Written by: Eric Bank
Edited by: Lillian Guevara-Castro
Reviewed by: Ashley Fricker
When times are tough, payday loans with no credit check may be one of your few alternatives should you need cash in a hurry. You can apply for an online loan in just a few minutes, and upon approval, the loan provider will wire the money to your bank or credit union account as soon as the next business day. In other words, it’s a one-day loan fulfillment.
You can use one of the network lenders reviewed below to prequalify for a loan instantly and without a credit check. While not a guarantee, prequalification is a positive sign that your loan is likely to receive instant approval.
You Can Prequalify For Payday Loans Without a Credit Check
The following lender networks operate by finding you a direct loan source. They can promptly arrange an online payday loan and/or short-term installment loan for you with a repayment term as short as three months. These are unsecured loans, meaning you don’t need collateral to qualify.
Each company can prequalify you without a hard inquiry of your credit, although the payday loan lender you’re connected with may require a credit check. While the prequalification criteria vary somewhat, all of these companies require you to be a U.S. citizen or resident and at least 18 years of age.
1. MoneyMutual
- Short-term loans up to $5,000
- Online marketplace of lenders
- Funds available in as few as 24 hours
- Simple online form takes less than 5 minutes
- Trusted by more than 2 million customers
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Loan Term | Loan Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to $5,000 | Varies | Varies | See representative example |
MoneyMutual is our top pick among the lender-connecting networks because of its good reputation and flexible choices. It can arrange an offer for an unsecured personal loan even if your credit is bad, as long as you receive $800 per month from an employer, pension, Social Security, or some other reliable income source. You need a checking account to qualify.
- Personal loans from $500 to $35,000
- All credit types are considered and welcome
- Simple, no credit impact form
- Helping consumers since 2001
- 4.7 out of 5 Trustpilot rating with 2,000+ reviews!
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Loan Term | Loan Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 to $35,000 | 5.99% - 35.99% | 60 Days to 72 Months | See representative example |
24/7 Lending Group is a another network that consists of lenders offering online loans for as little as $500. You can prequalify for a loan with a hard credit inquiry, and most payday lenders base approval on your income and ability to repay your loan, not your credit score.
3. CashUSA.com
- Loans from $500 to $10,000
- Receive a loan decision in minutes
- Get funds directly to your bank account
- Use the loan for any purpose
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Loan Term | Loan Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 to $10,000 | 5.99% - 35.99% | 3 to 72 Months | See representative example |
Headquartered in Las Vegas, CashUSA.com makes it easy to connect with a state-licensed or tribal lender that can provide you with a short-term unsecured loan that may work for you. The company does not require a credit score or a hard inquiry, although some lenders on its network may. Prequalification requires a monthly after-tax income of at least $1,000 from a reliable source.
- Small personal loans starting at $100
- Receive an approval decision in as little as 2 minutes
- Funds can be deposited into your account in one business day and used for any purpose
- No hidden fees
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Loan Term | Loan Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 to $20,000 | Varies | Varies | See representative example |
SmartAdvances.com may be able to find you a no credit check payday loan. You may be approved in minutes, and your cash will be deposited into your bank account within one business day after approval.
- Loans from $500 to $10,000
- Get connected with a lender
- Simple form & quick funding
- Get your money as soon as next the business day, if approved
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Loan Term | Loan Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 to $10,000 | 5.99% - 35.99% | 3 to 60 Months | See representative example |
The name says it all. Your bad credit score need not prevent you from getting an unsecured loan through the Tacoma-based Bad Credit Loans lender-matching service. You must have a regular monthly income, a valid email address, and a telephone number. Bad Credit Loans can, if you prefer, facilitate a revolving credit line that will give you more control over when to borrow and repay.
- Loans from $250 to $5,000
- Cash deposited directly into your account
- Get money as soon as tomorrow
- Bad credit OK
- More than 750,000 customers since 1998
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Loan Term | Loan Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250 to $5,000 | Varies | Varies | See representative example |
Located in Tampa, CreditLoan.com can quickly prequalify you for a short-term personal loan without checking your credit score or history. This lender-connection service offers many tools on its website, including a loan calculator, which helps explain why it has had more than 33 million visitors since its founding. CreditLoan displays the TRUSTe® seal to spotlight its commitment to your security and privacy.
- Loans from $250 to $35,000
- Large lender network
- Fast loan decision
- Use the loan for any purpose
- Funding as soon as one business day, if approved
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Loan Term | Loan Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250 to $35,000 | 5.99% - 35.99% | 3 to 72 Months | See representative example |
Utah-based MoneyMutual can save you a ton of money by offering short-term signature loans instead of payday loans. You must demonstrate at least $500 a month in income from a dependable source. In addition to lender-matching without a credit check, PersonalLoans can put you in touch with companies that offer debt settlement, credit repair, and credit monitoring services. Only applicants with good credit will qualify for the full $35,000.
What Is a Payday Loan?
A payday loan (or paycheck cash advance) is a short-term bad credit loan designed to keep you afloat until your next payday. As an emergency loan, it is usually available within one day and requires you to repay the full loan amount in one or two weeks when you are next paid. While a payday loan is not technically a secured loan or title loan, it is backed by your next paycheck.
Usually, the lender will debit the payment directly from your bank account. If your account lacks the necessary funds, you’ll be slapped with penalty fees and possibly a higher interest rate.
The biggest advantage of paycheck cash advance loans is that you may be able to get one without a credit check. You will, however, be expected to document enough reliable income to demonstrate your ability to repay the loan on time.
Payday loans are available in two ways:
- Online, with proceeds available in your bank account on the next business day.
- At walk-in payday advance stores, where you can leave with your money in just a few minutes.
For some potential borrowers, repaying a payday loan in a week or two is inconvenient. One alternative is an online short-term installment loan with a repayment term of three to 72 months. You repay these loans with fixed monthly installments for the life of the loan term.
These loans’ interest rates are much lower than those for payday loans, but they are more likely to require a credit check.
Can You Get a Payday Loan Without a Credit Check?
There are two types of credit checks:
- A soft credit check is one that you either initiate yourself or is performed by an entity that is not attempting to open a new credit account on your behalf. It doesn’t harm your credit rating.
- A hard credit check is reserved for when you apply for a loan or new credit card. Your authorization is required in advance — the fine print for most credit applications considers your application submission a grant of authorization.
As mentioned, payday loans may not require a credit check. Note that:
- Prequalification may include a soft credit check and prequalifying doesn’t guarantee that a loan will be offered or approved by the direct lender.
- When a payday lending service connects you to a direct online lender, a hard credit check may follow after you complete the application process. The direct lender is responsible for the final decision on loan approvals, loan amounts, and terms.
Normally, prequalification requires you to:
- Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Be at least 18 of age
- Have sufficient reliable monthly income from a job or benefits
- Allow your income to be verified
- Have an email address
- Have an active checking account
- Have a telephone number
Some payday lending services may ask for additional information, including:
- Your Social Security number
- Your mortgage or rent monthly payment amount
- Your current outstanding loans and credit card balances
It’s a good bet that the direct lender will collect this information if the lender-connecting service doesn’t.
How Do I Apply For a Payday Loan Online?
The application procedure is the same for all of the reviewed lending services, whether you seek a payday advance or a short-term personal loan.
The prequalification process begins when you fill out an online loan request form or answer a series of online loan questions. This step will not impact your credit rating because the lending services do not require a hard pull of your credit history.
If you successfully prequalify, the lending service will send out your loan request on its lending network and attempt to match you to the most appropriate lender. The service will then connect you to the chosen lender, where you’ll be able to continue the process.
If you want to go forward, you’ll need to provide whatever additional information the lender requires. Once you submit the application, the lender may perform a hard pull of your credit report that may hurt your FICO score — typically by five to 10 points, but the impact disappears after one year.
Assuming you pass muster, the lender may make you an offer with specified terms and may give you a loan option or two to consider. Read all the fine print before agreeing to take the loan, which you do by e-signing the loan agreement. The loan proceeds should appear in your bank or credit union account within one or two business days.
When a lending service can’t find you a suitable direct lender, it may send you links for other credit services, such as debt consolidation or debt relief. There is never a fee for using the lending services — they earn an origination fee for each loan successfully completed on their networks.
A payday lender may not do hard credit checks, instead underwriting loans based on other criteria, such as your income. Therefore, payday loans can be easy to get, but it also means that your payment information won’t be sent to a traditional credit bureau, which may have helped you improve your poor credit score (if you made all payments by their due dates).
A payday loan lender may charge even higher interest rates when you request a no-credit-check loan. These lenders understand that you would only make the loan request if you had bad credit. High interest rates are how these lenders protect themselves from the occasional loan default and write-off.
Of course, many critics say that payday loan interest rates are obscenely high despite their riskiness, and we have to agree that triple- and quadruple-digit interest rates make us queasy.
The following summarizes hard and soft credit checks:
Each major credit bureau — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — handles soft and hard inquiries. They employ the FICO scoring system to calculate your credit score, and 10% of that score is determined by the number and frequency of hard inquiries. Hard inquiries remain on your credit report for two years, but your score recovers after the first year.
Some lenders explicitly advertise that they don’t do hard inquiries and instead rely on alternative ways to qualify your loan application. Don’t expect these loans to be cheap, as the lenders know there is something wrong with your credit that requires them to protect themselves from late payments and defaults.
Is There a Loan App that Doesn’t Check Credit?
Yes, cash advance apps are a new entrant to the loan space that allows people to borrow money from their upcoming paychecks with minimal fees and no credit checks. One we recommend is Dave, which has an ExtraCash™ account that lets you borrow up to $500 with no interest or credit check.
You must link your bank account to the app so it can verify that you have at least three recurring bank account deposits to ensure you can repay the advance. You must have at least $1,000/month deposited to qualify, and your bank account must not have been opened fewer than 60 days ago.
Other similar apps you can look into include EarnIn, MoneyLion, and Brigit.
Are Online Payday Loans Legal?
Many states regulate payday loans with regard to their maximum APRs and/or permitted number of rollovers. Some states outlaw payday loans, while others have no policy at all regarding payday loans.
Congress has attempted to tighten control or even get rid of payday loans, to no avail.
What Are the Dangers of Payday Loans?
The danger with payday loans is their elevated interest rates frequently range from 200% to 2,000% or higher. Additionally, payday loans carry high fees for late payments and often require loan rollovers, which are extensions of the due date accompanied by additional fees and interest.
One excuse that a payday lender may use to explain high interest rates is that the rates apply to relatively small loan amounts over short periods. Let’s just say that reality often differs from the ideal.
In the worst-case scenario for payday loans, a borrower cannot repay on time and must roll over the loan again and again, falling further into debt as interest costs and fees compound. This can lead to a terrifying debt spiral that ends badly — in bankruptcy court.
Carefully Consider Payday Loans With No Credit Check
Payday loans with no credit check are fairly easy to get if you have enough income to satisfy the loan provider. These loans can put money in your pocket quickly but will cost much in the way of fees and interest. Consider a short loan term personal loan instead — they are less risky and expensive.
Most of our reviewed lending services offer both types of loans, and you can get more information by clicking the START NOW button. Read all the information first before deciding on a course of action.
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