A soft-search eligibility check takes under two minutes and won't affect your credit file. Compare offers from our panel of FCA-authorised lenders and receive funds in as little as one hour if approved.
Verified reviews from people who have used Swift Money to find a short-term loan.
Very quick and easy to use service. The form was simple, and I received a response almost instantly. Helpful when you need a fast solution.
I found the process easy to follow from start to finish. Communication was clear, and I liked how fast the decision came through. Would consider using again if needed.
Very quick. Only took a couple of minutes to apply and receive a decision. Money hit my account shortly thereafter. Couldn't recommend enough.
Swift Money was founded in Bolton in 2011, four years before the FCA introduced the price cap that reshaped UK short-term lending. We've operated through the entire transformation of this industry. The chaos before, the reforms during, the strict customer-first market that exists today. Fifteen years on, we're still independent, still UK-only and still here for the same reason we started: connecting borrowers with regulated lenders, transparently and on terms they can actually understand.
We're a broker, not a lender and we have no preferred partner. Our panel consists only of FCA-authorised firms that meet our standards on affordability, transparency and customer treatment. We earn nothing unless a loan is arranged and our commission never affects your rate. If you're better off elsewhere, we'll tell you, including when free debt advice is the right answer.
This site was rebuilt from the ground up around one principle: Nothing hidden. Costs, caps, eligibility and our regulatory status are visible everywhere. Our knowledge base, 42 in-depth guides on UK credit, debt and consumer rights, is written by our director, reviewed for FCA compliance team and updated for accuracy every 90 days. No affiliate links. No favoured lenders. Plain English throughout.
FCA rules set the floor, not the ceiling. We hold ourselves and our panel to a higher bar than the regulator requires, on the clarity of our messaging, the depth of our affordability checks and the quality of the help we publish. Our aim is to be the UK's most trusted reference for short-term borrowing, judged not on the loans we arrange, but on the decisions we help people make. Genuinely useful, genuinely accountable, whether you borrow with us or not.
Short-term credit covers a range of borrowing situations. We offer five distinct product types, each designed for a specific purpose. The right one depends on the amount, the term and your circumstances.
The post-2015 product, fully reformed. Fixed monthly instalments, FCA price cap of 0.8% per day, total cost capped at 100% of the loan. For genuine short-term cash gaps where repayment fits within the next pay cycle or two.
View our payday loansFor larger amounts repaid over up to three years. Lower monthly payments than payday lending, more flexibility on term length. Suits significant one-off costs where spreading the cost is the right call.
View our short-term loansFor when timing is of great importance. Loans that are approved the same-day, with funds released via Faster Payments, often within an hour of acceptance. Used for emergency repairs, urgent travel and missed bill deadlines.
View our same-day loansFor small amounts where a larger loan would be unnecessary. Same FCA caps as other short-term credit, but designed around borrowing only what you actually need. The right choice when a £150 shortfall does not warrant a £2,000 commitment.
View our small loansSeveral lenders on our panel specialise in adverse credit including CCJs, defaults and missed payments. Approval is never guaranteed and depends on affordability. If credit difficulty is current, free debt advice often serves better than further borrowing.
View our bad credit loansSee your eligibility in seconds with a soft search that won't affect your credit file. If approved and accepted, funds can land the same day. No obligation and no fees.
Apply nowWe're not a lender. We're an independent intermediary. Our role is to present your application to the right lenders on our panel so that you see offers suited to your circumstances, without the need to apply to each lender individually.
Our system returns a preliminary decision within seconds of submission. Most applicants see lender responses in under 1 minute.
Eligibility checks use a soft search that's invisible to other lenders and leaves no trace on your credit file. A hard search only occurs if you proceed with a full lender application.
Swift Money Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference 738569. Every partner lender is equally accountable.
Once a lender approves your application and you accept the offer, funds are typically sent via Faster Payments and clear within the hour, subject to your bank.
Our service is free for consumers. We're paid a commission by the lender only when a loan is successfully arranged, at no cost to you and with no effect on the interest rate you're offered.
A single application reaches multiple lenders, including specialists who consider applicants with imperfect credit histories, thus improving your chance of finding a suitable offer.
We've stripped the application process back to essentials. No paperwork, no phone calls and no waiting for the post.
Complete a single encrypted application form with your loan amount, loan term and basic financial details. It takes under two minutes on mobile.
We match your application with lenders on our panel. You review the offer, interest rate, term, total repayable and decide whether to proceed. There is no obligation to accept.
If you accept an offer and the lender approves the full application, funds are sent to your UK bank account via Faster Payments, typically arriving within an hour.
All high-cost short-term credit in the UK is governed by strict FCA rules designed to protect borrowers from runaway costs. Here's exactly what that means for you.
Lenders cannot charge more than 0.8% per day in interest and fees combined. No exceptions.
You will never repay more than twice the amount you originally borrowed. If you borrow £500, the most you'll ever owe, interest, fees and charges combined is £1,000.
A lender may charge a maximum of £15 for a missed or late payment. This is a one-time fee, not recurring.
Daily interest cap · Maximum default fee · Total cost cap as a percentage of the loan
Full regulatory details are published by the FCA.
| Loan Amount | Example Term | Maximum Cost | Default Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| £100 | 30 days | Up to £24Total repay: £124 | £15 |
| £300 | 30 days | Up to £72Total repay: £372 | £15 |
| £500 | 30 days | Up to £120Total repay: £620 | £15 |
| £1,000 | 6 months | Capped at 100%Total repay: £2,000 | £15 |
The figures above represent the maximum legally allowable costs under FCA rules. Actual offers are typically lower and are always shown in full before you commit. Representative APR of 79.5% variable is based on £500 borrowed over 12 months at 59.97% fixed annual interest, with a total repayable of £676.86.
Transparency isn't a marketing line for us, it's a regulatory obligation. These are the standards we hold ourselves and our panel to.
Every lender on our panel is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We do not pass applications to unregulated entities under any circumstances.
Every partner lender carries out a full affordability and suitability assessment before offering credit. We encourage you to do the same before accepting any offer.
The APR, interest rate, total repayable and monthly payment are all presented in full before you sign anything. If you don't see a figure, ask and don't proceed until you have it.
Our service is free to use. We earn a commission from the lender when a loan is arranged. This does not affect your interest rate or total repayable.
Applications are encrypted in transit and at rest. Your details are only shared with lenders that you have authorised. We are registered with the ICO under ZA069965.
If you experience difficulty repaying, please contact your lender immediately. They are required by FCA rules to work with you on a realistic solution, including forbearance options.
We offer 6 hubs, covering UK credit, debt management, financial difficulty, building a better financial life, your regulatory rights and life events. 42 guides in total, researched against 2026 law and current FCA rules. Updated every 90 days to esnure accuracy.
There is no single UK credit score. Three agencies (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) run separate databases on separate scales. The score in your app is rarely the score that your lender will actually see.
Priority debts can take your home, your energy supply or your liberty. Non-priority debts can damage your credit file. The order you pay matters enormously when money is tight: ignoring a priority debt has worse consequences than missing a credit card payment.
Half of UK adults have experienced problem debt. 44% told no-one. The signs build over a period of months: minimum payments, missed direct debits & borrowing for essentials. Spotting them early changes everything.
Improving a UK credit score is rarely about doing one big thing. This guide sets out a realistic 12-month framework, the actions that produce results within weeks and the popular pieces of advice that make almost no difference at all.
A regulated firm can be ordered to refund interest, remove default markers from your credit file and pay compensation, without you ever attending a courtroom. The mechanism is the FCA rulebook every authorised firm must follow.
Approval rates for well-prepared self-employed applicants are no different from employed applicants with comparable income. The difference is documentation. SA302s, Tax Year Overviews, business bank statements and Open Banking together give the lender what they need.
If something isn't covered below, our support team is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5:30pm.
Swift Money are a credit broker. When you submit an application with us, we send your details securely to lenders on our panel who are most likely to consider your circumstances. Any offer you receive comes from the lender directly and you enter the credit agreement with them, not with us.
Our role ends once you're introduced to a lender. From that point the lender handles the full underwriting process, the agreement and the repayments.
Submitting an eligibility check with Swift Money uses a soft credit search, which is invisible to other lenders and does not affect your credit score in any way.
If you choose to proceed with a lender's offer, the lender will typically run a hard credit search as part of their full underwriting procedure. Hard searches are recorded on your credit file and can be seen by other lenders.
To be considered, you'll need to be at least 18 years old, a UK resident and hold a UK bank account with a valid debit card. Individual lenders on our panel have additional criteria they apply, typically including a minimum income, stable employment or benefits and a valid UK mobile number.
Meeting these basic conditions doesn't guarantee acceptance. Every lender makes an independent decision based on affordability and suitability.
Yes. Several lenders on our panel specialise in considering applications from people with adverse credit histories, including CCJs, defaults and missed payments, provided the loan is demonstrably affordable.
That said, a poor credit history reduces the number of lenders who can help and may mean higher interest rates. If your situation is difficult, free debt advice through StepChange or National Debtline is often more valuable than additional borrowing.
If you accept a lender's offer and pass their full checks, funds are typically released via Faster Payments within 60 minutes. Most UK banks credit Faster Payments instantly, though some can take longer and a minority process them only during business hours.
Applications submitted late at night or at weekends may see slightly longer timelines depending on the lender's operating hours.
Interest and fees vary by lender, but every HCSTC (high-cost short-term credit) loan in the UK is capped at 0.8% per day in total cost and you will never repay more than double what you borrowed.
The specific APR, monthly repayment and total repayable will be shown in full by the lender before you sign. Never accept an offer you don't fully understand and never feel obliged to proceed. You can walk away at any point before signing.
Contact your lender as soon as you think you might struggle, ideally before the missed payment. FCA rules require lenders to treat customers fairly, which includes offering realistic repayment plans, freezing interest where appropriate and directing you to free debt advice.
Missing payments without notifying the lender can result in a default fee of up to £15, damage to your credit file and eventual referral to a collections agency. None of these outcomes are pleasant, but they are all avoidable with an early conversation.
Yes. Swift Money does not charge borrowers a penny. We are paid a commission by the lender when a loan is successfully arranged and that commission has no effect on the interest rate, fees or the total you'll repay.
If a website ever asks you to pay a fee upfront to "guarantee" a loan or "secure" a broker introduction, that's a red flag, walk away and report it to the FCA.
Please visit our guide regarding Recognising scams and loan sharks for more information on this subject.
Short-term credit is designed for genuine, short-lived cash-flow issues, not ongoing budget gaps. Before applying, honestly ask yourself: can I repay this from next month's income without creating a new gap? Is there a cheaper alternative (savings, an arranged overdraft, a credit union, help from family)?
If you're using credit to pay existing credit, that's usually a sign to stop and get free, independent advice from MoneyHelper instead.
If you're struggling with debt, worried about repayments, or want free impartial money guidance, these UK organisations offer confidential advice at no cost. We encourage anyone facing financial difficulty to reach out before borrowing.
Government-backed service providing free, impartial money and pensions guidance. Tools, calculators and specialists available by phone or online chat.
moneyhelper.org.uk →Free, confidential advice on debt, benefits, consumer rights and dealing with creditors. Available online, by phone, or in person at local branches across the UK.
citizensadvice.org.uk →UK's leading debt charity offering free, tailored debt advice and structured solutions including debt management plans and help with creditor communication.
stepchange.org →Free debt advice by phone, webchat and comprehensive online self-help tools. Run by the Money Advice Trust, specialising in personal debt support.
nationaldebtline.org →A soft search along with no obligation. You're always in control.
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