iCash leads the industry with highest approval rates
It can often be a challenge to get approved for from a bank or traditional financial institution. The process itself is quite lengthy and detailed in many cases and typically, banks have fairly high bars for consumers in terms of lending requirements.
The net result is that many consumers have had to deal with loan applications that were declined, uncertainty, and a rising level of stress over their financial situation. There is a myriad of reasons why banks and financial institutions may not approve a particular loan or credit application but that doesn’t help provide the access to credit that many customers so desperately need.
Fortunately, there are alternatives to banks and traditional money lenders. Over the years, new and innovative credit options like iCash have come to the market. This is especially true with the growth of technology, connectivity, and changing global financial regulations following the financial crisis of the late 2000s.
New private direct lenders have risen to fill gaps left by traditional lenders and help Canadians who have had their loan application declined by highly-regulated banks and institutional lenders. One such alternative option is an online direct lender, iCash.
Read on to learn about iCash, why banks decline loan applications from Canadian customers, how and why we can approve 9 out of 10 Canadians who apply for express loans, what makes iCash different and much more.
We’ll also discuss some of the most common reasons why consumers need to gain access to credit, and how those needs can be met with iCash.
Online Loans in Canada with iCash
iCash provides online loans in Canada and is focused on revolutionizing direct-to-consumer lending. Simply put, as a company and as a brand, we want to provide consumers with the opportunity to borrow money that they need to help them manage their finances, improve their financial situation, and live better lives.
Canadians can get a cash loans and unsecured personal loans of as much as $1,500 with flexible repayment options, and no collateral requirements. The entire loan application process is digital and online, which saves customers time and money plus it’s very convenient.
iCash is fully certified and licensed to operate in Canada.
We are regulated by the provincial governments in every province in which we operate. This gives consumers the protection of provincial financial regulations and laws providing the full confidence that, though iCash isn’t a bank or traditional lender, taking out a loan with us is completely safe, secure, and a great option when banks have said no.
It is far easier to qualify for a loan with iCash than with traditional lenders like banks. Coupled with the convenience and speed, it means that many customers who have been turned down by banks can still get an online loan even if they have bad credit.
A Common Scenario of an Everyday Canadian
Let’s look at a hypothetical common scenario that a customer may encounter as they attempt to secure funds or borrow money with a traditional lender, like a bank.
John is in a bit of a financial pickle. He has a good job, and makes decent money, though never seems to be able to get ahead on his finances. He pays his bills on time, maybe has a late payment here or there, but nothing major. A few years back he had a much harder time, after he lost his job and couldn’t find a new one for quite a while. As a result, his credit report suffered, with several missed bill payments, and mounting debt. But things have turned around for John, and he’s been doing quite well lately. That is, he was, until Friday, when his car broke down on the way to work.
His car isn’t that old, he only got it about 5 years ago. But it simply stopped running while he was waiting at a traffic light last Friday, and he couldn’t get it to start again. After the tow truck took it to the nearest auto garage, the mechanic looked it over. John’s car needs some major work that’s going to end up costing him around $2,000, according to the estimate. John doesn’t have $2,000 sitting around in his home or bank accounts. He can come up with a portion of that, but definitely needs $1,000 or more in the form of instant loans to make up the difference.
John’s wife picked him up, at least her car is doing okay, and he set to work that weekend trying to figure out how he can get the money he needs to fix his car. John logged on to his bank’s website and after spending nearly an hour there, he was able to get an appointment at his local branch office for Monday.
On Monday, his wife took him to the bank (meaning she had to be late to work herself, along with John missing time at work). John spent another hour and a half talking to a loan officer and filling out paperwork. After more waiting, the loan officer told him they wouldn’t be able to offer him the $1,000 loan he wanted, as his credit score was too low.
He pleaded with the loan officer, explained that he had a good job and got paid $1,800 every two weeks, and could definitely pay back the loan, but the decision was final. John had to call his wife to come pick him up and take him to work, so he could at least make some money for that day. That night when they got home, his wife and he sat around the dinner table, at a loss as to how to move forward and get John’s car repairs paid for.
The Reasons Banks Decline Loan Applications
Sadly, stories like John’s are all too common in Canada. Too often, customers can’t gain access to emergency loans because they haven’t met one or more of the basic lending criteria that a bank or financial institution might have.
Banks use different criteria to measure risk as well as the likelihood of a customer defaulting on the loan (not paying it back).
In many cases, a lot of these decisions don’t even rest with the bank or the lender directly as there are numerous regulations that commercial banks and other traditional lenders must meet, in part to remain solvent in their operations that have nothing to do with lending.
Banks and traditional lenders often decline customer loans for one of five main reasons:
1. A low credit score, or derogatory information in their credit report. This can include erroneous information due to identity theft and other events beyond the control of the borrower themselves (and correcting those errors can take a considerable amount of effort and time).
2. No credit score or history, or a limited credit history. Not having a bunch of outstanding loans or debts is generally a good thing, but when it comes to establishing credit, it leaves consumers with a limited credit history, which can adversely affect their ability to obtain loans or other credit from banks.
3. Prior declaration of bankruptcy, even if the bankruptcy process was successfully used to improve an individual’s financial situation.
4. Prior accounts referred to collection agencies or a collection firm. That usually happens due to non-payment, late payments, or other delinquencies on an account.
5. Having gone through a divorce, or currently going through a divorce, as this makes determining assets, income, credit, and other lending criteria hard to determine and fairly fluid.
In truth, the bar is fairly high in many cases in order to obtain a loan from a bank or traditional lender. What constitutes a good credit score vs. a bad one, and where that line is drawn can eliminate a large portion of the Canadian population by essentially self-limiting the group of eligible customers to only those at the higher end of financial stability, credit scores, and good financial health.
The most challenging aspect of this reality is that Canadians who often need access to credit the most, have the hardest time obtaining cash loans or access to credit with traditional lenders.
It’s a cycle that sees many distressed Canadians turn to riskier means of obtaining money, such as falling for scams or schemes to make money on the side, or even resorting to other means. That shouldn’t be forced on anyone or seen as the only hope or option for anyone.
But that’s where non-bank lenders and innovative financing companies like iCash come into play and can be a lifesaver for Canadians who have been rejected by traditional lenders and banks.
Why iCash Approves 9/10 Customers Who have been Declined by Banks
Naturally, you may wonder how a firm like iCash can approve Canadians who need to borrow money or give them access to credit, when those same customers have been declined by banks. Shouldn’t that mean those customers are too great a risk to trust with loaned funds or responsible use of credit? No!
First, it’s important to understand that commercial banks and financial institutions have to conform to various regulations for liquidity and risk management. These regulations are designed to ensure the solvency of the bank or financial firm, and to prevent them from making high-risk loans (at the expense of jeopardizing deposits, savings, and investments with the firm). Private lenders like iCash don’t have these same kinds of restrictions, since they don’t offer savings, checking, or investment services like a commercial bank.
Many banks and traditional financial institution lenders have complex risk-management rules and departments within their operations. They perform actuarial analyses to figure out how to ensure the bank makes the most money and cuts off access to all of those customers where the perceived risk to the bank would be greater than the financial reward, the interest and fees from the loan.
When it comes to traditional banks and lenders, much of the risk determination made is based on credit history and credit score. There are also other requirements for many bank loans and credit products, with the criteria, scores, or ranges set fairly high for most of those requirements. Essentially, high-risk products with low returns, such as relatively small loans or limited amounts of credit, are just not worth the risk for these firms. Therefore, the requirements are set as a barrier to entry, to automatically filter out and reject a large portion of the population who present any kind of less-than-perfect risk model to the bank.
iCash believes, however, that customers are more than just a credit score or a risk, and that everyone in Canada should be entitled to borrow money. Credit scores don’t tell the whole story about a person’s financial health. And while it can serve as an indicator of the risk or likelihood of repaying the loan or responsibly using credit, it’s by no means the only factor. Too often, bad decisions or mistakes in the past can follow customers around like a shadow for years and years, limiting their access to credit, despite their responsible financial behavior.
Banks take a defensive approach, by imposing high barriers to entry. iCash takes the opposite approach and has very minimal requirements to qualify. While a credit check is performed as part of the approval process, there is no minimum credit score required to qualify at iCash. Past or current divorce, limited credit history, past accounts referred to collections, and similar challenges are not disqualifying.
As a company we are much more concerned with customer income and the stability of that income which we use as a primary metric for determining whether or not a customer is qualified for an emergency loan.
The end goal is to provide as much funding as possible to Canadians, within their financial means to repay the loan.
That doesn’t mean everyone gets approved, of course. Risk is still considered a part of the equation. But what it does mean is this startling statistic: **9 out of 10 Canadians who have been declined by banks or traditional lenders are approved by iCash. **
How iCash Works
So, how exactly does the lending process at iCash work? How can Canadians who have been declined by a bank get access to credit and the funds they need? It’s actually quite a simple process.
First, customers log on to the iCash.ca site and fill out the loan application. Everything is digital, and there are no documentation requirements associated with the application. Customers select the desired amount of their loan, and whether they want to repay it in a single lump-sum, two or three flexible payments. The application form asks for basic information about the applicant, their income, finances, and a few more very basic questions. For most customers, it takes less than 10 minutes to complete the quick online loan application and submit it.
Next, your application will be reviewed by our software which analyzes all of the application information. Our software reviews your credit score and compiles that information along with the customer’s application to arrive at an approval decision and loan amount.
The software seeks to determine if a customer has the financial means to repay the loan, and whether or not the loan amount is reasonable based on their reported income and other factors. And because it’s all digital, all of this happens near-instantaneously. The end result is that customers receive an approval decision right away. They do not have to wait days or weeks as would be the case with traditional banks.
Once your cash loan is approved, customers simply digitally sign their agreement and funds are then released. Since everything is done online, funds can be released 24/7, immediately upon receipt of your signed loan agreement. This means that most Canadians receive their e-transfer in as little as 5 minutes!
What Makes iCash Different
In addition to all of the differences between iCash and traditional banks that have been highlighted above, there are numerous features and aspects of iCash that set it apart – not only from banks and traditional lenders, but from other online lenders and alternative financing firms as well. Just some of these positives include:
Customers with lower credit rating can apply for bad credit loans in Canada guaranteed* approval with iCash, even when they’ve been turned down by banks or traditional lenders.
Opening an account at iCash is free. There are no monthly or annual fees or service fees like with bank accounts.
There are no application fees at iCash.
No documents need to be provided as part of the application process. This also means no mailing, no faxing, and no notarizing of anything.
The pre-approval process and loan application process takes just minutes.
Customers can apply or get approved anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The application and funding processes are entirely digital and online, meaning customers only need their computer, tablet, or smartphone and Internet access to apply.
The application itself takes only around 10 minutes to fill out for the vast majority of customers.
iCash utilizes advanced encryption technology and safety systems to keep personal and financial information safe and secure.
There are no hidden fees or charges with iCash, ever. The interest rates/cost of borrowing is clearly presented in plain English as part of the loan agreement.
Funds can be available within as little as 5 minutes following receipt of a signed loan agreement.
iCash is Canadian-based, with Canadian-based support that cares about providing outstanding customer service.
iCash offers Cashback member rewards, allowing customers to earn progressive and unlimited cash back on the cost of borrowing.
Repayment is easy and effortless, with automatic debiting from a customer’s chosen bank account as per the loan agreement.
Top Reasons Why Canadians Need Access to Credit
Some might naturally wonder what are the best uses of an express loans from iCash. Specifically, what are some of the top reasons why customers need access to quick loans? Everyone is of course different, and the potential uses for a loan are numerous and varied.
Some of the top reasons that Canadians have mentioned over and over again as their rationale for using us for their short-term loans needs are listed below:
Bill and Expense Payments
Managing large bills or surprise expenses can be difficult, even for those in good financial health. For those who are already struggling or living paycheck-to-paycheck, a single surprise or emergency bill can seem like a death sentence. It instigates a great deal of stress, anxiety, worry and harsh choices that no one should have to make.
A loan from iCash can help alleviate all those negatives and allow Canadians to pay their bills as well as their expenses.
Auto Repairs and Upgrades
It’s no surprise to anyone that auto repairs are expensive. Little things add up fast, especially when combined with the skilled labor of auto garage technicians in the mix.
For most people, a car is essential and cannot sit idle – it needs to be repaired when something goes wrong or breaks down but finding funds for such a problem – like in our hypothetical scenario earlier – can be extremely difficult.
Even under ideal circumstances, finding money to pay for repairs or vehicle upgrades is a challenge.
iCash can help with flexible solutions to meet the differing needs of individual consumers. We are open year round and can even help you with weekend loans should the need come up when traditional banks are closed.
Leisure and Vacations
Not every use of credit or loans needs to be for a bill or necessary expense. Fun, travel, and entertainment are allowed, too! In fact, there are no restrictions on how Canadians use the funds from iCash.
Many people are able to find the extra cash required for a much-needed vacation alone, with a spouse, or with their family.
Home Repairs and Renovations
Like auto repairs, home repairs, renovations, improvement projects, and so on tend to be a major strain on most people’s finances. Necessary repairs, replacement of appliances, additions on a home, and related projects may be planned or maybe surprise expenses, depending on the circumstances.
In every case, an online loan from iCash can help Canadians get the funding they need to fix up and improve their homes.
Concluding Thoughts
If you need a same day loan, we can help. It doesn’t matter if you have poor credit history or have been declined for a loan from a bank.
With numerous benefits and features to set us apart from the competition, iCash should be the first and only choice for anyone in need of a cash short-term loan.
We are committed to providing outstanding service to as many Canadians as possible in as easy and straightforward a process as possible, to allow customers to improve their financial situation and live a better life.
Loan amounts are subject to net pay and other qualification requirements.
