If you’re in the market for a new mountainbike, e-bike or road bicycle and wondering how I can borrow with a personal loan, there are a few points worth considering.

Unsecured Personal Loans allow you to borrow anything from $3,000 to $50,000 without needing to provide an asset (car, motorbike etc) as security for the loan. The loan can be used for a range of purposes, from new and used ebikes, carbon fibre road bikes to a dual suspension mountain bike.

With a personal bicycle loan, the interest rate is fixed for the term, meaning when interest rates rise, yours won’t. You have the option of choosing the loan term, usually between 1 to 7 years.

This means your repayment and the interest rate will not change for the life of the loan, which can help with long-term budgeting.

Your financial situation

When sitting down to work out how much you can borrow, lenders will look into your financial situation. This includes whether you are applying for the loan individually or jointly with your partner. They take into consideration expenses for the following:

Living costs for dependents

Your general living costs including: food, power, water, insurances, utilities, transport costs and entertainment.

Accommodation costs including rental, board or home loan payments

Current financial commitments including credit cards, car loans and personal loans.

What reduces your level of borrowing

As personal loans are a ‘higher risk’ product for lenders, there are certain details that may reduce your level of borrowing.

These include:

Lower credit score – A lower credit score will reduce the amount of lenders you can choose from. A lower credit score can be due to a busy credit file, late repayments on current loans, credit defaults and even multiple address’ As your credit score changes from month to month, reducing the amount of credit enquiries will help increase your score over time.

Defaults – Credit defaults, bad debts, bankruptcy and Part IX agreements will adversly affect your credit score. This can automatically knock you out of most personal loan lenders. It does not mean you cannot gain finance at all but it’s adviseable to talk to one of our finance consultants before applying.

 Pay Day Lenders – Pay day lenders or quick cash lenders are generally frowned upon by banks if you have multiple pay day lenders on your bank statements or credit file. These type of lenders can be considered ‘hardship’ lenders as they offer small loans to pay for unexpected expenses that may arise. The tip is to not have payday lenders shown on your credit file or in your bank statement transaction history.

Change of Employment – If you have just changed employment and apply for a personal loan. You may be approved based on your credit score & profile, however if you are subject to a probation period with your employer, this may stop the loan from proceeding to settlement. Most lenders will request proof of your employment continuing after the probation period has ended to help with loan settlement.

Repayments

If you’re interested in a personal bicycle loan, you can estimate your repayments with the BikePay Loan CalculatorBicycle Loan Calculator

This will give you a guide on repayments over different loan terms and interest rates and can help when budgeting for a new bicycle loan.

Research

If you’re still researching or need more information, our financial consultants are here to answer any questions you may have, obligation free.

Contact BikePay on 1300304733 today.