Payday borrowing means a large repayment landing at once. We do it differently. Borrow £100 to £3,000 and spread it across smaller fixed monthly instalments over 3 to 24 months, at a rate that stays well below what a payday loan can charge. See the full cost before you commit.
The UK payday loan market before 2015 was a very different place. Wonga, QuickQuid and The Money Shop dominated. Several now appear in our UK lender and broker directory as closed or relaunched firms. Interest could be uncapped. Fees compounded. Rollovers created spirals of debt.
Then the Financial Conduct Authority introduced the price cap, and the worst practices disappeared with the firms that relied on them. But the cap set a ceiling, not a fair price. A payday loan charged at the cap still costs 0.8% of the balance every single day, and still expects repayment inside a few weeks or months.
That is the gap we set out to fill. An instalment loan spread over a term you choose, priced well under the payday ceiling, with the full cost shown before you apply. Same speed, same accessibility, a structure built to be repaid rather than rolled over.
Both solve a cash shortfall. Only one is built around your budget.
The FCA price cap sets the ceiling on what a payday loan can charge. Here is what that ceiling looks like in real pounds, and where our instalment loan sits against it.
These are the situations people usually reach for a payday loan to solve. Each one works better spread across a term you can actually afford.
A gas engineer needs £600 today. Payday is 11 days away. Waiting means cold showers, no heating and a worried family. Spread over six months that is a manageable line in your budget, not a hit to next month's wages.
Your dog needs an emergency procedure costing £450. Pet insurance hasn't paid out yet. You don't want to choose between your savings and a family member. Fixed instalments bridge the gap without emptying the account in one go.
Your car needs £1,200 of work to pass its MOT. You rely on it to reach a job that pays more than public transport would cost you in lost time. Fixing it quickly protects your income, and a longer term keeps the repayment small.
A relative is ill and you need to get to them. Train tickets, an overnight stay and covering time off work. Not an expense you could plan for. A modest loan over a short term makes the trip possible without draining emergency savings.
A rent, utility or council tax demand with a due date that beats your payday. Late fees, or the risk of disconnection, can cost more than borrowing would. The difference here is that you clear it over months rather than owing it all back on the 28th.
A washing machine, fridge or child's school shoes that genuinely cannot wait. A credit card charging cash-advance rates can cost more than a fixed instalment loan, and gives you no clear date by which the debt is gone.
We'd rather help you avoid unnecessary borrowing than push you toward it. A cheaper structure is still credit. Honest signals that no loan is the right answer.
If you fall short every month, the issue is structural, not temporary. Borrowing to cover it just pushes the problem to next month plus interest. Free help from StepChange or MoneyHelper is designed for exactly this situation.
Using a new loan to clear an old one is a warning sign. If you're already struggling with debt, a Debt Management Plan through National Debtline is almost always a better path than additional borrowing.
A holiday, a night out or a new gadget. These are goals worth saving for, not borrowing for. Spreading the cost makes the monthly figure look small, but you still pay interest on every month you hold the money.
Never borrow to gamble. If gambling is becoming a financial problem, free confidential help is available from GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
An arranged bank overdraft, a credit union loan or an employer salary advance. All may cost far less than any short-term loan, including ours. Always check these first.
Use the calculator above, then set the monthly figure against your actual income minus essential outgoings. If it eats into rent, utilities or food, walk away, or choose a longer term so the payment fits. A lender should decline an unaffordable application. Save them the trouble.
Every loan arranged through us is a regulated credit agreement with an FCA-authorised lender, which carries the same statutory protections whichever term you choose. These are not nice-to-haves. They are obligations every lender must meet.
Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 you can cancel any credit agreement within 14 days for any reason, no questions asked.
You can repay in full or in part at any time and the interest reduces accordingly. On a 24-month agreement settled at month eight, you pay for eight months of credit, not twenty-four. Most lenders charge no settlement fee.
Before you sign, the lender must give you a Pre-Contract Credit Information (SECCI) document showing the exact APR, total repayable, monthly payments and any fees.
If you fall into difficulty, FCA rules require the lender to treat you fairly. That may include a payment holiday, a rescheduled plan or freezing interest. You must be offered reasonable options.
A lender cannot attempt to take payment from your card more than twice without contacting you, cannot take partial payment against your wishes and cannot drain your account below essential living needs.
Free escalation to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the lender cannot resolve your complaint. Their decisions are binding on the firm.
Where a lender has treated you unfairly, you may be entitled to refunds of interest, fees or compensation. The Financial Ombudsman has ordered lenders to refund customers many times.
The interest rate, fees and repayment schedule you sign up to cannot be changed unilaterally by the lender. What you agree at signing is what you repay.
Our application is designed for clarity. No hidden fields, no upsells and no pressure. Here's what happens.
Fill in a short form with your loan amount, term and basic financial details. Under two minutes on mobile. We run a soft search that does not affect your credit score.
We present your application to lenders on our panel. Offers come back within seconds. You see the APR, monthly payment and total repayable before you commit to anything.
If you accept an offer, the lender runs final checks then sends funds via Faster Payments. Most UK banks credit these within the hour, often within minutes.
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 ensure 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.
Specific questions about how our instalment loans compare to payday borrowing.
It is a fixed instalment loan that covers the same urgent, short-notice costs a payday loan is used for, without the payday structure. You borrow £100 to £3,000 and repay in equal monthly payments over a term of 3 to 24 months that you choose at application.
The practical difference is the repayment shape. A payday loan concentrates the cost into a few weeks and charges daily interest against it. An instalment loan spreads it, so the monthly figure fits a normal budget and the balance falls with every payment rather than being rolled forward.
You can, and since the FCA price cap of January 2015 it is a far safer product than it was. Daily interest is capped at 0.8%, default fees at £15 and total cost at 100% of the amount borrowed. Those caps removed the worst of the old market.
But a cap is a ceiling, not a fair price. At the maximum, a £500 payday loan can cost you £500 in interest. The same £500 over 12 months with us costs £176.86. The other difference is timing: payday repayment typically lands within weeks, which is what drives people to borrow again the following month.
Loans arranged through Swift Money range from £100 to £3,000, repayable over 3 to 24 months, where affordability allows. This is the same product you will find on our short-term loans page, presented here for people who arrived looking for a payday loan.
The amount a specific lender will offer depends on your income, outgoings, credit history and overall affordability. Borrowing less than the maximum is usually the sensible choice if it covers your actual need.
Applying through Swift Money uses a soft search. Soft searches do not affect your credit score and are not visible to other lenders. They leave no mark on your credit file, allowing you to check your eligibility without any credit consequences.
A hard credit search only takes place if you decide to proceed with a specific lender's offer. Hard searches are visible to other lenders for up to 12 months. Making repayments on time can positively contribute to your credit history over time.
In most realistic comparisons, yes. Our representative rate is 59.97% fixed annual interest, 79.5% APR. A payday loan charged at the FCA ceiling works out at roughly 0.8% per day, which is a far higher cost of credit for every day the balance is outstanding.
One honest caveat: because a payday loan is repaid quickly, a very short payday advance repaid on time can total less in pounds than a longer instalment loan, simply because you hold the money for less time. Use the calculator above to see the total repayable for your amount and term, then compare it against any payday quote in cash terms rather than by APR.
Many lenders on Swift Money's panel consider applications from customers with adverse credit histories. Under FCA rules, lenders must assess affordability alongside credit history. A poor score alone does not mean automatic rejection.
Our bad credit loans guide explains what lenders actually look at, beyond the credit score. If you're already struggling with debt, free help from StepChange or National Debtline will serve you far better than additional borrowing.
Once a lender approves your application and you accept the offer, funds are usually transferred via Faster Payments. Most UK banks credit Faster Payments transfers within minutes, often within the hour.
Some lenders use older BACS transfers, which take one to three working days. Applications submitted late at night, at weekends or on bank holidays may see delays depending on the specific lender. Choosing a longer term does not slow funding down. If speed is critical for you, see our same-day loans guide.
Contact your lender immediately. FCA rules require lenders to treat customers in financial difficulty fairly. They may offer a payment holiday, a rescheduled plan, an interest freeze or other forbearance. Acting early protects you from unnecessary charges and damage to your credit file.
Because the caps on daily interest and default fees apply to high-cost short-term credit specifically, they do not automatically cover agreements running beyond 12 months. Your lender's own fee schedule is set out in your credit agreement before you sign, and the forbearance duty applies either way. Never take out a new loan to repay an existing one. Free help is available from Citizens Advice, StepChange and National Debtline. Call them before the missed payment, not after.
Free, confidential and impartial help is available across the UK. If you have any doubt about whether borrowing is the right answer, these services can help you think it through at no cost.
Government-backed free money and pensions guidance. Tools, calculators and specialists available by phone or online chat. Visit moneyhelper.org.uk.
Free, confidential advice on debt, benefits, consumer rights and dealing with creditors. Online, by phone or in person at local branches. Visit citizensadvice.org.uk.
Free expert debt advice, managed repayment plans and insolvency support. Helping over 600,000 people a year. Call 0800 138 1111 or visit stepchange.org.
Free debt advice by phone, webchat and self-help tools. Run by the Money Advice Trust, specialising in personal debt support. Call 0808 808 4000 or visit nationaldebtline.org.
A soft search with no obligation and no impact on your credit score. You're always in control.
Apply Now