Traditional financial institutions seldom lend without getting a guarantee that they won’t lose all their money if a borrower fails to repay their loan.
Financial institutions usually request for collateral from would-be loan recipients, something they can hold on to just in case that recipient doesn’t fulfill their promise to repay after a mutually agreed upon period of time. Collateral may include the borrower’s personal vehicles, houses, farm, or business inventory, to name a few examples.
But there’s a widespread dread about collaterals. Not everyone owns a house or car, and in any case, losing such things to the bank if you owned them can be a very devastating experience on many levels. No one wants to wind up in that situation.
The good news is, you can get loans collateral-free, from trusted institutions. A number of online lending platforms have sprung up to fill this need gap. They’re doing so by leveraging technology and using smart techniques to evaluate the credit worthiness of borrowers; this way, they’re able to make fairly good predictions about the likelihood that borrowers will pay back within set deadlines. This, coupled with strong anti default mechanisms, makes the requirement for collateral a much less crucial part of such transactions as they would otherwise be.
Here we’re presenting some of these
lending platforms, along with the relevant things to know about them.
Aella provides loans to people who can prove that they earn regular income. Loans can be disbursed either through their employer, if that company is registered with Aella; or transferred directly to individual borrowers.
Employees of companies in Aella’s network can access loans at relatively competitive rates because their employer’s involvement reduces their risk profile. Those outside of the platform’s employer network can however reduce their loan interest rates if they maintain a record of timely repayment.
Aella’s loan services can be accessed through their mobile app. Loan tenure lasts up to one month, and repayment can be done using debit cards.
C24 runs a collateral free loan service, but they’re quite stringent with their documentation requirements. If you’re going to get a loan from them, you will have to submit copies of your national identity card, proof of employment and valid bank details at their office to get verified. They could also pick these items up from where you’re at, if you’re extra keen on convenience.
Interest rates on loans from C24 start at 4%, and the loan tenure lasts for between one and nine months. Payback can be done with debit cards or via direct transfer to the lender’s account.
This is actually a digitally mediated marketplace for lenders and borrowers. They loan up to ₦2 million to users and have a stipulated payback period of between 3 and 12 months.
FINT does require that its loan applicants upload utility bills, (letter of incorporation for business owners), and a valid ID card. Other items to be presented include bank details (BVN and bank statements), and a letter authorizing FINT to verify bank statements. Loan applicants are also requested to pay a risk assessment token.
PayConnect makes quick loans for emergency situations available to salary earners. Loans applied for can be obtained within 24 hours of request. Persons who intend to use PayConnect’s loan service can do so by filling the application form on their website and submitting it along with a copy of their employee ID card, government-approved ID card, and six months’ statement of account for their salary account. Applications are approved if they meet PayConnect’s credit criteria.
All loans from PayConnect are collateral-free; borrowers are only charged 1% of their loans as daily fee for the period in which the loan isn’t repaid.
Paylater offers loans of up to ₦1 million to applicants who meet its evaluation criteria. It claims a fast response time for loan applications; funds can be disbursed to borrowers’ accounts within five minutes of approval. Note that you will have to complete an online application form, which will be assessed by Paylater to determine your eligibility for a loan, before receiving it.
You can repay your loans through multiple channels: debit cards, direct transfers to Paylater’s account, and Quickteller.
You can get on this platform through its mobile app, which you can download from Google’s Play store.
Zendvance lends up to ₦3 million to working age persons in paid employment. Its loan services cover individual and group needs of various sorts. It has a travel loan facility as well. These loan packages have a tenure of between one and twelve months, with interest rates starting at 7.5%.
Zendvance requires its loan applicants to provide certain bank details and upload supporting documents, to access loans.
