How Quickly Can You Get a Personal Loan?

A personal loan is a flexible option for those who need to borrow money. When you take out a personal loan, you can pretty much use the money for anything since the funds are deposited into your checking account. You'll most likely get a lower interest rate with a personal loan than with a credit card too, with the average personal loan rate coming in at 11.48% as of February 2023 (compared with 20.09% for credit cards). 

If you're thinking about getting a personal loan, you may be wondering how long the process will take you -- especially if you have pressing expenses to pay. Here's what you should know about the timeline for getting personal loan funding.

You may be able to get a personal loan faster than you think

Before you start to apply for a personal loan, you may assume it will take a long time to submit your application, get approved, and have your money deposited into your bank account. But that is not necessarily the case. 

In fact, a number of different lenders will allow you to submit an application online, get approved within a few minutes, and get your borrowed money deposited into your account in as little as 24 hours or even the same day you applied. 

This can be faster even than gaining access to credit if you apply for a new credit card, as you may have to wait for the card to come in the mail before you can get the number and begin making charges on it. 

It's important not to shop for a loan based on speed alone 

Although it's good news that you can get a speedy loan if you have pressing expenses to pay and must borrow ASAP, it's also important to remember that you should not just focus on the timeline for getting your money when you pick a personal loan lender.

There are a lot of lenders out there that know people searching for fast loans are sometimes in desperate need of money -- and some of those lenders unscrupulously try to prey upon those who are in dire financial need. As a result, if you search online for fast loans or instant loans, you could find yourself dealing with companies that offer you a pretty bad deal. 

This isn't the case for all lenders that act quickly -- some are great, and provide competitive terms. But, you need to make certain you are looking at the big picture to find the right place to borrow from. This means you should check:

• The interest rate: If the rate is well above the average at the time you're applying and you don't have bad credit, then you should look elsewhere for a different loan. There's no need to pay a high rate for fast money when some personal loan lenders with competitive rates make loans available quickly. 
• The timeline to pay: If you have a very short time to pay back your loan, you may be unable to do so and forced to borrow again, incurring additional costs. 
• Upfront fees: Try to avoid lenders charging origination fees or imposing any other upfront costs.
• Prepayment penalties: You don't want to borrow from a lender who is going to charge you more to pay off your loan sooner.

By considering all of these issues, you stand a better chance of finding a good personal loan that gets you the money you need when you need it.