How long does it take to get a loan?

12/04/2021

Obtaining a loan has always been a difficult process, and this is due to the development of banks' security measure through the years. People who need money to refurbish/renew their house or to fund their new startup don't know how long it will take to effectively get one. Obviously, the actual time varies from bank to bank, but we will try to make an average.

How much time does it take to get the money into your bank account?

When speaking about the whole process of requesting a loan it's to be considered as the period of time between the moment you contact your bank and the moment the money gets into your pockets. The unit of measurement is usually days or weeks, but in case some complications show up and the bank need some more documents or they introduce additional parameters, it would be possible that we are talking about a month or two.

Nevertheless this process can be sped up by requesting from an online lender: while asking for a loan by getting an appointment with the bank may enlarge the application and approval time by some days, filling in a form on your PC takes 20 minutes at most and the approval should be done within 3 days.

Getting a loan from an online lender

Online loans have been a revolutionary element for banks and requesters as they provide many advantages which have accelerated the lending operation. The approval and receiving times are more or less the same as traditional banks:

Online lenders' application time - as mentioned above, the process of application is very short and could take from 10 to 20 minutes because it just consists of answering a couple of questions about your Social Security number in the U.S. (National Insurance Number in the U.K.) and about your income, and if you decide to proceed you'll have to send the necessary documents to jump to the approval phase.
Online lenders' approval time - It varies by application, but the usual verification time is not longer than a week
Online lenders' funding time - Each company has its own time but normally it does not take more than seven business days.
Total online lenders' loaning time - from 3 days to a week

Online lender

Getting a loan from a traditional bank or a credit union

Some people would prefer to rely on a local bank and think about the possible solutions on offer:

Banks' application time - there are many ways the application can be done, either by filling in an online form on the bank's website or by talking with a bank representative at your local branch, discussing the possibilities and filling in a paper form. The total application time necessary would be about an hour.
Banks' approval time - with some lenders it's possible to get the money the same day as the application if requested, but most of the banks do not support this kind of solution, therefore they may take several days to review the documents.
Banks' funding time - it varies by the bank, usually from 2 to 7 business days.
Total Banks and Credit Unions' lending time - it can go from some hours (as we said before, in some particular cases it's possible to get the money instantly) to several days or in case some extra reviews were necessary, upwards of a month.

What can you do to accelerate the operation?

There are some things that can be done to make the approval process take less time. For example doing some pre-checks by yourself will save the bank a lot of bureaucratic procedures; thus it could be useful to gather all the essential documents, which typically are:

A valid identity document (driver license, passport)
Amount and proof of the total income and its sources
Total amount of your monthly expenses

Another thing that may be a time-saver could be to check your credit score. If an applicant has had credit reports in the past, their request may be rejected or they may wait a lot of time before approval anyway. Checking your credit before the application can spare you these mishaps.

Bank and Credit Union

Speed does not mean quality

Speed, when talking about a loan is not all. Sometimes is way better to wait a long time but to be sure that you've chosen the best option possible. It is also important to rely on the right bank or online lender to find the best quality:speed ratio and to avoid payday loans.