points. In an attempt to redress the balance here are 10 positive things you never know about payday loans.

1.   Payday loans can be used to rebuild your credit score. If you have a less than perfect credit score the best way to rebuild your credit rating is to show you can use credit responsibly, the quickest 2 ways of doing this are payday loans and a credit card. Credit cards aren’t always easy to get if you have a few black marks but credit history has little bearing on a payday loan application, payday loan providers are more interested in your current circumstances and your ability to pay back the loan at the end of the month. Therefore payday loans can be far more accessible as well as being immediate. Pay it back at the end of the month as agreed and you’ve shown you can handle credit responsibly, do this a few times and you are on your way to rebuilding a healthy credit rating.
2..   Payday loans can provide instant access to cash in an emergency. Many payday loan providers offer a 1 hour turnaround, from receiving your application to getting the cash into your bank account, so when you need money and don’t have time to wait for long approval processes or 3 day money transfer and clearing processes, payday loans can get money, effectively, in your pocket the same day.
3..   You don’t need to go through a credit check to apply for a payday loan. Payday lenders are only interested in ‘can you pay back the loan when you get paid?’ Provided you can show that you can, what you have done in the past is of little importance.
4..   Payday loans give more people access to money and credit than any other form of borrowing. By not running credit checks or being ruled by applicants’ credit history payday loans provide money to many people who would be excluded by many high street lenders.
5..   Payday loans are not more expensive than other forms of borrowing. If you borrow £100 from a payday lender they will charge you £25, so at the end of the month you will pay back £125. That’s an interest rate of 25%. Many credit cards are 26% on purchases, they are much higher on cash advances, some are as high as 46% on cash advances. So if you borrowed £100 on your credit card and paid it back over a year you would pay £146, much more expensive. That’s not even taking into account any late fees if you missed a payment one month.
6..   There are no late fees with payday loans. You pay your loan and fee back when you get paid by direct debit, you can’t forget or be late so there are no penalties, ever.
7..   You can manage your account online so you can always see what you owe and when it’s got to be paid back.
8..   Payday Loans get more flexible with age. Once you have shown you can use the system responsibly you are given much more flexibility, so anytime you need money now and won’t have it till tomorrow or next week you can borrow quickly, pay the bill etc. and pay the loan back days later.
9..   There are no restrictions with Payday Loans. You can use a payday loan for anything you want, they are designed to be used in an emergency, but that can cover anything from a blown boiler to forgotten your mum’s birthday present.
10..   Payday loans are the best and quickest way for many people to get money into their bank accounts. The application and repayment processes are extremely straight forward, making it very easy to get money, pay your bill and pay the loan back shortly after when you get paid.

To read more about payday loans, check out our About Payday Loans page.

 

I recently found an article on zdnet which seemed to have been instigated by an article on the Daily Mail website.

The Daily Mail article suggested that Wonga a “‘legal loan shark’ [were] offering cash at an astonishing 4,214 per cent annual rate of interest. … as an alternative to Government-backed student loans”

I have a number of issues with both the zdnet and the Daily Mail articles, firstly I can’t believe zdnet are taking their news or inspiration for articles from the Daily Mail, but more importantly I can’t believe they stoop to such band wagon jumping and emotive tripe as “…convincing language, bright colours, and a friendly interface online can persuade people to agree to things against their better judgement” like people are going to take out loans because of a nice colour scheme, who, who takes out a loan because they like a website? People take out a loan because they need money. And people take out a payday loan because they need money quickly.

But the main issues are with the Daily Mail article in the first place. This article waves its hands in the air about the ‘astonishing 4,214 per cent annual rate of interest charged on the loans’, even though it also explains that the interest charged on the loan is actually 30% and APR is only expressed due to legal obligation to do so, not because it is a useful or relevant metric. Why decry the loans because of their APR and in the same article explain APR is irrelevant?

“Offering [payday loans] as an alternative to Government-backed student loans” in truth I don’t think anyone would suggest a payday loan  as an alternative to student loans, but they can work as complementary. Payday loans are intended for emergency money, when other money is unavailable or could not be obtained in the time needed; when student loans are slow or late coming through for instance, or have run out before the end of term.

They went on to say “..the payday loan company is ‘moving in for the kill’ following the Coalition’s shake-up of higher education which will see fees rise to as high as £9,000 a year in the autumn.”

What has the fees rising to £9000 got to do with anything? Students don’t have to pay this, ever! The £9000 figure is what universities can charge the government per student. The students then pay back a percentage of their earnings to the government when they are earning over a prescribed threshold. What they, the students, pay back is unrelated to the fees the university charges per student per subject, what they pay back is only related to what they are earning. Education fees have no relevance to students and certainly don’t have any relevance to students’ day to day expenses.

 

It’s no secret, December is expensive. Presents, parties, mountains of food, gallons of drinks, it all adds up. Add in the fact that most people are paid early in December to take bank holidays into account and January can be a very long, cold, miserable month. So what can you do to bring your payday forward? Loans to payday can do just that. If January 31st is looking like a life time away and you could do with something to help bring it forward, check out a short term bridging loan till payday.

Loans to Payday do what they say on the tin, they provide you with a cash loan just until you get paid, at which point you pay it back. It’s like having a little mini payday mid way through the month to help you make it to your main payday. Loans to payday are generally provided in amounts from about £50 to £1000 and you can do anything you like with them, pay a bill, buy some food, have a night out, whatever you want. What’s more the cash you need is generally transferred into your account at least the same day if not within the hour.

The unique selling point of these short term loans is really the convenience. Most payday loan providers operate online, recent advances in technology mean loan providers can verify users identity in seconds. Once they know an applicant is who they say they are they can be confident to offer them a loan. This means all applicants need to do is fill in a very simple application form online. The loan provider can verify their identity and approve their application in seconds. Once approved it’s just a matter of a quick bank transfer via the Faster Transfers system to send the money to your account – the money should be with you in less than an hour. The whole process can be done in minutes and the cash can be in your hand later the same day. If you compare this with trying to get a loan our of a high street bank or building society, where the entire process can take weeks and you will probably have to go into the branch at least once, it is extremely convenient.

So what can you do with it once you’ve got it? Anything, fix the boiler, mend the car, take the wife out or buy yourself a present to make January seem a little less dull. The money is yours to do what you like with, it is the same as simply bringing your payday forwards a couple of weeks.

And what about paying it back? That’s just as simple. You get paid and the loan gets repaid by direct debit, you don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to remember to do it, you don’t have to worry about late fees. No stress, no hassles.

Loans to Payday give you the most convenient access to fast cash possible, with very few questions to answer, few criteria to match – you must be 18 or over and have regular income paid into your bank account, immediate cash and simple repayment.

 

It’s impossible not to have noticed the rise in popularity of payday loans in recent years. From a few online ads here and there a few years ago to dominating the TV ad breaks in recent months, the amount being spent on advertising alone is a good indication of the rise in numbers of people making use of these flexible short term loans.

However this very flexibility is also causing concern in certain corners – the argument being that they are so easy to obtain that users are taking them out when other solutions might be a better option. Concerns have also been raised over the relatively large APR figures associated with payday loans as opposed to other forms of longer term lending.

So what are payday loans and what aren’t they?

Payday loans are short term cash loans intended to provide cash quickly and without a lot of paperwork to tide customers over between the end of one pay cheque and the start of the next or to help cover unexpected bills when a pay cheque just won’t go far enough.

So if your car needs an emergency repair to keep it on the road, or you unexpectedly need to replace your boiler or a utility bill is surprisingly high and needs paying before your next payday, payday loans act as an advance on your salary. Borrow a reasonable amount of money, typically between £100 and £1000, in the knowledge that you can pay it back in a few days when your salary comes through. They are easy to apply for and are generally processed very quickly, usually at least the same day if not within the hour.

Payday loans providers generally charge a fixed fee based on the amount you borrow, typically in the region of £30 per £100 borrowed. Effectively you are paying a premium to have access to money very quickly and with a minimum of requirements and restrictions. This premium for convenience means payday loans are not the cheapest forms of finance, generally if users have access to cheaper sources of finance or do not need the immediacy of a payday loan they should exhaust these first.

In addition the fees associated with payday loans are based on users paying the loan back at their next payday, so the loan is never for a term longer than 30 days. This makes payday loans unsuitable for users looking for long term solutions or who are struggling financially. Although some lenders may allow you to extend your loan period you would still be liable for the fees each month, thereby not reducing the principle amount at all. This is where the astronomical APR figures come from. APR is an annualised figure used to compare long term loans, to obtain an APR figure for a payday loan one must take this fee and compound it many times over. This is not how payday loans are intended to be used, the loan should be paid off at month end, not rolled over for anything like a year.

A better comparison might be total cost of the loan. If a consumer borrowed £100 on their credit card and paid it back over a year at 36% APR, the total cost of the loan would be £118.

If borrowing on a credit card were not an option, they could borrow £100 from Top Hat Money. Paid back over the agreed term the loan would cost £130.

If that same user went overdrawn without an authorised overdraft facility the cost would be significantly higher.

Therefore payday loans are most suitable for people with a regular income who have suddenly come up against a shortfall in their cash flow, they are not intended to be used as a long term solution to maintain an unaffordable lifestyle.

 

 

Payday loans are increasing in popularity month on
month. Research from MoneySupermarket this
month revealed that there was a 58% increase in demand for payday loans
compared to the same period last year. However they continue to be debt
charities’ and MPs’ whipping boy.

Naysayers point to the high APR values associated with
the loans and many are calling for a cap on interest rates. Payday loans are
aimed at users who need to borrow cash quickly and with little form filling and
no credit checks. Providers charge a fixed fee based on the size of the loan. This
fee is based on the convenience of being able to get money very quickly –
usually the same day and in some cases within the hour – and the increased
risks to the lender of lending to consumers with less than perfect credit
scores. They are short term cash loans intended to be paid back at the clients
next payday, they are not intended to be used to borrow money over periods as
long as a year.

APR, therefore, is not a useful comparison. A better comparison
might be total cost of the loan. If a consumer borrowed £100 on their credit
card and paid it back over a year at 36% APR, the total cost of the loan would
be £118.

If borrowing on a credit card were not an option, they could
borrow £100 from Top Hat Money. Paid back over the agreed term the loan would cost
£120.

There are a number of issues with imposing a cap on interest
rates; where interest rate caps have been introduced in other countries, the
result has been less competition and therefore less choice for users.
Restricting providers’ ability to cover the increased risks associated with
payday loans results in higher costs across the board and in reduced
availability of loans to some consumers, forcing more to use loan sharks.

Reducing the profits involved may also drive providers out of the market, this not only
reduces choice and competition in the sector but also invariably leaves only the
most ruthless providers who may use back-end penalties or hidden costs to claw
back profits leading to reduced transparency and increased risk for consumers.

 

Thousands of tax payers who owe HMRC underpaid tax could be handed a ‘get out of jail free’ card. A little known clause in the HMRC rule book has already helped a quarter of the 50,000 taxpayers who have tried to use it to get out of paying the underpaid tax they owe. Under the clause, the treasury must give up the tax owed if it does not follow it’s procedures correctly; to follow its rules correctly HMRC must correctly use the information supplied by the tax payer or their employer and it must inform tax payers of any underpayment within 12 months of the relevent tax year.

As we are in the 2010/11 tax year, this means anyone who underpaid during the 2007/08 or 2008/09 years may be able to use the concession, if applicable, as HMRC only informed taxpayers during the second half of 2010.

See the full story here and get ready to be happy if you’re one of the thousands that owe underpaid tax from 2 or more years ago!

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