Where to Get Fast Cash Loans

Navigate your cash loan options and find out where do you go to get the funds fast.

Written by 
Savvy Editorial Team
Savvy's content writing team are professionals with a wide and diverse range of industry experience and topic knowledge. We write across a broad spectrum of finance-related topics to provide our readers with informative resources to help them learn more about a certain area or enable them to decide on which product is best for their needs with careful comparison. Meet the team behind the operation here. Visit our authors page to meet Savvy's expert writing team, committed to delivering informative and engaging content to help you make informed financial decisions.
Our authors
, updated on September 12th, 2023       

Fact checked

At Savvy, we are committed to providing accurate information. Our content undergoes a rigorous process of fact-checking before it is published. Learn more about our editorial policy.

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$50,000


Paid in 60 mins if approved*
Written by 
Savvy Editorial Team
Savvy's content writing team are professionals with a wide and diverse range of industry experience and topic knowledge. We write across a broad spectrum of finance-related topics to provide our readers with informative resources to help them learn more about a certain area or enable them to decide on which product is best for their needs with careful comparison. Meet the team behind the operation here. Visit our authors page to meet Savvy's expert writing team, committed to delivering informative and engaging content to help you make informed financial decisions.
Our authors
, updated on September 12th, 2023       

Fact checked

At Savvy, we are committed to providing accurate information. Our content undergoes a rigorous process of fact-checking before it is published. Learn more about our editorial policy.

Cash loans offer Aussies the flexibility to get cash fast when life throws them a financial curveball. Usually the requirements come at you unexpectedly and so getting access fast is important. But where do you begin? And where do you go to get the funds fast?

The below guide will navigate the different options that are available to you. There are a number of options available to Aussies nationwide who need access a cash loan, so let's break it down.

Direct online lenders

Direct online lenders offer a great opportunity to get access to funds quickly. Most online direct lenders have adapted to instant online loan offerings over the last few years by developing bespoke loan origination software that has the capacity to deliver offers online and quick through online application forms, automated upload of bank statements and other supporting documents. This online origination allows lenders to put together all of your financial data quickly, into a loan engine, producing a result within minutes. 

Store fronts - offline

Store fronts refer to your traditional cash loan lender stores. These stores are usually located in malls, popular strips in the suburbs where people go and do their shopping. These store fronts are usually quite small stores that require just a counter and maybe a few staff. Store fronts, historically have been quite popular as it allows you to get the cash in hand in the one visit. Apart from that, typical store fronts also offered you the service of cashing your check if you didn’t have a bank account and received your salary through a cheque. Cashing your cheque or depositing a cheque into a bank account was always much cheaper and usually free but that did require you to have a bank account. Whereas a cash loan lender would charge around 10%. This service is hardly used today due to a technology shift in money payments infrastructure and almost everyone now having a bank account.

As we have moved into a more digitally enabled society whereby most of us now receive our pay through EFT (electronic fund transfer) rather than “cash in an envelope” or a “cheque” the need to go in store to cash your pay has dramatically decreased. The other major benefit of going in store was that if you brought all your necessary supporting documents and received approval you would be able to leave with cash in your hand. That was and is quite efficient, but this benefit has, also however, started to disappear due to the majority of us opting to use our bank cards mostly now rather than cash. This plus the ability for lenders to deposit money in your account within sometimes 60 minutes allowing you to continue to work, borrow from home, in private or wherever you may be is slowly making the store front obsolete.

Pawnbrokers

Pawnbrokers, similarly to store fronts, predominately operate bricks and mortar retail premises. This distribution model still makes total sense and is very popular because pawnbrokers have multiple services that they provide on top of your unsecured loans. Pawnbrokers traditionally have been a place where you can either sell or pawn second hand goods. When pawning a second hand item the pawnbroker will give you a percentage of the value of the item in cash, if you don’t return to pay back the money, the pawnbroker would then keep the second hand item. This was used as collateral and would be placed in the pawnbroking store for re-sale. Pawnbrokers have been around for a very long time and is a large global industry made up of many independent stores and franchises. Some pawnbrokers specialize in certain product categories, others are very general in nature and some offer only high end pawnbroker for the rich and famous.     

Although many assume that the Pawnbroker was the inventor of the cash loan, its surprising that they were actually not, they did however quickly move into the business as it fit perfectly within their existing current business model. Instead of requiring a second hand item to use as collateral, they began to offer unsecured cash loans for more credit worthy customers that would come into their store’s, and it has boomed. Pawnbrokers are now large lenders in this space, and for most pawnbrokers., cash lending is usually the biggest part of their business compared to their traditional pawnbroking activities. 

Online Marketplaces

The other option is an online marketplace for short-term lenders, a marketplace brings together a range of participating lenders. No lender is created equal, all are unique in the sense that they have different appetites to risk and prepared to accept certain aspects of one’s profile that maybe another lender may not.

There are many reasons as to why this would be the case. Some lenders might have institutional funding, the institutions may not accept lending to centrelink recipients as an example, other lenders may be smaller and backed by Mum’s and Dad’s & or private investors, these investors may not care too much about centrelink earners.

Some lenders may have developed the necessarily skills to collect from casual employees. Others may  understand a particular industry that the borrower works in, for example hospitality, the lender may be comfortable and experienced in dealing with borrowers that have fluctuating income. 

The benefits of a lending market place is that it gives your profile the ability to be showcased to a number of lenders without it affecting your credit score. By being able to present your application to multiple lenders at once instantaneously this gives the best chance of securing the best finance deal from the lender for your profile. 

Who’s the winner?

In our view, a marketplace most definitely provides the most value to the end consumer, a direct lender operates only with the one set of loan policies, if you fall outside of them, you will get declined and waste your time. Store fronts and pawnbrokers is an inconvenient option in today’s modern society.

A marketplace gives you all the benefits:

  • Multiple lender options giving you all the choice you need
  • Online approvals – convenience
  • Fast settlements – instant approvals and cash in bank within an hour or maximum 24 hours

At Savvy, we operate a short-term marketplace, we do so because it’s a clear winner for our customers. 

Why apply for a small loan with Savvy?

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Disclaimer:

The information on this website is of general nature and does not take into consideration your objectives, financial situation or needs.

For loans between $2,050 and $5,000, the APR is between 21.24% (minimum) and 48% (maximum) per annum. Comparison rate of 65.4962%. Minimum term is 16 days and maximum term is 24 months. The cost of the loan is a $400 establishment fee and monthly interest charged on the amount borrowed. For example, a loan of $3,000 over 3 months with an APR of 48%, (comparison rate of 65.4962%), will have an establishment fee of $400, monthly repayments of $1,225.20. Total repayments of $3,675.60 and total interest payment of $275.60.

Warning: A comparison rate indicates the true cost of a loan. Comparison rates are true only for the examples provided and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.