Q1. What can the personal loans be used for?

There is no restriction on the usage of the personal loan amount. It can be used for almost any type of expense ranging from big-ticket appliance purchases and home renovations to luxury vacations and debt consolidation. Some other cases where personal loans may be useful include payment to unexpected medical bills, investment in the business, fixing your car, down payment of a new house and much more.

Q2. Can I get a personal loan for business purposes?

Yes, you can avail personal finance for business purposes.

Q3. Do I have the option of choosing a fixed or floating rate for the loan?

Yes, you have the option to avail the loan with either a fixed interest rate or a floating one. In case you chose a fixed interest rate loan, the interest rate on the loan will remain fixed through the entire tenure of the loan, whereas in the case of a floating interest rate loan, the interest rate could decline or rise in line with the changes in the Bank’s Medium Term Lending Rate (SBMTLR).

Q4. What are the stages involved in taking a loan?

There are three main stages involved in taking a loan –

• Application – Whereby you submit a completely filled in application with all necessary documents.
• Sanction – Whereby you get an approval for a specific loan amount based on the value of your property and repayment capabilities.
• Disbursement – Whereby the loan amount is disbursed.

Q5. How is the personal loan disbursed?

Once you get approved for a personal loan, you may either receive an account payee cheque/draft equal to the loan amount or get the money deposited automatically into your savings account electronically.

Q6. Do I have to pledge some form of security?

No security is required.

Q7. What is a guarantor?

A guarantor is an individual who takes the guarantee to pay for someone else’s debt in case the person, for whom the guarantee is taken, defaults on the payment of the loan.

Q8. Do I have to provide a guarantor for taking a personal loan?

A personal loan is an unsecured loan. And this means that there is no need to provide either a security or a guarantor.

Q9. Can I apply for a personal loan jointly with my spouse?

Yes, you can apply for a personal loan with your spouse. A personal loan can be applied either by yourself (single) or together with a co-applicant (jointly).The co-applicant needs to be a family member like your spouse or parents.  By getting a co-borrower, your loan application will be processed in a higher income bracket, enabling you to avail a larger loan amount.

Q10. Can I club my income with my spouse’s income to take a personal loan?

Yes, you can club your income with your spouse’s income to take a personal loan. It will help you to increase your income level and then you can easily opt for a higher loan amount. This will boost your chances of getting a higher loan amount personal loan.

Q11. How can I repay my personal loan?

Some unsecured business loans can be repaid in equal monthly installments (EMIs). You can provide a post-dated cheque or can give a standing order with your bank or through electronic transfer.

Q12. Can I repay the Personal loan earlier?

Yes, you can choose to repay your loan any time after 12 months of taking the loan and after you have paid 12 EMIs along with applicable foreclosure charges

Q13. Is part-prepayment allowed for personal loans?

It depends on the bank from which you have taken the loan. Some banks might allow pre-payment but not part-prepayment. And if they allow pre-payment then they might charge a pre-payment fee for it. So check all the documents before finalizing the bank.

Q14. How many days does it take for the bank to disburse the personal loan amount?

Banks disburse the loan within 72 hours to 7 working days provided all the documents are in place.

Q15. Do I need to open a bank account to get a personal loan?

Yes, it is mandatory to have a bank account when you apply for a personal loan. But it is not necessary that you have an account with the same bank from which you are applying for a personal loan. If you apply for a personal loan from the bank in which you have an account then you will be eligible for the relationship discount.

Q16. What is a relationship discount?

Relationship discount is an additional benefit that is provided by the banks or lenders to a prospective applicant if they have a pre-existing relationship with the lender. Such pre-existing relationship may include having a salary/savings account with the bank or having an existing credit card, fixed deposit or loan with the prospective lender.  The banks may provide you discounts when applying for loans.

Q17. Will the banks check my CIBIL score when reviewing my application?

Yes, the banks check your CIBIL score and your credit history when reviewing your application. The minimum CIBIL score requirement is a score of750.

Q18. Are there any tax benefits associated with a personal loan?

Personal loans usually have no tax benefits, however, in case you take a personal loan for home renovations/down payment, you may be eligible for income tax deduction under section 24. However, this tax benefit is limited to only the interest on the loan and not the principal amount. Also, you would have to furnish proper receipts to claim a deduction.

Q19. How to decide which bank/financial institution to take the loan from?

It is better when you compare the banks and the NBFCs when you plan to take a personal loan. Some of the key factors to consider when deciding on a loan provider include interest rates, loan tenure, processing fees and others. You can use online tools like loan eligibility calculator and personal loan EMI calculator to compare between different lenders.

Q20. Can a personal loan affect my credit score?

Taking a personal loan itself will affect your credit score. And if you do not repay the loan on time then it will definitely result in degradation of your credit score. So you should be very clear when you plan to take a loan as it would affect your credit score and reduce your chances of taking a loan in future.