Tag Archives: consumers

Getting A Loan With A Bad Credit Rating

The good news for consumers with bad credit is that in today’s marketplace, there are more options for obtaining credit. While borrowers with excellent credit certainly have greater opportunity and access to higher loan amounts, favorable terms, and better rates for loans, borrowers with bad credit now have some hope to borrow money for specific needs.

Many lenders are putting together unique and specific loan products tailored to borrowers with bad credit. Typically, to get the best loan amount, terms and rates available, borrowers that have a bad credit history must secure loans. This means that they must put up their home, auto, or other valuable asset as collateral to reduce the risk to the lender of funding the loan. Homeowner loans are usually the most beneficial to bad credit borrowers if they have some equity in their homes and a valued property.

Obviously, it is much better to maintain good credit, but for many borrowers it is too late. Some lenders offer certain programs that are put together to give borrowers a chance to rebuild their credit while at the same time, gaining access to modest loan amounts. This helps the consumer borrow for specific needs and rebuild their credit for larger or more pressing future financing requirements.

With revolving debt and credit card balances on the rise, more and more consumers are finding themselves in situations with overwhelming and unmanageable debt. Some lenders also offer certain types of debt consolidation loans that allow borrowers to move balances from higher rate loans and cards to lower interest rate products. This is where second charges or homeowner secured loans are often used by borrowers with bad credit to obtain better rates than are available to them through unsecured loans.

The key for lenders is to effectively balance the risk to reward ratio of lending money. Lenders are obviously in the business of lending money so that is what they ultimately would like to do with any borrower. The borrower needs to offer support to their ability to repay debt or security to help offset the risk the lender perceives from the bad credit rating of the borrower. Consumers do need to be careful about overly aggressive creditors who seek to prey on desperate borrowers. Companies that approach consumers with offers that sound ‘too good to be true’, include up front fees, or hide unfavorable terms in fine print should be cautiously evaluated.

Instant Approval Credit Cards – Instantly Gratifying?

Nowadays, instant gratification seems to be everyone’s mantra. People see something that they want and they do not think twice about buying it. “Buy now and pay later” has become a routine practice followed by many people. Today, it seems that all you need is an income to get access to a credit card.

With the advent of electronic communication and the Internet, instant approval has become a prominent feature with credit card applications these days. Simply put, certain card offers maintain an instant approval feature whereby cardholders applying for a credit card get to know immediately whether he/she is eligible for the credit card or not. Many consumers find this method to be convenient as it requires much less, and in some cases, no paper work at all, eliminating the need to physically mail the card application by regular mail, which traditionally takes a much longer time.

Credit Card Instant Approval Facts

In order to prevent confusion when discussing the prospect of a credit card instant approval, one should know the following facts. First of all, the instant approval and the credit card application are two different processes. Getting instant approval is the screening process that the respective banks and credit card companies use to filter out unqualified prospects. If you do qualify, the instant approval merely means that the card company has identified that you are suitable for the card offer, but that does not guarantee that you will be approved for the card itself.

The primary data points or pieces of information that banks or credit card companies will need to process your instant approval request are your name, address, and social security number. Some card issuers will require additional information but those 3 pieces of information will be required by all banks and credit card companies to do the initial screening for instant approval credit cards.

The credit card providers usually target people who have a good credit history. But because of the competitive nature of the credit card business, banks and card issuers today are more likely to extend credit to a wider range of potential consumers with varying degrees of credit history.

Many consumers are very concerned about the safety of providing information online. Credit card issuers that provide application forms online provide highly secure, encrypted environments to safeguard customer information and ensure that cardholders vital information will remain safe throughout the application process.

Primary Advantage of Instant Approval Credit Cards

The primary advantage of instant approval credit cards online is simply a much quicker turnaround on qualification for the actual card offer. While this process is undoubtedly much more convenient than the traditional card application process, many times, however, the bank will need to further investigate the credit worthiness of the applicant and will require additional information before approving the application. So even when applying for instant approval credit cards online, consumers should be patient and realize that although qualifying for an instant approval credit card might be instant, getting approved and gaining access to the credit line most certainly will not be instantly gratifying.

So the bottom line is that while instant approval does hold some significant advantages, an instant approval does not mean instant credit or instant access to money, which is a common misconception of potential cardholders.