Increasing your online loan app limit is key to accessing more funds when you need it. However, many people do not know how to go about boosting their prequalification amounts. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process step-by-step so you can optimize your loan eligibility over time.
As someone who has taken out personal loans online in Nigeria several times, I understand the struggle of limited prequalification amounts.
In the past, my maximum loans were only around 30,000 naira despite having a good repayment history. This made it difficult to borrow larger sums for important expenses. However, with perseverance and diligently following the tips in this article, I was able to increase my app limits substantially over the course of a year.
How Lenders Determine Your Credit Limit
Loan apps do not just pull a number out of thin air – they use complex algorithms and your personal financial details to calculate your prequalification amounts. Some of the most important factors lenders consider include:
Credit history and payment behavior: Your on-time payments (or lack thereof) on past loans, credit cards, bills etc. have a huge influence. Consistently settling your obligations can increase your score and eligibility over time.
Debt-to-income ratio: Lenders want to ensure potential borrowers have sufficient monthly income left over after fixed debts like rent, mortgages or loan repayments to comfortably service new loans. A lower ratio is preferable.
Assets: Assets like savings, investments or property you own signal that you have fallback sources to repay loans, increasing your profile’s appeal to lenders.
Employment history: Steady, long-term employment makes you a lower-risk borrower than someone with frequent job changes or periods of unemployment.
Credit utilization: Using only a small portion of your credit limits indicates you don’t take on more debt than you can handle.
Check Your Credit Report and Credit Score
The first step is understanding exactly where you currently stand with lenders by checking your credit report and credit score. This provides transparency on:
- Negative items like missed payments, collections or bankruptcies holding your score back
- Positive items like on-time payments boosting your profile
- Inaccurate records you can dispute
You can get a free credit report once annually from each of the three major credit bureaus in Nigeria – CRC Credit Bureau Limited, Experian, and Dataprobe. The reports may differ slightly due to varying data, so checking all three gives a full picture.
Examine your reports very carefully. Dispute any errors through the bureaus to get them corrected. Knowing your weaknesses helps target improvement areas. An updated, accurate assessment of your situation is key to increasing loan app limits.
Make Sure to Pay All Bills and Debts on Time
Reliable payment behavior is hugely important for lenders. Missed, late or minimal debt obligations hurt your ability to borrow more as they indicate higher risk. Be meticulous about paying all bills like loans, credit cards, utilities and rent promptly – ideally before the due date.
Set up automatic payments if possible to avoid late fees from human errors. Consider reducing credit card balances, within your means, to decrease your credit utilization and keep it below 30% of your limits. Consistently strong on-time payments improve your credit scores over 6-12 months, boosting your prequalification amounts and terms offered on applications.
Build an Emergency Fund
Developing a rainy day fund signals financial stability and responsibility to lenders. Aim to save 3-6 months’ worth of essential living expenses – like rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities and transportation. This provides fallback if emergencies drain your current funds without resorting to additional debt.
Saving even modest amounts monthly, from lifestyle reviews or side income, can grow your buffer significantly over time. Park emergency cash in an accessible yet low-risk account earning decent interest. With funds to handle unexpected costs, lenders view you as lower risk for future loans.
Limit Applications and Spread Them Out
While the desire for higher limits can seem tempting to apply everywhere frequently, it is better spread out requests over months for most impact. Each application makes a “hard inquiry” on your credit report temporarily dropping your score a few points. Too many in a short time period will alarm lenders.
Avoid applying to more than 2 lenders monthly, and space them at least two weeks apart. This balance allows shoppin benefits while limiting hit counts you take. Within 6-12 months with excellent payments and other positive factors added, you’ll see major increases across all lender platforms without over-optimizing any one.
Provide Proof of Additional Income Sources
Lenders prefer borrowers with more than one stream of consistent earnings in case one takes a temporary dip. If you earn side income driving for Uber, creating YouTube videos or tutoring online, be sure documentation like bank statements prove it to lenders.
The additional monthly deposits strengthen your financial picture, signaling lower default risk as you have fallback income sources if your main job is affected. This makes a huge difference in what limits lenders prequalify you for on their platforms over just stating a single primary income.
Add Yourself as an Authorized User on Family/Friend Accounts
Ask responsible family members or close friends if you can be added as an authorized user on their credit cards. As long as they pay on time, it boosts your credit history too without increasing your debt obligations. This positively affects score formulas lenders use to determine your risk levels and app prequalifications.
However, be sure you completely trust whoever adds you – if they miss payments it also appears on your reports! Choose this option judiciously as extra data points reporting on-time activity each month can provide a nice credit score boost over 6-12 months.
Continue Monitoring and Improving Your Financial Profile
While the process of raising your limits requires patience and ongoing effort over many months, diligently implementing some combination of the above tips should yield steady progress. Continue checking your free yearly credit reports and scores to gauge improvement.
Celebrate small victories even if an extra N5,000-N10,000 limit is approved. This positive reinforcement motivates continuing financial responsibility and optimization methods suggested. Before you know it the hard work pays off in being able to reliably access five times or more the loan amounts compared to starting points. Maintaining healthy habits sustains higher app limits long-term as well.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading to the very end. With determination and smart financial practices, increasing your eligibility for larger online personal loan amounts approved is very achievable for Nigerian borrowers. While it takes time, developing a strong credit profile signals lower risk to lenders. Have patience in yourself as steady progress compounds. Remain committed to responsible money management habits for long-term credit success.
