A personal loan is money loaned out by a bank, online lender, or credit union and needs to be paid back in fixed instalments and over a certain amount of time. Statistics show that the financial rate on personal loans has decreased over the years, driving the rise of personal loans. When tackled responsibly, debt can be paid back timely and without the risk of losing your assets. In this article, we’ll break down a few advantages of applying for personal loans when needed. 

1. No Collateral 

One significant benefit of a personal loan is that the borrower is not required to pledge any belonging or property as collateral. Consequently, you can avoid the loss of a valuable asset such as your car or house if you are unable to pay back the loan. However, you should note that while the need for collateral is eliminated, these loans are usually offered at relatively higher interest rates and can be challenging to obtain since they are riskier for lenders. 

2. Quick Cash Access 

There are various funding and processing speeds for personal loan applications, but most lenders typically provide funding the same day or a day after the application is submitted. If you’re faced with an urgent cash requirement like emergency travel or auto repair costs, then a personal loan can sort things out quickly. 

You need to familiarise yourself with the complete loan application process even if you are in a hurry. The time you apply, how much you ask for in a loan, and how fast your bank allows you access to the money dispatched are directly related to the approval and receipt of the loan. 

3. Flexibility

Personal loans are a popular financial course of action due to the versatility they offer. They can be used to cover all types of expenses, be it weddings, home improvements, or repair costs. The acceptance of loan usage depends on the lender, but most lenders enable borrowers to attain funds for family, household, or personal reasons. Some institutions put restrictions on personal loan funds being used to purchase real estate property, start a business, or pay for higher-level education. 

4. Easy To Manage

A personal loan having a sole, predetermined rate of monthly payments is much easier to keep track of rather than managing multiple credit cards, each with its own interest rate, payment deadlines, and other factors. Borrowers qualifying for a personal loan with a lower interest rate than their credit cards can organise their monthly payments and ensure saving some money. 

Endnote

A personal loan might help ease some of your problems if you've hit a financial barrier. Personal loans are widely available, and the process of attaining one continues to become more accessible. For example, you can apply for personal loans online and use services that help streamline your financial matters.

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However, a few payment methods still sustain their popularity due to their high credibility, and using PayPal is one of them. PayPal became one of the most prominent names in the world of payment processing after its partnership with eBay. You may be wondering why PayPal is so popular despite the high competition in online payment methods, and your curiosity is completely justified. This list of three advantages will prove the competence of PayPal in the world of payment processing and help you understand the uniqueness of PayPal.

1. Facilitates Online And On-Site Sales

PayPal is the ultimate payment processing solution for your online and in-person sales. The flexibility of PayPal is one of its unique selling points. In addition, it is reasonably easy to integrate with your store’s website and takes only a few minutes to configure. PayPal has various point of sale (POS) systems for your in-person sales, and you can quickly receive payments through ERPLY, Brightpearl, Vendor Touchpoint. PayPal chip card reader works well with all these and also enables contactless payments from Google Pay and Apple Pay.

2. Data Security

These days, customers are more informed than ever due to easy access to information. As a result, they care a lot about the cybersecurity and confidentiality of their data. Signing up for PayPal requires you and your customers to add bank accounts and credit cards to use online purchases in the future.
PayPal frees you from cybersecurity worries through its centralised system and keeps all the valuable bank information private by encrypting that information. This eliminates the threat of hacking and data attacks and preserves your customers' valuable information. Using PayPal comes with an additional layer of security as it has built-in systems for fraud prevention. If a purchase payment made through PayPal ends up being fraudulent, the platform promises to return the money to purchasers. Integrating PayPal as one of your payment methods lets you gain your consumers’ confidence, resulting in higher sales.

3. It Is Cost-Effective

PayPal is one of the most reasonably priced payment methods: there are almost no charges involved in making an account with PayPal, and a small fee of 2.7% is only charged when you make a sale through check-in at a store or your e-commerce website. While the international transactions have some additional costs, the US-based transaction fee is kept at a minimum. In addition, PayPal makes the transfer of the funds much quicker as it delivers the funds to your linked bank account in about one or two business days after you have made a sale. You can access the funds right away by using ATM or debit cards, which is especially useful for small businesses struggling with cash flow management.

Endnote

With digitalisation and e-commerce, competition in every industry is rapidly increasing. Your business must provide the most up-to-date facilities and the best possible services to build long-term relationships with customers and improve customer retention. PayPal benefits your business in multiple areas and has integrated tools to help you succeed. You can gain customer confidence by integrating this big name. With its cost-effective, secure, flexible, and easy-to-use nature, PayPal is indeed the future of online transactions, and it's time your business adapts to this leading technology.

So, whether you’re moving there for family, work, or just because you want to find the best home you can in the Old Dominion State, one of the best ways to do that is to hire a mortgage broker to help. But navigating this somewhat challenging aspect of our modern lives can be a bit tough. What are mortgage brokers, exactly? How do you find one? And what do they do? In this article, we’ll answer these questions and discuss the advantages of using a mortgage broker when you move to (or are already living in) Virginia. 

What Are Mortgage Brokers?

Unlike a loan officer who only works for a single lender, mortgage brokers can work with multiple lenders to find the best loan applicable to your situation and criteria. They help clients get competitive rates, decent pricing, and ensure the loan is a good match for the buyer. According to Bankrate.com, mortgage brokers are essentially a middle man who helps you secure a mortgage from a range of different lenders. But they can be so much more than that. They can help you refinance, secure other types of mortgage loans, help with reverse mortgages, and assist you with the large amount of paperwork involved with the process. They are finance professionals subject to a regulatory process and held to high standards.

Accessibility

Mortgage brokers make not only securing a mortgage loan more accessible, but they make information about the process easier to understand. They are adept at supplying incredible resources and applying their knowledge to helping you find the right mortgage loan for your family. If you want to learn about Adjustable Rate Mortgages, understand FHA loans, see what a typical gift letter looks like or need help arranging any aspect of the process (such as the home inspection), a professional mortgage broker who has a strong positive track record can be just the help you need. Instead of trying to figure these things out on your own, it helps to have a 

Less Work

Buying a home is a lot of work. It requires research, dedication, plenty of paperwork, and more time than you might expect. A mortgage broker helps streamline this process. They'll help you define what's affordable for you, estimate your monthly payment, help you manage payments after securing the mortgage, and figure out down payments, all while helping you find the right lender and secure your mortgage. There will still be plenty of work for you to do, but having a broker guide and assist you along the way helps keep things smooth and on track as you purchase your new home. 

Fee Management

If there's one thing that remains consistent across any type of lending process, it's the fees. There are many fees associated with purchasing a home that a mortgage lender can help you manage. Selecting reputable mortgage brokers in Charlottesville, VA can help you navigate the treacherous financial waters of these fees with their knowledge, skills, and dedication. 

Fast Closing Times

When you want to get into your new home fast, a prompt closing time is critical. Because there's a lot of paperwork and additional leg work to be done before you can finally close on the house, having a helping hand from your mortgage broker can really come in handy. They can help you get all of your documents in order, keep in touch with the lender, understand your mortgage credit score, and help you identify/eliminate any issues that might affect your loan's underwriting. Having a system in place to help speed up the closing process will get you into your home faster and you'll be glad you retained the services of a professional firm for such a vital purchase.

What exactly is Bitcoin? 

Bitcoin is a very popular crypto that was created in 2009. Because Bitcoin is a digital currency, it cannot be physically used. Many people see this cryptocurrency as an excellent investment. Some supporters even believe that it could be the currency of the future. There is a limited supply of Bitcoin, and no more will be created after about twenty years, so having it can be a great idea. Some people say that the government will be able to purchase it one day. As a result, these limited Bitcoins of yours may be in high demand. In any case, never invest more than you are willing to lose. 

How does Bitcoin function? 

Each Bitcoin is a computer file that is stored in a device known as a “digital wallet.” Every transaction is recorded in a public list known as the blockchain. The main thing most people are really interested in – is it secure? Because every transaction is publicly recorded, it is extremely difficult to create fake Bitcoins or spend ones you do not own. However, you could lose your wallet or delete your crypto and lose it forever.

Let’s go back to advantages now and start by saying that Bitcoin is decentralised and digital, which means that with it people have the freedom to exchange value without the use of intermediaries. Bitcoin is faster, more secure, and less expensive.  This is the main reason why many people use it to buy everyday utilities. For example, you can even buy a variety of gift cards with Bitcoin including gift cards for Airbnb, PlayStation and even Walmart. Basically, banks control cash, whereas Bitcoin has owners. Also, it is very important to mention that there is no way to duplicate a Bitcoin. It is a global digital currency. There are no exchange values or third-party interventions. Bitcoin enables cross-border transactions by maintaining a ledger on the backend. Also, when you pay in cash for goods, your bank can track the transactions. When using a credit card, you must provide personal information. Bitcoin, on the other hand, allows users to remain anonymous, which means they do not need to share financial information. Let‘s not forget that you can send Bitcoins to the recipient in a matter of seconds with the help of a Bitcoin wallet. These cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, and they cannot be cancelled. Also, it is important to remind you that customers are charged high transaction fees by the majority of credit card companies. You must also pay overdraft and minimum balance charges. To avoid all of these fees, you should consider using Bitcoin.

As you can see, Bitcoin has loads of advantages over traditional payment methods. It is secure, less expensive, faster, and banks have no control over it. Also, it has very low fees, so if you want to avoid high transaction fees, overdrafts, and minimum balance charges, it may be a good idea to buy some cryptocurrencies. But in the end, it is all up to you to decide if you really want to use it. Do not forget that you can always have both of them – cash and cryptocurrencies at the same time.

By Simon Black, CEO, PPRO Group

If we suddenly learnt that the world would end tomorrow, someone would make money from the discovery. At very least, to quote Tom Lehrer^[1], Lloyds of London would be loaded when they go.

No matter what happens, someone somewhere finds a way to turn a profit. The trick is, being that someone. With Brexit, so much focus has been on the negatives that we think that there’s a danger that opportunities will be missed.

Here’s our guide to having a good Brexit.

E-commerce and cross-border lead generation

The exchange-rate for sterling has fallen so low, that the pound is almost at parity with the euro. For cross-border e-shoppers from the rest of the EU, that turns Britain into a massive bargain store.

With even a minimal effort at promotion, UK merchants can attract price-conscious EU consumers. In fact, UK SMEs saw their international sales rise by an incredible 34% in the last six months of 2016, three times the increase in the first half of the year^[2], due to the exchange rate. If ever there was a time to feature the Union Jack accompanied by the words (suitably localised) ‘Brexit bargains’, in your promotions, it’s now.

That’s great, as far as it goes. Everyone wants extra trade even if we’re effectively selling at a discount. But it’s not sustainable and its continuation cannot, in any case, be taken for granted. At some point the pound will rebound or bargain hunters will revert to their previous shopping habits.

So, what to do?

Turn today’s cross-border bargain hunters into loyal repeat shoppers. Invest now in data collection, strategic planning and customer-experience improvements. Use the data you gather on your new customers to engage them and migrate them to localised version of your site. For now, keep them coming back with price-led promotions but over the next year, try to deepen customer relationship, learn their other purchase motivators and give them reasons other than price to keep coming back.

There is no sign of the Eurozone recovery slowing down; in fact, it’s quite the opposite, with the Eurozone economy growing twice as fast as the UK in recent months^[3]. And there are already signs, particularly from the automotive sector, that this is releasing pent-up demand. In theory, there’s no reason why UK retailers can’t benefit by servicing this pent-up demand. Successfully doing so — particularly in the face of, for instance, uncertainty over customs arrangements after Brexit — is going to take nerve, commitment, and impeccable customer focus. But it is possible.

FinTech, the City, and a country that loves to borrow, spend, and invest

Brexit threatens a sizable chunk of the UK financial-services industry. Much of the business conducted by UK financial services, most obviously the Euro-clearing markets, relies on access to EU markets. That’s a fact. We can’t wish it away.

But neither Brexit nor the EU are everything. To take a couple of examples, London trades nearly twice as much foreign currency as New York^[4], its nearest rival. This trade does not depend on EU markets. Around 60% of the world’s Eurobonds are traded in London^[5]. Despite the name, these have nothing to do with the EU and the trade is not fundamentally threatened by Brexit. Similarly, the £60 billion-a-year London market for commercial insurance draws a third of its clients from North America, a third from the UK and Ireland, and a third from the rest of the world put together, including the EU^[6].

The UK FinTech scene has the world’s biggest financial centre at its disposal. And if Brexit threatens to erect barriers that will hinder UK firms trading on the continent, the same is true in reverse. UK FinTech s will enjoy privileged access, in geographical and regulatory terms, to the enormous b2b market that the City of London gives them access to.

They will also have privileged access to the UK’s highly competitive retail finance market, worth £58 - £67 billion a year^[7]. And there are signs that leaving the EU could help invigorate at least some segments of that market. A recent article in the FT^[8] — not by any means a Brexit cheerleader — reported that small-to-medium UK providers of retail banking services are actively looking forward to Brexit in the hope that it will free them from onerous EU regulations designed for huge ‘too large to fail’ banks but now applied to all financial institutions, even smaller ones.

Taken together — along with the ready availability of investment for FinTech start-ups in London, and the UK’s sympathetic regulatory environment — these facts clearly signpost a potential future for the UK as a global B2B and B2C FinTech incubator.

But this won’t happen by itself. Right now, we’re still faced with the threat of a FinTech exodus. To make sure the UK’s FinTech  motor doesn’t stall, the British government must work out a transition deal with the EU27 that gives London-based FinTech firms an incentive to keep at least some of their businesses here for long enough to see what opportunities Brexit and a post-Brexit UK could bring.

And as an industry, we need to lobby as hard for that transition as we have for a PSD2 that’s fit for purpose. Recognising that there are profound risks associated with Brexit does not stop us also looking for opportunity in it. Why should it? For as long as the world hasn’t ended, there is still business to be done.

Website: https://www.ppro.com/

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs

[2] https://www.paypal.com/stories/uk/open-for-business-paypal-reveals-online-exports-boom?categoryId=company-news

[3] http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/8122505/2-01082017-AP-EN.pdf/940abad8-436d-4758-b9d2-2156173a2c77

[5] https://www.lseg.com/sites/default/files/content/documents/20170105%20Dim%20Sum%20Bond%20Presentation_0.pdf

[7] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/587384/IPOL_BRI(2016)587384_EN.pdf - Page 4 of 12

[8] https://www.ft.com/content/4e2967a4-8991-11e7-bf50-e1c239b45787