Every direct lender will have requirements that a person must meet before they can apply and be accepted for a loan. These criteria are set by the lender to ensure they are likely to be repaid and to help protect you from financial difficulty. Checking eligibility is vital before applying for a short term loan with cashasap.co.uk, or with any lender, to maximise your chances of being accepted.
Read more to learn about how eligibility works, why it’s important to have it in place, as well as why it’s important for you to check it, and what our short term loan eligibility requirements are at cashasap.co.uk.
What Is Loan Eligibility?
Loan eligibility describes the criteria that a person must meet in order to be considered for a loan. They’re the basic requirements that, once met, mean your loan application will be considered.
Short term loan eligibility criteria are not in place to catch you out or to discriminate against you. Instead, they’re there to protect people who might not be able to afford to pay back a loan from future financial difficulty.
It’s important to note that meeting eligibility criteria for a short term loan does not necessarily mean that your loan application will be accepted. The requirements are the basic checklist that you need to tick off in order to apply. Once you’ve met these, we’ll then look at your credit file and conduct an affordability assessment before approving your application for a cashasap.co.uk loan.
Who Sets Eligibility Criteria?
A direct lender is responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria. However, cashasap.co.uk is regulated and authorised by the FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority. In order to be authorised, we have to meet certain regulations, rules and principles within the way we operate. This means that FCA guidance and rules impact the eligibility criteria that we specify for our loans.
If we, or any direct lender, specified criteria that were unfair or unjust to a potential borrower, we would be in breach of the FCA rules and our regulator would take action. Similarly, if we failed to protect people who were at risk of financial difficulty by not specifying certain eligibility criteria, then we would be being irresponsible and similarly be at risk of losing our credibility and FCA authorisation. This means that although a lender specifies their own criteria, it is heavily influenced by official regulations.
cashasap.co.uk is a responsible lender and we want to do what we can to ensure that every person is protected from financial difficulty and treated fairly.
Why Check Eligibility Criteria?
Every lender will specify their short term loan eligibility criteria and make this easily accessible to any potential borrowers, but it’s your responsibility to read the requirements before applying for a loan.
If you apply for a loan when you’re not eligible, it doesn’t just waste your time but it can also harm your likelihood of being approved for future loans. As part of the loan application process we will run a ‘hard check’ on your credit file and all hard checks are recorded so future lenders can see them. The file doesn’t include whether you were approved for the loan or not, but will show that you applied.
If you are declined a loan because you don’t meet the eligibility criteria, then your record will still show that you have applied. If you then apply for another loan with a different lender where you do meet the criteria, they will see that you have previously applied for a loan. This could suggest to them that you are in financial difficulty and are less likely to be able to pay the money back, reducing your chances of being approved.
It’s also important to check the eligibility criteria before applying in order to protect yourself from financial difficulty. Short term loan eligibility requirements are put in place to protect you from financial problems, preventing you from applying if it seems likely that you will struggle to pay back a loan -- if you’re not employed, for example. If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria for a loan that you feel you need, then you should seek financial help from a charity or other authority such as The Money Advice Service who can offer you guidance and support.
If you do meet the criteria but are unsure as to whether you would be able to repay a loan, you shouldn’t proceed with the application. Only apply for instalment and payday loans when you know that you will be able to repay the money.
Short Term Loan Eligibility Requirements
Our short term loan eligibility criteria at cashasap.co.uk are standard for the industry, designed to ensure we act responsibly as lenders. However, it’s your responsibility as a borrower to read our criteria before making any applications.
We have five key eligibility criteria that we require of potential borrowers.
18 or over
We only consider applications from those who are aged 18 or over. This ensures that every borrower can make a fully informed decision and are responsible for their own financial position and money. We will never lend to anyone under the age of 18 in order to protect children and young people.
Employed
We require that anyone requesting a loan is in part or full-time employment. We have a responsibility to lend only to those who are likely to repay loans on time and won’t find themselves in further financial difficulty, which is why we only lend to people that have a stable income. However, you also have a responsibility to pay the money back on time and to meet your repayment dates.
UK Resident
You must live in the UK in order to be considered for a short term loan from cashasap.co.uk. We ask for this information during your application and use it and information held by the CRAs (credit reference agencies) to verify your identity and address.
The easiest way to ensure that this process runs smoothly is to be registered on the electoral roll; it makes verifying your identity and information much easier and therefore will increase the likelihood of loan approval.
UK Bank Account (And Debit Card)
It’s necessary for you to have a UK bank account with an associated debit card in order to apply for a short term loan. This is because money from approved loans are transferred into a bank account, rather than as physical cash. It’s essential that you have a bank account in order to be able to receive money for the loan.
Mobile Number & Email
We need a mobile number and an email address as part of the loan application process. We use both of these to verify your application and confirm the information provided. It’s also essential that we’re able to contact your throughout the loan period. You won’t be able to complete the application process without both a mobile number and an email address.
I’m Eligible For A Short Term Loan, What’s Next?
If you’ve met all the short term loan eligibility criteria, then it is possible for you to apply for a cashasap.co.uk instalment or payday loan.
However, while the criteria is in place to help ensure that you’re likely to be able to pay back any loans, it’s important to understand that it is ultimately your responsibility. You should only apply for a loan that you will be able to pay back on time. If you meet the criteria but are unsure whether you will be able to pay back borrowed money, then you shouldn’t apply but seek support from financial help services and charities.
If you know that you will be able to pay back the loan on time and meet the criteria, then you can apply through our website.
Meeting eligibility criteria does not guarantee loan success. Once we receive your application, we then look at your credit file history and conduct an affordability assessment of your application. This includes things such as previous loans and repayment history. The success of your short term loan application will depend on whether we think the loan is going to be affordable for you and our assessment of how likely you are to be a reliable borrower.
