Getting a Personal Loan without Income Proof in Singapore: Is it Possible?

When applying for a personal loan, we commonly read that you must have income proof. But, what if you need to take a fast cash loan but you don’t have payslips. So, you might be asking: “Can I get a personal loan without income proof?”

Is it truly possible to take a personal loan even if you don’t have a standard proof of income? And, this is what we are going to discuss in this article.

You will find out that there are licensed moneylenders that will allow you to get a personal loan without the standard income proof in Singapore such as the payslips.

But, first, let us discover how much a salaried person can get with a personal loan in Singapore.

How much Personal Loan can a Salaried Person get in Singapore?

The maximum amount you can receive from taking a personal loan will depend on the lender, salary, interest rates, and tenure.

Taking a personal loan from banks and licensed moneylenders are totally different. They may have both different requirements, interest rates, and tenure.

Getting a Personal Loan from Banks

One of the main consideration why some choose to get a loan from banks it’s because they have a much lower interest rate as well as offering higher loan amounts.

However, among the drawbacks are the following:

• Tightened standards and have stringent requirements than licensed moneylenders. Banks may require at least S$30,000 annual income. For foreigners, they may need to have an annual salary of at least S$40,000 or some are requiring that you need to have at least S$60,000. You must also be within the age group from their eligibility requirements in order to take the loan.
• Banks have a stricter approval process. They will carefully check your credit score and it will determine if you can be approved for a personal loan.

In summary, some popular bank loans can offer the following maximum loan amount and minimum annual salary requirement:

Please check out also the ‘Ultimate Guide in Finding Personal Loan with the Best Interest Rates’.

Taking a Personal Loan from Licensed Moneylenders

When you’ve got rejected over a bank loan, you don’t need to worry. Borrowing from licensed moneylenders can be an ideal option.

Although personal loan from moneylenders creates a negative impression due to the existence of loan sharks there are various advantages when you apply a loan to a licensed lender:

• An ideal option if you need quick cash, some moneylenders can release the loan money within the day of approval.
• They provide flexible loan tenure.
• Lower-income requirements, you can borrow even you have an annual income less than S$10,000. If you want to take 6 times your monthly salary, you need to have at least S$20,000 monthly income. This is the same that applies to foreigners.

A licensed moneylender is allowed to provide up to a 4% monthly interest rate. This is actually much higher compared to the interest rate offered by the banks. But, as mentioned above, when you need quick cash and looking for a loan provider that has less stringent requirements, licensed moneylenders are the top options.

Since we knew how much you can get when you borrow from licensed moneylenders and banks for salaried people. Let us also review the common document requirements when applying for a personal loan.

Documents Required When Applying for a Personal Loan in Singapore

Among the popular loan providers which need more documents are the banks. In your initial application, they may ask you for the following documents:

Proof of Identity

• This includes your NRIC for Citizens and PRs or they may ask foreigners for driver’s licence or passport

Proof of Residence

• You may ask to submit your bank statement, letters, tenancy agreement, or utility bills in your name and have indicated your address

Proof of Income

• Banks will commonly ask you for payslips, CPF contribution, employment letter

But, what if you don’t have proof of income? What do you need to do?  As promised above the next lines will discuss the possibility of getting a personal loan even without the standard income proof as mentioned above.

Is it Possible to Get a Personal Loan without the Standard Income Proof?

A big yes, you can take a personal loan even you don’t have the standard income proof which is the payslips. However, you may need to submit alternative documents.

Income Tax statements

If you don’t have regular payslips, you can still prove your income through the taxes that you pay.

Based on the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore or IRAS, all the income you earned in Singapore is chargeable to tax while overseas income is non-taxable.

Discover the various types of taxable income at IRAS.

Those non-taxable earnings are still important and need to be included for higher chances of approval. Among these non-taxable income sources that you can include are the following:

• Payments or Income from foreign clients
• Alimony
• Interest Income
• Annuities
• Housing allowance from the company

Do take note that some loan providers may ask for supporting documents, for example for Alimony, they may ask you for court documents.

So, if you don’t have payslips and you want to apply for a fast cash loan, you can use your income tax statements. Just remember to include your non-taxable income sources for higher chances of approval.

Notice of Assessment (NOA)

Another document that can help in your loan application if you don’t have a standard proof of income is the Notice of Assessment or NOA. This is your tax bill.  This will show the taxable income and the taxes that you’re going to pay.

Also, your NOA is the document that you will receive after submitting your income tax. You can find it by accessing your myTaxPortal on IRAS website. You can log-in using your SingPass. You may also visit their business service centre but you need to make an appointment first before going.

What is the difference between NOA and your income tax statements?

One of the differences of NOA with income tax statements is that this is already a validated document wherein it shows the total taxes you’ve paid for. Also, this means that the government has already approved your tax assessment.

But, which is the better document that you can give to lenders?

The best answer to this is that we will base on the most easier to get. And, this is your NOA where you can get it online. But, this case is different if you are a new employee where you don’t have NOA yet. In this case, you can submit your income statements.

Above all, for higher chances of getting approved, be sure to include your non-taxable income sources.

Employment Contract

This is applicable to first-time employees even to foreign employees. In order that your loan application can be approved even if you don’t have a standard income proof, you may submit your employment contract.

In addition, this is a better option that you can take if it’s your first time returning to work after a long period of being unemployed.

Take in mind that in order to be successful in your application, your employment contract must contain the following:

• Your new company’s letterhead
• Starting date of employment
• Full name
• NRIC
• Salary information
• With correct date
• Your signature
• Signature of your employer
• Company stamp

Bank Statements

Aside from the above documents, you may also submit your bank statements as an alternative. This can be an ideal option for those with non-taxable income sources especially for freelancers having clients abroad.

However, the bank statement is only ideal if you directly deposit all your income into your bank account. But, if this is not the case you may add the payment vouchers together with your bank statements when applying for a loan.

But, did you know that there another easy to way borrow money even without proof of income and this is by maintaining a good credit score.

Maintaining a Good Credit Score

If you wanted to apply for a personal without submitting your payslips, you must have a good credit score. This is important since it will show how responsible and a good borrower you are. Also, in this way lending institutions can trust you.

With a good credit score, loan providers can offer you better loan options with lower interest rates and ideal tenure.

In general, here is a credit score table, in order that you will understand your credit rating from Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS):

As you can see from the table above those with bad credit scores which is from 1,000 to 1,723 have the highest probability of payment default which also implies that they have low chances of getting approved. So you have to learn the factors that affect your credit score and can make it lower.

What affects your credit score and can make it lower?

To understand how you can have a lower credits score, you must consider the following:

• Having short or no credit history at all
• Late Repayments of loans or bills
• Unbalanced debt to income ratio wherein you have more debt
• Too many open credit accounts
• Too many loan applications within a short period of time.

If your credit score, isn’t good right now, don’t worry you can still improve it. You may consider the following tips:

Make sure to Have an Accurate Credit Report

• You may start checking your credit report from CBS. You must check carefully the accuracy of your credit report. If you’ve found some errors you can report them back to CBS.

Building Your Credit History

• Start building your credit history by applying for a credit card. This is an ideal option if you still have time to prove your creditworthiness. Make sure not to miss any repayments. But, what if you don’t have time? If you need to apply for a quick loan, remember that it is possible with licensed moneylenders. There are lenders that will allow you to take some personal loan even without a credit history.
• Be a responsible spender and don’t overspend using your credit card. In this way, it will show how you can manage properly your finances.

Managing your Debt and Finances

• Always pay on time. Never missed any repayments. If you have a hard time managing your finances or credit accounts you can ask for help like with Credit Counselling in Singapore.
• Your Debt to income ratio must be under 40%. Remember that with too many debts, the lower the credit score you can get. So, it is essential to maintain a debt to income ratio lower than 40% or just simply don’t open multiple credit accounts. Too many loans can indicate how bad you are when it comes to managing your finances.
• You may opt for debt consolidation if you have too many loans to handle. This means that you have put your active loans in just a single account. Debt consolidation features a much lower interest rate and you can able to handle well your repayments since you will just pay for a single account.
• Don’t send too many loan applications at once. The best thing that you can do is to always wait for the results of your application. If it got rejected, this is the time where you can send your next application.

You may also check out the tips on how you can improve your credit score.

Applying for a Personal Loan is Possible even without a standard Income Proof

In summary, you don’t have to worry even if you don’t have payslips.  You can use various documents to be successful in your application.

You may choose to use your income statement, NOA, or tax bill, just remember to include your non-taxable income. If it’s your first-time employee, you may use your employment contract. In addition, you can also submit your bank statements.

Keep in mind also, that it is essential to find a licensed moneylender that understands your current situation since we all know that if you will continually get rejected it can lower your credit score. So, it’s a must to find an ideal lender that can fit your financial status. There are many licensed lenders that can help you even if you have no credit history or applying for a loan even you’re unemployed.

You may also use our loan matching platform here to find an ideal loan offer.