According to data from the Bank of Spain, in the month of April Spanish banks lent 162,329 million euros in consumer loans. If today it were our turn to go to the bank to request financing, would we know what we should take into account and what do we have to do to ask for a personal loan? If we do not have it completely clear, then we will know 3 simple steps that will help us to obtain financing for the best conditions. In addition, we will know which are the best loans commercialized at present:

1.- Before requesting a personal credit, rethink its use

Many times we go to the office of our entity or fill out an online application process of a financial institution that operates online, without being very clear about our financing needs- check here first. For this reason, it is advisable that before taking the step of requesting personal loans we consider the following:

• What are we going to use the money for? This will allow us to be clear about what purpose we are going to give to the loan. It is not the same to request personal loans to finance the purchase of a car than to face a reform in our house or to pay for the studies of our children.
• How much money do we need exactly? We must also take into account the possible costs associated with what we will finance with our personal loan. For example, if we buy by car we should not add to the initial budget the cost of registration tax, registration tax, and circulation, for example.
• To what term can we accept? This will be determined mainly by our level of income and monthly expenses. We have to keep in mind that the lower the monthly payment we have to pay, the longer we will have to pay the personal loan, the interest will be applied for longer and, therefore, the total price will be more expensive.

This is summarized in objective, amount and term of the personal loan.

2.- Compare the personal loan options of the market

Each financial institution trades its credits with different conditions, terms, and amounts that allow us to achieve. Therefore, to achieve the personal credit that best suits our needs, it is important that we take into account the following:

• The interest rate of the personal loan.
• The possible commissions that we will have to face.
  • Study commission.
  • Opening commission.
  • Commission for the possible cancellation of the personal loan.
• In any case, linked products that will require us to contract as life insurance, for example.
• Additional advantages offered by the personal loan.

Compare between the different offers of the market will allow us to know what are the conditions of personal loans nowadays. 

3.- Choose the cheapest and most advantageous personal loan

For this, it is convenient that we look at the interest of the loan and, more specifically, on your APR. This is because the Nominal Interest Rate (NIT) is the percentage that the bank charges for lending us money, but does not include other possible costs that may apply to our personal loan as commissions or related products. On the other hand, the Annual Equivalent Rate (APR) is the one that truly serves to compare products of the same nature that, in the case of personal loans, determines the total management costs that a given entity applies to us, taking as a reference a year.

A personal loan traded at 0% TIN may end up being more expensive than one with a higher APR percentage. For example, imagine that we request a personal loan of € 5,000, to be repaid in a maximum of 2 years, at 6.16% APR (6% TIN), if we make the calculations, at the end of the term we will have to pay a total of 316, € 49 in interest for more. But if we ask for a personal loan of the same amount and with the same term but an interest of 0% TIN but adding an opening commission (2%) and a study fee (1%), in addition to payment protection insurance (200 €), the total interest will amount to € 350 (7.30% APR). As we can see, this last example, despite having a cheaper TIN interest, will be more expensive.