Stranded in the midst of a financial crisis and want money? Even though you are the best planner in the world, you cannot plan events of life – you never know when life throws a curve ball at you. Some of life’s surprises can have a major blow on your finances. You might have to set aside your finance plans due to emergency requirements.

All of us have been there – lack of immediate funds to meet sudden needs. From unplanned purchases to medical emergencies to repairs to urgent trips, you might need cash anytime.

What can we do meet the cash crunch?

Well, personal loans are not only logical but respected way of funding your emergency cash needs. Yes, respected – we all know what asking monetary help feels like, even from loved ones.

Does a personal loan sound your saviour? But wait, you cannot jump onto the search button and apply for any personal loan you come across. Many companies advertise their loan as the best personal loan in the market which they are not. You must take a little time to study some of the salient features that a best personal loan must have.

Before we get into all the important characteristics of best personal loans, let’s understand what personal loan is?

Personal loans are a type of unsecured loans designed to meet your personal needs grated by a banking institution, financial company or individual.

Here are some of the most crucial features of the best personal loan:

1. Flexibility

One of the most important features of a best personal loan is its flexibility. Personal loans, unlike home or car loans, do not impose any limitations on the use of loan amount for a specific use. You can use your loan amount for any personal use you want. From travel to buying gadgets, the money can be used to meet any expense of personal nature.

2. Disbursement is Quick

Getting a pre-approval for your personal loan must be quick. Generally, a best personal loan provider will check your credit score and eligibility. If you meet all the necessary criteria, the loan is disbursed within 24 to 72 hours, depending on your loan provider. A good personal loan offers instant online loan approval.

3. The Less Document, The Better

Usually, all personal loans have minimal document requirement. But best personal loans accelerate the process by further limiting the number of documents needed for approval. A good loan provider allows you to apply online by scanning your documents within minutes ensuring you need the help when it is needed.

4. Minimal Eligibility & Paperwork

Best personal loans have a simple and flexible eligibility criterion with minimal paperwork. Mostly, you need to be more than 18 years of age with Indian citizenship and a stable source of income. The paperwork is minimal which makes the whole procedure swift.

5. Customer Support

It is quite obvious to be confused in your very first time of applying for personal loan. A good personal loan has a robust customer care department to provide you with all the assistance you might need.

6. Easy Repayment

The best personal loans have convenient repaying options. You can have the choice to repay through various repayment options such as online payments, cheques, etc. You can select a repayment tenure that suits you the most.  Long repayment tenures will have lower monthly EMIs and vice-versa.

7. Interest Rates

Personal loan interest rates are one of the most attractive things about them making them affordable to all. The EMI remains fixed throughout the entire tenure of the loan. So, you don’t have to worry about interest rate fluctuations like with other loans.

8. EMI Calculator

Calculating EMIs can be extremely cumbersome. But when you work with the best personal loan provider, they willallow you to calculate EMI easily. Mostly, on their website. You will get a clear picture of monthly EMIs based on your tenure, loan amount and personal loan interest rate.

A good personal loan also offers tax benefits. It not only gives you the financial support you need but also offers tax benefits. You can claim a deduction as per Income Tax Actif the loan is used for construction or renovation of the home. The maximum amount specified undersection 24B is Rs. 2 lakhs.

The best personal loan requires no collateral. You have to be eligible for the personal loan and have mandatory documents. Thus, your assets are safe in case of non-payment or other such circumstances.  Now, that you know all the features of the best personal loan it’s time to get one!

Life is unexpected and a financial crisis can happen at any time. People keep aside a part of their earned money as savings to deal with such financial crises. However, when an emergency arises, people often look for different sources from which they can borrow a loan, or mortgage their assets. However, there is one easier and simpler option too. Buying a loan against FD can get you instant liquid cash for managing such situations. All you need to do is have an FD, and the company or bank with which you have it, will provide you a loan against 70-90% of your total principal amount deposited in FD.

Great Option for Small Loans

Loan against FD is a great option for dealing with short-term crisis or when you want small amounts of money. FD can come to your rescue before they get matured by providing a loan/overdraft facility. Companies offers loan against FD facility by providing its customers a loan of 60% of the principal amount in the case of non-cumulative FD. Whereas, in the case of a cumulative FD it amounts up to 75% of the principal amount.

Less Interest Rates

A great advantage these loans have over other loans is they have much lesser interest rates than other loans. The rates of interest on these loans is charged only from 2% to 3% more than the interest rate on your FD. NBFCs offers interest on FD at 7.60%, and the loan interest rates amounts up to 2% above that rate. Normal loans are charged between 9% to 15%, hence, a loan against FD is a much better and cheaper option when looking for small amounts of loans.

Minimum Documentation and No Costs

The duration for which the loan is taken is generally for the same time period in which the FD gets matured. Sometimes it can be less than the duration of FD, but can never be more than that. While taking a loan against FD, you won’t be able to break it to get your principal amount before it gets matured. You cannot withdraw any money from your FD till you would repay the whole amount of loan in full. NBFCs have a very simple process of providing the loan with a single page documentation. There are no processing fees or any other costs, and you get the disbursal of amount in your bank within 24 hours.

Prepayment and Foreclosure

Foreclosure is the procedure of foreclosing your loan by repaying the amount of loan before the duration of the loan ends. Unlike other loans, loan against FD doesn’t charge you any such charges or fees. This gives you the flexibility of paying off the loan amount whenever you want to. Company offers flexible repayment options for these loans which is within the tenure of the FD, which initiates after the 90 days from which the FD has started.

An important thing to be noted is – the time when you are applying for the loan. If you are applying for the loan when the maturity date of the FD is near, the maximum duration you can get to pay the loan off is limited to the time remaining till the maturity of the FD. Due to this, you might not have many months and you would have to pay higher EMIs to pay it off. So, ensure that you check which FD you are applying for loan against, if you have multiple FDs of short durations. Look for the one whose maturity date is farthest by analysing how much EMIs you would be able to pay.