Obtaining a Cash Advance

Whether you're a veteran borrower of cash advances or a first-timer, the following guide will help you better navigate the process. We'll take you through everything from the loan application to your repayment options in what follows.

Choosing a Lender

The cash advance industry is full of lenders who try to take advantage of people in dire straits financially. These lenders are dishonest about their interest rates and terms and habitually bilk borrowers with excessive finance charges. However, the vast majority of payday lenders are reputable companies that treat borrowers respectfully. The difficult part for borrowers is knowing how to tell the difference between the two types of lenders. Instead of trying to research dozens of lenders on your own to determine this, you can use our referral service to find companies that offer reasonable cash advances with straightforward terms. Basically, we screen the lenders for you to save you time and provide you with the best lender available.

The Application

The lenders to which we refer our visitors primarily offer online applications for cash advances (varies by lender). If an online application is available, it means that you can fill out the paperwork for the loan right on the lender's site. Initial applications for payday advances tend to be very brief and should take just a few minutes to fill out (varies by lender). Cash loan advance companies tend to ask questions about your job, bank account, and contact information on the initial application. Occasionally, you may have to fax in additional documents before the lender can issue an approval decision for your payday loan (varies by lender).

Approval

Several of our lenders provide applicants with instant approval decisions, meaning the borrower could know of his/her approval status just minutes after submitting an application. Not every lender provides this service, however, and the approval process may take longer with some borrowers. When you receive your approval decision, lenders also usually tell you the size of the cash advances for which you can qualify. The size of the payday advance you can obtain will be determined mostly by the size of your monthly income. People who have higher monthly incomes tend to qualify for larger cash loans (varies by lender).

Distribution and Payment

Cash advances are usually sent to borrowers electronically through direct deposit. You will need to provide your lender with your checking or savings account information so the funds can be wired to you. The distribution of your cash advance typically takes place fairly soon after you receive approval, with some lenders distributing the funds as soon as the following business day (varies by lender). When the advance comes due, the funds will be withdrawn from your bank account in the same way.