Despite your best efforts, there may still be times when you find yourself faced with an urgent need for cash. Instead of stressing out over events that were likely out of your control, it’s best to deal with the problem as soon as you can.
A bank loan can help, but you will only be able to get one if you meet the many personal loan eligibility criteria. Also, you may need to wait a few days before you can get your loan, which may cause you further anxiety.
If you’d rather not deal with a bank, consider approaching a legalised money lender in Singapore, pawn shop, or even your car dealer for some alternative (and legal) ways to get fast cash in Singapore.
Let’s take a closer look at four such options.
Personal loan
Banks aren’t the only ones who offer personal loans; you can also get one from a licensed moneylender.
Licensed moneylender personal loans are unsecured loans that you can use in any way you deem fit. Because they are unsecured loans, there is no need to put up something of value as collateral. Also, the requirements aren’t as strict as with a bank loan – only a minimum credit check is required, for instance – which means they are easier to get.
For these reasons, licensed moneylender personal loans are a highly flexible and convenient option for those looking for fast cash in Singapore. In particular, look out for fast cash loans, which can be approved in as little as 20 minutes.
Advantages: Easy to get with minimum credit checks required.
Disadvantages: High interest of up to 4% per month, plus up to 10% admin fee.
Payday loan
Licensed moneylenders also offer payday loans, which is a type of short-term unsecured loan designed to help bridge shortfalls in your budget until your next paycheck.
Here’s how a payday loan works: Say you’ve run out of money and it’s still a few more days until your salary is credited. An emergency crops up and you need money to deal with it right now.
Provided your next paycheck is sufficient to cover the cost of the emergency, you can apply for a payday loan to get your salary early (minus admin fees) and allow you to solve the emergency.
You then use your paycheck to pay off the payday loan and the interest charged on it.
Advantages: Convenient and fast option to solve the month-end shortfall.
Disadvantages: High interest of up to 4% per month, plus up to 10% admin fee.
Pawn shop loan
Pawn shops allow you to trade in items of value and receive cash in return. Unlike selling your items to another party, you can get back the item you pawned by paying to redeem your pledge. You can do this in one lump sum, or over several instalments.
Alternatively, you can also choose not to redeem or extend your pledge – which has a validity period of up to six months. This will then allow the pawnbroker to sell or auction off the items you formerly owned as they see fit.
In this way, pawn shops can be used to generate a loan for those who are looking for fast cash in Singapore. There are also no credit checks required, as the loan is based solely on the value of the pawned item.
However, this also means that how big a loan you can get will depend on what items of value you have on hand.
To better understand what pawning entails, learn about the basics of pawning from the Singapore Pawnbrokers’ Association and get a pawn shop loan with ease.
Advantages: Allows you to convert valuable items into cash, with the option to get your items back. Also, no credit checks are required.
Disadvantages: Requires you to have items of value in your possession. Also, pawn shops may not offer you a fair value for your items, and interest is charged on your pledge.
Cash-out refinancing loan
Cash-out refinancing allows you to convert the equity in an asset you own into cash. You can do this if you own an asset, such as a car. Here’s a simple example to illustrate how it works.
Let’s say your car is worth S$80,000 and you have a balance of S$20,000 in your car loan. You can approach a dealer to refinance your car loan for up to S$80,000 to pay off the remaining S$20,000, and take the difference of S$60,000 in cash (the “cash out”).
Of course, this means you’ll now have a loan of S$80,0000 to pay off, but if used carefully and with good planning, cash-out refinancing can be a reliable way to get fast cash in Singapore.
Also, car loans have low interest rates, which makes this method a good way to pay off high-interest debt, such as credit cards.
Advantages: Can generate large sums of cash, depending on how much equity you own in your car.
Disadvantage: Extends your financial commitments, so requires planning.
Which is the best way to get fast cash in Singapore?
There are several options available to those in need of fast cash in Singapore, but each has its characteristics, benefits, and drawbacks.
Which one you should choose will depend on your circumstances, including how much you need to borrow, what valuables you have, and how much have you paid into your car loan.
For most borrowers, the most flexible choice would be a personal loan or payday loan from a licensed moneylender; these do not require you to trade in your valuables or own an asset and neither do they require credit checks to apply.
Synergy Credit offers short-term, unsecured loans that suit a wide range of needs and purposes. Talk to our friendly consultants about our low-interest fast cash loan and apply today.