Imagine the situation – you have just spotted an ideal last minute skiing holiday at a bargain price but you simply don’t have enough cash to snap it up and payday is still some weeks away. Or maybe you want to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day by treating someone special to a romantic weekend away. That is when a cash advance just might come in very handy.
The basic principles
The cash advance is essentially a lending product.
It works on the basis of making available to successful applicants, relatively modest amounts of money (perhaps averaging somewhere in the range of £100-£500) for the purposes of dealing with an unexpected opportunity or an unforeseen cash-flow problem.
Given the areas it aims to help with, as you may expect, the providers understand that you may need the cash quickly and therefore these cash advances are designed to operate speedily and with the minimum of bureaucracy.
You may find that a very simple online application receives prompt attention and very possibly an almost instantaneous yes/no decision. If it is positive, the money may be sent directly to your bank account where it may arrive within as little as 60 minutes of your initial application.
In terms of repayment, this will typically take place in one payment on or around your next payday.
Uses
Due to the relatively small nature of the sums involved in a typical online payday loan, the providers may be relatively relaxed about some forms of past credit history difficulties and they may equally not ask you to explain or justify why you need the money.
That will leave you to spend it as you think fit.
As these products were originally designed for short-term borrowing of modest amounts of money, they may not typically be regarded as a suitable solution for longer-term borrowing or situations where you need more significant sums of cash.
Once you have agreed a repayment date with the provider of your cash advance, it is important that you meet that date if you are to avoid additional administration and interest charges. Some providers may look to recover the agreed amount by using a direct charge to your bank debit card on the agreed date for the sum concerned.
