No matter how quickly you need the cash, think twice before getting a loan without a credit check. Why? Because they are potentially as predatory as payday loans or car title loans and can trap you in a cycle of debt for years.
These loans – also known as no credit check installment loans – come with rates of up to 400% in some cases, well above the rates you find at credit unions or with online lenders.
What’s Wrong With Loans Without Credit Check?
For example, if a lender charges a 400% APR on a two-year $ 2,000 loan, you will pay $ 667 per month to pay it off. That’s more than five times more – or $ 549 more – than the $ 118 you would pay monthly at the highest APR of many lenders who check the credit offer, which is 36%.
Without checking your credit and disregarding your income and other debts, a lender’s assessment of your ability to repay the loan isn’t as accurate. A lender without a credit check may also require access to your bank account for automatic withdrawals.
Some lenders don’t take a very close look at your repayment capacity and withdraw the money directly from your account on the due date, knowing that you may have to come back and borrow more later.
Loan amounts without a credit check range from $ 100 to several thousand dollars, and borrowers typically make equal fixed payments over months or years. But the exorbitant interest rates on these loans make them bad in the long run.
Loans are usually marketed with a promise of same or next day delivery of funds. Some lenders also add additional products like credit insurance or charge a fee that further increases the cost of the loan.
Alternatives to loans without a credit check
If you need easy money, you may be able to find alternatives to loans without a credit check by speaking with credit counselors, religious organizations, and non-profit community. Here are other options:
CREDIT COOPERATIVES
Even if you have bad credit (a FICO score of 629 or less), your box may be worth it.
Most credit unions offer small loans of $ 500 or more, and they are often willing to work with you to make payments affordable. Many also have credit cards or starter loans to help you build a credit history. The interest rate charged by a federal credit union is capped at 18%.
ALTERNATIVE PAYROLL LOANS
Known as PAL, these loans from credit unions help small borrowers avoid the debt trap created by traditional payday loans.
ONLINE LENDERS
Lenders like Main and Before consider borrowers with poor credit, even with scores below 600. OneMain has higher rates but offers faster access to cash, while Avant is a good option for debt consolidation.
Other lenders like Point Ready and Reached consider factors other than credit score, such as employment status and income. But watch out for high fees, like assembly costs, which drive up costs.
Finally, lenders like Opportune and Capital goods fund say they don’t require you to have a credit score to apply, but if you have credit they will review it. These lenders rely on things like bank transactions and pay stubs to determine if you are making enough money and if you are keeping enough in your account to pay off the loan.
View estimated loan rates online
Lenders without credit checks
OppLoans, offered by online lender OppFi, is a high interest rate installment loan for borrowers with low credit ratings. OppLoans determines if you qualify for a loan using bank account transaction data and information provided by Clarity Services, an offshoot of the Experian credit bureau that collects information on low-credit consumers. The lender reports payments to the three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – so that on-time loan payments can help you build your credit. However, the lender’s APR is triple digits and the borrower’s average APR is 159%.
