To Apply or Not to Apply for an Online Personal Loan

Diwali is still a few months away. Just like many other Indian families you too have decided to renovate your house so that it is ready at least few weeks before the festival date. As the work progresses and the date for handover of the refurbished house nears, the budget goes haywire. Despite your best efforts, there is significant amount you still owe the contractor for the works. You do not want to borrow from friends or relatives or withdraw from provident fund you have always thought of using for daughter’s marriage.

At some point of our lives, all of us face a personal predicament of this sort when our wallets do not allow us to buy things that we wanted for a loved one or fulfill an immediate need. As John Lennon says in the song Beautiful Boy, “Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.” While life comes with its share of unpredictability and opportunities do not wait for anyone, you can still make many things happen even if you do not have enough money for it. You may have been a conservative bank customer like me who has always been wary of taking a personal loan simply because of the hassles of paperwork and documentation. The only concern a first-time customer is likely to have been on the higher rate of interest on these loans. With banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) passing on the benefit of rate cuts on to customers, the rates on personal too have declined.

So, how about getting a personal loan directly credited to your savings account without stepping out of home or going to a bank branch? Like everything and anything that you want is available on the Internet, a few clicks of the mouse can help you get an online personal loan in today’s times. It can be used for any personal financial need and the lender usually does not monitor its end use. From renovating your home or a family vacation to purchasing latest electronic gadgets or home appliances and meeting unexpected medical expenses, personal loans have great utility to meet your big and small needs.

What makes the online experience of applying for a personal loan different from physically going to the branch or having a bank representative come to your home?
The biggest advantage of applying for an online personal loan is convenience and hassle-free experience. Applying online significantly reduces the hassle of visiting lending institution’s branch, having multiple conversations with various bank representatives, carrying copies of multiple identity proofs etc. This makes it convenient for all those who do not want to make the extra trips to their lender.

Compared to banks and other similar lending institutions who tend to get finicky about the profile and credit score of the customers, it is much easier to get an online loan approved if one is meeting the basic information criteria. However, this does not mean that lenders who offer loans online do not have checks and balances to monitor the quality of the customers. It is just that the concept of online loan is aimed at making the process less cumbersome and seamless.

Also, the turnaround time of getting loan disbursed into your savings account is just a few hours compared to the approval process offline with anywhere between an average of two to seven days before you can use it.

Moreover, just like on home loans there are tax benefits on a personal loan too. A personal loan is not considered income, and one needs to be conscious of while filing income tax returns. The loan will not be a part of taxable income. And you can claim additional tax benefits by showing that you used the loan amount for valid expenses.

One can go on with many other advantages of getting a personal loan online. Do not let your desire of celebrating those special moments of happiness remain just a desire. Go ahead and apply for an online personal loan. Rest assured; you will not regret this decision.