If you ever find yourself in a difficult financial situation, chances are you would want a personal loan immediately. However, if you do not have proof of income in your bank statement, income payslip or your CPF statement, it may be harder for you to get a personal loan.
In this article, we will show you some friendly tips on how to get a personal loan even without an income proof.
Many factors are taken into account on how much you can get in Singapore. They include the loan provider, income, interest rates and tenure of the personal loans you have selected.
Loan provider
In Singapore, there are 2 main types of loan providers which provide personal loans as legal financial institutions. Banks and legalised money lenders in Singapore are the legitimate loan providers of personal loans.
Banks
Among the popular places to borrow money from are banks. They disburse personal loans to borrowers on a daily basis, under the watchful eye of the Singapore’s regulatory body, MAS.
Banks are able to offer you a loan amount that is large enough to cover most of your financial expenses. Their loan packages are attractive to help you tide over your financial difficulties within some short period of time. However, there is a catch to this. Strict eligibility requirements accompany the loans.
Normally, under the Singapore context, if your annual income falls below $30,000, you won’t be able to apply for a personal loan from a bank. This happens generally unless there are other conditions, such as giving you a personal loan with a higher interest rate, even if your salary doesn’t meet expectations.
Since it is rather cumbersome to try for a personal loan from a bank due to such strict criteria, the other alternative would be to get a personal loan from a licensed moneylender.
Licensed moneylenders
Another viable option is to consider borrowing from licensed moneylenders. They are not the same as loan sharks who disburse loans illegally with forever skyrocketing interests. These moneylenders fall under the jurisdiction of MAS in Singapore. You can find them in the list of authorised lenders.
Loan amount
The amount of personal loan you can obtain depends on how much you earn annually.
If you earn less than $20,000 annually, you can only get a loan extended to up to $3,000.
But if you earn more than $20,000 annually, you can borrow up to 6 times your monthly income.
On the other hand, if you take personal loans from banks, you can only borrow up to 4 times your monthly income and yet go through a lengthy process of approval.
Interest rates
Licensed moneylenders are unlike unlicensed ones that can charge exorbitant interest rates that go well past the roof.
Licensed money lenders’ interest rates are chargeable at up to 4% per month in Singapore. They can only charge up to a maximum of 4% interest per month.
As licensed moneylenders have to strictly abide by the regulations enforced by the Ministry of Law, it is assured that they do not go wishy washy in their interest rates rules.
Loan approval
It is easier to obtain a loan approval from licensed moneylenders than from banks. Generally, they are more lenient. When you apply for a loan, the licensed moneylenders tend to focus more on the ability to repay the loan than on your credit score. This leads to a higher chance that you might get your personal loan approved on first take.
The licensed moneylenders also customise their loan products according to the financial capabilities so that the loan tenure, interest and repayment are made more manageable.
What documents you need to obtain a personal loan
Since you’ve already noted the requirements for getting a personal loan in Singapore, you should take a closer look at the personal documents needed for application.
Identity card (NRIC)
If you are a Singapore citizen or permanent resident, you need to show your NRIC.
If you are a foreigner working in Singapore, you need to present your passport and employment pass.
Proof of income
The salary statement proof is needed to determine how much you can borrow at the maximum. With the interest rates together, you’ll need to calculate your repayment obligations.
Generally, with a higher salary, you’ll be able to obtain a higher principal loan amount with a lower interest rate.
Your income proof can be shown in 2 ways: CPF statement or payslip.
CPF statement
By using your CPF statement, you can show them your past 12 months contribution history to show the company name that does the transactions. This is to show the job changes, if any.
Your duration in the company may affect your ability to take the loan.
Moreover, as there is a cap on how much of your income is transferred to your CPF account, you may consider the payslip as another alternative if your salary is significant and you wish to obtain a larger amount of loan.
Payslip
Your payslip can be used as income proof. Most licensed moneylenders need you to submit 3 months of your payslips which you can get from your online HR portal or from your HR department.
With no income proof, can you still get a personal loan in Singapore
What if you don’t have a CPF contribution statement or a payslip as proof of income? Are you still able to get a personal loan in Singapore? The answer is technically yes.
You can still use other documents to make up so as to prove your ability in getting the loan and making repayments for it.
An example for this is that if you’ve just begun your job and have not gotten any CPF contribution. For this case, you can use your employment letter to support your loan application.
In some cases, you might not be able to show your payslip due to the nature of your job or company management.
They may include the following but not limited to:
- Self employed, including taxi or private hire, such as Grab driver
- Freelancer
- Worker paid in cash
- Contract staff
An employment contract or letter of offer will be sufficient in such situations.
Alternative documents
Licensed moneylenders still need some documents to ensure you’re able to repay the loan. Here are some of the examples:
Income tax statements
Your income tax statements can be used as income proof. Sources of income which are taxable include:
- Employment
- Business ventures
- Investments
- Rental income
Even if the income sources are non taxable, they can still be used as proof. If you provide the taxable and non taxable income sources together as proof, you can even increase your chances of getting a loan approval. The alimony and foreign sources of income are examples of non taxable income sources.
Notice Of Assessment (NOA)
Your NOA shows your taxes paid for the year and it shows your chargeable income and other taxes paid. To retrieve your NOA, simply log into IRAS portal with your SingPass details.
Employment contract or letter of offer
If you’ve become employed recently, you may not have CPF contributions immediately, or even your payslip. Hence, you can’t show them as proof.
In such instances, some licensed moneylenders will accept your employment contract or letter of offer as proof.
You have to ensure that your document shows the following:
- Company letterhead
- Date of commencement
- Full name
- Salary details
- Date of letter
- Signatures
Healthy credit score
Another way to be granted a personal loan quickly and easily is to have a healthy credit score. It is very helpful in increasing your chances of getting one.
This is because a healthy credit score will show the financial institutions how creditworthy you are.
Several factors can affect your credit score greatly:
- Recent credit
- Utilisation pattern
- Credit account history
- Available credit
Bad credit scores range from 1000 to 1700. If your credit scores fall within this range, you’ll most likely default on the loans you took. This will lower your chances of getting future personal loans.
Low credit scores can be caused by factors such as:
- Inability to make payments to credit card bills on time
- Short credit history
- Having many credit facilities such as credit card loans or other unsecured personal loans at the same time
So if your credit score has been affected by past financial difficulties, here’s how you can improve your credit score:
- Don’t take too much credit
- Don’t overuse your credit card
- Reduce your loans
- Don’t apply for loans within a short frame of time
- Check your credit report regularly
How to apply with LoanHere
To obtain the best personal loan for your needs, apply with LoanHere.
We have a fast and efficient process of streamlining your loan application process. This allows you to get your personal loan application within only a few minutes of your time.
All you need to apply is your NRIC and SingPass, which can pre fill your details automatically. This saves much time for you especially if you have a CPF contribution because that would save your effort in submitting your income proof.
Apply with us now if you need a personal loan immediately.
About the Author
Drawing on 3 years of proven knowledge and counting, LoanHere has grown to become one of the go-to platforms for consumers’ diverse loan needs. Besides ensuring borrowers get their loan quotes promptly from the best private loan providers in Singapore, we also make an effort to craft well-founded blog articles focusing on loans, finance, and lenders.
