Wonga
Good:
Can have money in your account within 15 minutes
Bad:
Have been known to take bulk repayments out of your account if you don't repay when you should
Verdict:
The most reputable payday lender, well-known for guaranteeing money in your account in 15 minutes, only apply if you can pay it back on the agreed date or you will end up owing more money in extra charges
Wonga offer short term loans between £50 and £1,000. New customers can borrow up to £400 and if you are a long-standing, trusted customer you can apply for up to £1,000. They are very fast because there's no paperwork or faxing of documents. The loan is for up to 34 days and you can choose which date to repay it.
You can apply online with Wonga. Use the slider on their home page to decide how much you want to borrow and how long you want to borrow it for. Once you have completed their simple application form, they will provide you with an instant decision. If they need you to provide any other documents, they will let you know. They will also carry out a credit check to assess your current situation. Once they have fully reviewed your application, they will ask you to sign the electronic loan agreement. When this all done, the money will transferred to your account in 15 minutes - if your bank has fast cash transfer. If your bank doesn't have fast cash transfer, it will be in your account the next business day.
Overall, Wonga have a very good reputation for speed, most customers stating that the money was in their account within an hour. Wonga also have a good reputation for communicating with their customers: complete recap of the loan, status updates, reminders before payment, confirmation of payment, etc. They are also well known for being one of the cheapest payday lenders on the market. They do charge their interest daily so if you can't meet the repayments then you will end up paying a lot back. They are not very flexible with moving your repayment date so make sure that you can 100% commit to the date before you take out the loan. The shorter you have the loan for, the less it will cost you.
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I Work 40hr's Friday - Monday and get paid every 4 Weeks i have taken out a few wonga loans and think there great i normally take out a £400 loan on a Tuesday and pay it back on a thursday monning when i get paid £408 seem fair to me for a £400 loan for a few days great for me because when i get paid on a thursday im normally busy and end up not doing what i wanted so wonga gives me my payday that little bit earleyer so im not stuck in the payday shopping que
Going into our loan with Wonga we were well aware of the pros and cons, so that was not the issue. When we realised that my partners wages would be a day late due to the bank holiday we agreed to have the pay date extending by 1 day, with no interest added, just a £10 admin fee. Fine we thought, until the day came and went, we had emails accusing us of 'breaching their trust'. My partner is a HGV driver, and cannot make calls at work, and so had authorised me to speak on his behalf, although for some reason this had not been logged. Emailing through to the customer care team painfully slow and difficult to maintain fluid conversation. As it stands they are saying we owe them £95 (originally owed £60) for being 1 day late, and they 'can't find' the agreement that we made. Have sent them the email confirmation that we had, still waiting for a reply, may be a while....My tip? Do everything over the phone and make sure they note everything down on their systems.
I have borrowed from Wonga several times and i have never had any problems with them. I payed off my loan on time as soon as payday arrives. The service is fast and usually within a couple of hours the funds are in my account as promised. I would recommend Wonga to anyone as they are the fastest on line payday loan provider and they are true to their word. All the charges are up front when you apply for the loan, so if you can't afford to pay back the amount presented to you, best you don't borrow at all. I have checked out other payday loan providers, but, for me Wonga is by far the fastest and the best i have found on the web. I have a clean slate with them as i owe nothing presently, so i am pleased to give my honest input. thanks
Wonga are part of an industry that is set up to exploit people who don't earn very much and who are desperate for cash. Yes taking about a loan of £100 for a couple of days and paying an extra £10 back on payday seems like a good solution but it is very very easy to end up in a downward spiral where you borrow more and more money each month to pay off the last debt and the fees. Look at it this way - if you had access to credit through means or a safety buffer of savings you would not touch lenders like this - their target audience is people who live beyond their means and don't therefore have access to mainstram credit.
Had a terrible experience. I borrowed 100 to cover an unexpected expense just before payday. Bad mistake as i could have extended overdraught but didnt want the hassle. On payday i logged in and payed off the loan early. That was that i thought, a decent service. Imagine my surprise when 3 days later i found out that wonga had taken another 115 off my card!. Ive phoned the bank who said it is between me and wonga, and that by giving them my card details i effectively give them the ability to take whatever they want. Ive tried to get wonga to pay me back, response is painfully slow, im now taking the matter up with the police as its clearly theft. If you need a short term loan, DONT just hand over your debit card details as i did, its a huge risk.
New customers up to £400 - 46 days
Existing customers up to £1,000 - 46 days
Next business day if your bank does not have fast transfers
- You cannot have any late payments, CCJ's, defaults, etc. on your credit file
- You need to have a regular income
- You must have an email address and a mobile phone number
- You must be 18 years of age or older to apply
- You need to be a UK resident
- You need to have a UK bank account with an active debit card
- Missed Payment - £20.00
- There are no default fees, interest will just continue to accrue over a 60 day period
