The advancement of technology has brought about a radical change in the way we work. Not only has it added convenience to our day-to-day activities such as commuting, and enjoying a temperature-controlled environment at the office, it has also aided instant access to people, organizations and goods & services right from the comfort of the office premises. One such service that technology has made incredibly easy for us is online banking and financial services.
Today, all the leading banks, as well as Non-Banking Financial Companies, offer online loans, effectively making the act of physically visiting a bank a thing of the past. That being said, a significant majority of borrowers still find it comforting to visit a bank and interact with the loan officer or relationship manager to understand the details of the loan first hand.
If you happen to be in two minds regarding the choice between an offline and online Personal Loan, let us help you make the right call. Consider the following aspects:
- Convenience
An undisputable USP of an online loan product such as Federal Bank Personal Loan is the fact that you can apply for the loan in a matter of just a few minutes, right from your mobile phone or your laptop. In this case, all the required documents can be easily uploaded in the form of scanned copies. Moreover, most banks and NBFCs offering online loans can be contacted 24X7 in case of any queries or issues, thus adding to your convenience.
The same, however, cannot be said for offline Personal Loans, wherein it becomes mandatory for you to visit the bank in person at least once. Besides, the required documents need to be submitted in the form of physical copies, which becomes an additional task to take care of.
- Ad-on benefits & offers
You can avail of numerous offers such as lower interest rates, discount coupons for specific brands, and even no-EMI options at the start of your tenure with an online loan. It becomes possible for banks and direct selling agents to provide such incentives due to the reduced cost of operations through an online platform.
These offers are generally not available when you take the conventional offline route for borrowing.
- Documentation
Documentation is another criterion to consider.
Submission of documents is much more convenient when you apply online; you need not take time out for printing and physically submitting the copies of the required documents to your bank.
What makes the online process even more advantageous is the quick verification of the documents and subsequent in-principal acceptance or rejection of the application within a span of a few minutes. Comparatively, it is a much time-consuming process for the bank to manually check and verify each document, thereby resulting in a delay in the processing of your Personal Loan application.
- Processing Time
Online loan processing is largely dependent on computerised mechanisms and is therefore incredibly fast. Right from scanning and verification of documents, to the approval of the loan application and eventually to the disbursal of the loan amount, everything happens swiftly. Hence, it doesn’t come as a surprise when some online loan applications are approved and disbursed within a few hours.
Offline loan processing, such as that for Indian Bank Personal Loan, on the other hand, is primarily a manual process and thus take more time.
- Access to Information
For online lending platforms, their mobile application or official website is the primary point of contact between them and prospective customers. Hence, it becomes exceedingly important for them to offer all the information pertaining to the loans, right from the loan amount to the interest rate, from the eligibility criteria to the fees and charges, and from the documentation to the terms and conditions of the loan. Access to this information makes it rather convenient for you to make an informed decision about which DSA or bank you wish to take the loan from.
Unfortunately, this may not be the case when it comes to taking offline loans. In this case, you will need to visit numerous banks in order to gain all the relevant information, and only then will you be able to make the final call. Needless to say, the process will consume a lot of your valuable time and would take much more effort than required.
At the same time, it should be noted here that a lot of customers in India do prefer to go the offline route. For, they want to transact only after physical contact with the bank. This is why all lenders continue to process their services from both online as well as offline modes.
Appraising your needs, you can choose the one that best matches your requirements.
Raj Kumar is a qualified business/finance writer expert in investment, debt, credit cards, Passive income, financial updates. He advises in his blog finance clap.
