Choosing a payday lender can be pretty difficult. There are many lenders available but most of them are not that well known. This means that you may feel concerned about who to pick as you may have no idea which might be the best. This is quite understandable but there are things that you can do that will help you to make a choice.
Look at company
websites
If you take a look at the website of the lender it will give you a feel for
the company. You might be able to find out more about them and this could help
you to decide whether you feel they are a company that you would like to borrow
from or not. You might eb able to find out more about the company, who runs it,
where they are based, how they were formed, how long they have been in business
and things like this. The way the website is put together might give you an
insight into the culture of the company as well. If there is not much
information then this may just put you off or you may want to do further
researching online. You might be able to find more about them elsewhere.
Read reviews
You will find that there are reviews of lenders online. You do need to be
careful though as these could be biased. Try to look on websites where you feel
people are being genuine. Sites which should not be biased and ones that seem
to have lots of different people’s opinions. Look across a selection of sites
as well so that you can get a more balanced opinion. It is good to think about
what the reviews say and whether the issues raised are things that are
important to you and things that you feel may affect you. Sometimes you will be
able to ignore them because you do not feel that they are relevant.
Ask others
It can be even better to ask people that you know. They will have no reason
to be biased and they will therefore give you their true opinions. Do make sure
that they have actually used the lender though as they may just have got their
opinions from the media or hearsay. Find out why they have that opinion and
whether they would recommend a lender or tell you to avoid them. It can be
tricky discussing lenders in company, but if you do not feel that you would
rather not say too much, you can just ask people about their experience with
banks without revealing why you are trying to find out more. It can be best to
be honest though if you can as you will get more specific information that will
be more useful to you.
Compare products
It is important to have an understanding of the products that the lenders
are offering and how they differ. The main difference may be the cost but there
are other things to note as well such as how much they will let you borrow and
how flexible they seem to be. The cost is probably one of the most important
factors, so make sure that you work out how much you will have to repay using
the calculator on the website. If you do this for every lender then you will be
able to compare them so that you can work out which is likely to be the best
for you.
This can seem like a lot of research to do but it is worth it. If you just pick the first lender you come across then you could end up regretting your decision. They may cost you more money, be less flexible and be difficult to contact and get information from. You could end up really regretting your decision. It can be hard to fit in time to do this sort of research when you are in a panic about getting money quickly, but it is worth it when you feel happy with the choice that you have made. Even if you do research and do not feel that happy, you will know that you tried to get the best lender and it could be that you experience with others could have been even worse had you picked them.
Often when we need money quickly we are in a rush and may not even be thinking straight. In this situation it could be worth getting someone to help you. Someone who is feeling calm about the situation might be better able to look through the options for you and help you to make the right decision. They might notice things that you do not because you are in more of a rush and panic. Also, when we are emotional it is harder for us to think clearly.
