Unemployment is high and money is tight for everyone. With increasing regularity, people are finding it more and more difficult to stretch their paychecks to last an entire week. Whether emergencies pop up or you’re behind on your car payments, you may need to think about a paycheck advance to make it through.
Unlike years ago when this service was mainly used by poor workers on the wrong side of the tracks, these loan companies now market themselves to professional workers of all genres. Before, these little offices were frequently found in dangerous sections of town, managed by employees who were almost scary looking. Now, these same companies have offices in some high end commercial office buildings in every city.
Requirements differ from company to company, but the general rules are that you need to be actively employed with a net monthly income of $1,000 a month and you must have a checking account (usually with payroll direct deposit). You can borrow between $100-$1,000 depending on your paycheck, and you need to be able to pay back the entire loan from your next paycheck. Obviously the less you make, the less you can borrow.
Interest rates are about what you’d expect to pay for any unsecured personal loan. You probably won’t find anything less than the 15%-25% for the time you borrow the money (which could be a few weeks), but if your only choice is taking out a loan or having your car repossessed, it’s not much of a choice.
These companies have a pretty significant web presence, too. This gives you a good opportunity to do some research and compare companies. Some will require that you fax in additional information after filling out the online application form. If you choose to work with an online company, you will have the money electronically credited to your checking account. Waiting periods vary between a few hours to an entire business day.
Even though you probably won’t need to undergo a credit check, these companies will search a separate database that only lists people who have outstanding paycheck advance loans. These reports will show how many you have open and how many you have paid off (or not) in the past. Having an open unpaid loan will definitely prevent you from getting another.
If doing business online is not your thing, call a local office and ask what you need to do to apply. Make sure you have everything when you show up. You may get a check right away or you may need to wait for it to get wired to your checking account.
Make sure you do some research first in order to compare rates and limits. These companies have learned to aggressively compete with each other.
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