Top payday and short-term loans compared

About Top payday and short-term loans compared

Payday and short term loans sit at the sharp end of consumer credit, and this ranking covers the 217 brands competing in it across Spain, Mexico and the Philippines. Most of them are not the people who hand over the money. They are brokers and marketplaces that pass your application to a lender, which means the rate you are offered can sit above the range advertised. The trade off a borrower weighs here is speed against cost. Nearly every brand funds the same day, so what separates them is the fee line, whether the price is fixed or variable, how many months you have to repay, and how the credit check is run. Median annual rates run 36.5%, the lower quartile at 18% and the upper at 97.16%. Loan sizes are modest, a median of €100, and repayment periods a median of 21 months. Set against the wider data of €1.75 to €58,454.18 in amounts, 0% to 82,901.36% in annual rates and 1 to 360 in months, these lenders are doing a different job from mainstream personal lending.

How we picked

Every brand here is scored on three things, weighted 40% for trust, 35% for cost and 25% for offer. Trust covers the legal entity behind the site, whether it lends directly or works as a broker or marketplace, how the credit check is run, and which support channels are open to you. Cost weighs the annual rate, the origination fee line, and whether the price is fixed or variable. Offer weighs loan size, repayment period, funding speed and the range of loan types. Figures come from each provider's own published pages: terms and conditions, fee and lending criteria, frequently asked questions, and the worked repayment examples. Ranges are used exactly as a page states them, and a single worked example is reported as the source gives it, so you can see the shape of a repayment rather than a single flattering case. Partners are listed first, in the order they score, and non partners follow behind them. A label such as top pick reflects the computed position inside this ranking and nothing more, and no label is written by hand. The ranking is built from published material rather than from accounts opened by us, so what you read is what the provider has published.

Our top picks

1. 1. Credityes ES

   Credityes ES is fourth in this ranking because its rate range starts at 0% to 36% and it turns decisions around fast. The broker sends money a few minutes after a positive decision, charges no arrangement fee and no percentage, and quotes annual rates of 0% to 36% on €100 to €5,000 for terms of 2 to 36 months. Eligibility is narrow and clearly stated: a Spanish resident holding a bank account in your own name, with a mobile number and an email. The limit is after that, since support runs on email only. Credityes MX, next in this ranking, keeps a comparable starting rate, adds a soft prequalification check and serves a single market in Mexico.

   • APR: 0% to 36%
   • Loan amount: €100 to €5,000
   • Term: 2 to 36 months

   Pros

   • The arrangement fee is free for the customer, because no commission is charged for selecting the loan, so nothing is added for putting it together.
   • Rates of 0% to 36% start lower than Monzo Flex, which publishes a band of 10% to 23%.
   • The representative example shows the total repayable equal to the amount borrowed, so the cheapest match costs nothing to carry.
   • Money in a few minutes after a positive decision once a decision is positive, so a bill that cannot wait can be covered.
   • Personal and payday borrowing sit under the same application, covering home improvement projects as well as a short-term gap.

   Cons

   • As a broker, Credityes ES leaves the final rate to the partner lender, so the published 0% to 36% is a starting point rather than an offer.
   • Borrowing tops out at €100 to €5,000, well below the largest personal loan recorded on the site, €653,159.33.
   • Support runs on email only, so a payment problem waits on a written reply instead of a phone line.
   • The upper end of 0% to 36% sits well above the personal loan median across the site, 12.25%.

2. 4. Andacredito

   Andacredito sits second in this ranking on the strength of speed and a fee free start. It is a Spanish broker, funds in 10 minutes, charges an origination fee of 0 EUR with no percentage share, and allows free early repayment on top. Amounts run €100 to €5,000 over 2 to 3 months, and the loan list is the widest in the group, running from car to student to debt consolidation. Its published example carries no cost at all. Two cautions: the rate is variable, so the headline figure can move, and support runs on email only. Creditilia ES, next in line, offers a much longer term and fixed pricing, but reaches a far higher ceiling rate.

   • APR: 0% to 36%
   • Loan amount: €100 to €5,000
   • Term: 2 to 3 months

   Pros

   • An APR of 0% to 36% and an arrangement fee of 0 EUR keep the headline cost at the cheap end.
   • Funding in 10 minutes suits a bill that lands today rather than next month.
   • Early repayment is free, so an unexpected windfall clears the balance at no extra cost.
   • Built for poor credit, so a file other lenders decline still has a route.
   • Brokers are 20.6% of the listings here, so a matching service is a real alternative.

   Cons

   • The term is 2 to 3, so the balance must clear quickly and a gap suits better than a cost spread over years.
   • The rate is variable, so the figure you finish on is exposed to a rate move.
   • Support runs on email only, so every question and dispute is handled in writing.
   • As a broker, the final rate comes from the partner, so 0% to 36% is a starting point.

3. F6. Fidea

   Fidea sits seventh in this ranking as the Spanish broker with a phone line attached. Funding lands a few hours after approval, amounts stretch to €500 to €60,000, and the schedule runs 3 to 60 months, longer than most of this ranking. Support is the broadest in the group, covering phone, email and help centre, and the origination fee is free. Cost is the issue: annual rates climb to 0% to 212%, the credit check is hard, and the worked example of a modest sum repaid over a year leaves a substantial premium on top of what was borrowed. Fiesta Credito, next in line, starts cheaper and ends far more expensively.

   • APR: 0% to 212%
   • Loan amount: €500 to €60,000
   • Term: 3 to 60 months

   Pros

   • No fee comes off the top: the origination fee is 0 EUR and the percentage fee is 0%.
   • Funds move A few hours after approval, which is where Fidea outruns slower lenders.
   • One application covers personal, payday and debt consolidation and amounts of €500 to €60,000 over terms of 3 to 60.
   • Help runs on phone, email and help centre, so there is a phone line as well as email and a help centre.

   Cons

   • APR runs 0% to 212%, and the representative example ends with a total repayable far above the amount borrowed on a modest sum.
   • Applications use a hard credit check (hard), so a refusal is on file and cannot be quietly undone.
   • Fidea is a broker, broker, which means the lender, the final rate and the contract terms are set elsewhere after you apply.

4. 7. Finipay

   Finipay closes this ranking as a Spanish broker built for applicants who want a longer runway and someone to call. Terms run 3 to 60 months on amounts of €300 to €5,000, funding arrives in Under 24 hours, and support covers phone, email and help centre. It carries debt consolidation and car loans alongside payday lending and charges no origination fee, so it works for a borrower tidying up rather than covering a single bill. The reason it sits last is cost: annual rates reach 0% to 212%, and the worked example of a modest sum over a year leaves a substantial premium on top of the sum borrowed. Cashspace, at the other end, funds in minutes instead, on a range that starts far lower.

   • APR: 0% to 212%
   • Loan amount: €300 to €5,000
   • Term: 3 to 60 months

   Pros

   • Setting the loan up adds nothing: the origination fee is 0 EUR, so no charge is bolted on to the interest.
   • Money arrives in Under 24 hours, and same-day funding sits in same day funding.
   • Poor credit is the target: poor means the service is aimed at files mainstream lenders decline.
   • Terms run 3 to 60 months, so a balance can be cleared quickly or spread across a longer repayment.
   • A single application covers several needs: personal, payday and debt consolidation lists personal, payday, debt consolidation and car loans, with home improvement for home improvement.

   Cons

   • Finipay is a broker rather than the lender (broker), so the rate is set by a partner lender and its terms are not spelled out here.
   • The cost of a short term is severe: the representative example repays far more than it lends, and the top of 0% to 212% is steep.
   • Borrowing stops at €300 to €5,000, so a larger renovation, car purchase or consolidation job needs another provider.
   • Support runs on phone, email and help centre only, with no live chat or community forum listed.

What to look for

The real annual rate

Short term loans hide more in the fee line than anywhere else. In this ranking the median annual rate is 36.5%, the lower quartile 18% and the upper quartile 97.16%. Read the rate together with any fee you pay up front, and check whether early repayment costs extra.

Fees charged before the money arrives

An origination fee is taken before the loan lands and is rarely handed back. Andacredito lists 0 EUR and Creditilia ES lists EUR 0 - no opening, study or early repayment fee, and those fees apply across the personal and payday loans each brand arranges. A share of the loan, not just a flat sum, is the costliest version of the same idea.

How long you have to repay

The term decides the interest you actually pay. This ranking has a median repayment of 21 months, a lower quartile of 1 and an upper quartile of 60. Clearing a balance on a short schedule costs far less than stretching the same sum over a longer one, but the instalment is heavier.

What the credit check records

68.6% of the offers in this ranking run a hard check, 22.1% run a soft prequalification and 9.3% run none. A hard search is visible to other lenders, so a thin file is worth checking against the soft options first.

Speed of payout

96.1% of the brands in this ranking advertise same day funding, so speed is easy to find here. Read the stated funding time on each brand rather than paying extra for a promise, and expect minutes from the quickest and a day from the rest.

Who you are really borrowing from

31.8% of the offers are arranged through a broker and 8.9% through a marketplace, leaving 59.3% to come from a lender directly. A broker sets no price of its own, which cuts both ways: no fee to pay, but also no say over the rate you are offered.

Frequently asked questions

Top payday and short-term loans compared by country

• Australia
• Canada
• Colombia
• Germany
• Italy
• Mexico
• Poland
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• United States

Lenders compared head to head

• Credityes ES vs CreditoZen
• Credityes ES vs Credigenio ES
• Credityes ES vs Andacredito
• CreditoZen vs Credigenio ES
• CreditoZen vs Andacredito
• Credigenio ES vs Andacredito

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV