Getting a personal loan for your financial needs can be a good way to get around expenses without affecting your savings or investments. But how long does it take to get a personal loan? The time taken by lenders to approve a personal loan has gotten borrowers thinking. Knowing what causes delays in personal loan approval and how to get around them saves you stress and time. Most lenders approve loans within a week of application, while some may approve them on the same day or the following day.
In some cases, you may need to wait one or two days before the loan is deposited into your bank account. Having to wait for the arrival of your loan is quite disturbing, especially when you need the money urgently. Fortunately, you do not need to wait more than a few days for the arrival of your loan, but there is no significant answer to how long it takes to get a personal loan.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Personal Loan?
There are three main steps to getting personal loans. These steps are the application, approval, and funding. Every step takes a different time depending on the lender issuing the personal loan. A brief explanation of how long it takes to get past these steps to getting a personal loan.
Application
Every lender has their application requirements every borrower needs to meet before loan approval. Most lenders have nearly the same application requirements borrowers are to meet.
Due to this, you should be able to apply for a personal loan within a few minutes. To make things faster, ensure you have personal and financial documents such as your identification, W-2s, bank statements, and recent federal tax return on hand as you apply.
Approval
If the lender offers prequalification, you will be aware of your application requirements in just a few minutes. This is because this lender offers a prequalification feature to underwrite approvals instead of waiting for loan officers to decide on the loan.
The underwriting evaluates borrower information from their credit history and application. If you are considered to meet the lender’s requirements, you will be given a conditional decision right away. A day or two would be taken to verify your application information before approval.
Funding
After you have been approved, it takes two to five business days for funding. Small banks and credit unions may take longer than this, but your loan will be funded eventually within a week after applying. These lenders will deposit the loan into your bank account.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Personal Loan by Type of Lender?
Most personal loan applications take a few minutes to be completed, and funding is done electronically into the borrower’s bank account between one and three days after approval.
However, this depends solely on the lender and its prequalification processes. Below are some lenders and how long it takes to get personal loans from them.
Online Lender
Most online lenders fund your loan within three days after approval. The funding process may take longer than usual if there is any inexact information detected or if there is any information missing on your application.
Aside from this, you should get your loan on the same day of approval or the following day. However, this depends on when you apply for the loan along with your bank processing deposits. Sometimes, you may not be funded on the same day of approval; instead, you will have to wait a day or two.
Bank
Most banks that offer personal loans offer quick prequalification and funding. You may also be granted access to preferred interest rates if you already have a savings account with them.
Depending on your loan agreement, the bank can debit the loan amount automatically from your checking account if you fall back on payments. Unlike online lenders, most banks take a longer time to approve a loan.
Credit Unions
These lenders are well-known for offering personal loans. If you already have an account with a credit union, getting approved and funded faster for a personal loan is guaranteed.
If not, getting approved and funded for this loan can take a longer time. Credit unions tend to be more tolerant of their credit criteria than banks while rendering competitive rates.
How can you Speed up the Personal Loan Process?
To make getting personal loans faster, you need to put together your verification documents on time. Doing this can speed up the lender’s review process of your loan application.
Choosing a lender that offers online applications is most times faster for approval. Irrespective of the type of lender, ensure you completely and accurately fill out the application form to aid faster approval and funding. If anything is not clear concerning the loan, you can contact the lender’s customer service for clarity.