Apply for a loan: safe and without obligation

1. Before applying: check your own situation

Lenders’ approval criteria are largely not public. Still, you can prepare by checking your own situation. Above all, your creditworthiness plays a central role – not only for loans, but also for rental agreements or mobile phone contracts.

• Check your creditworthiness

The credit check is a central part of any loan application. It gives information about your ability to repay and influences the lender’s decision. Learn more about creditworthiness and credit checks for loans:

• Your financial situation: can you afford the loan?

When you enquire via Credaris, we carefully analyse your budget – based on your information on income, expenses and financial obligations. This way you know, without risk, whether you can afford the loan you want.

Good to know: already in our enquiry form you receive an initial estimate of your loan limit. We use the same software that loan banks apply. This rough calculation is non-binding and does not replace the detailed budget check by our experts.

• Choosing the term

Especially with a first enquiry, choosing the term is often difficult. A longer term increases the total cost of the loan. A shorter term means higher monthly instalments. Our loan experts support you in finding a term that fits your financial situation. If you repay more than the agreed monthly instalment during the contract period, your loan costs and the term both decrease.

2. Submit a loan enquiry or loan application

You have decided to submit a loan application. This means moving from the non-binding check of your own situation to the next, decisive step: choosing the right lender.

The question is: do you submit the application directly to a bank – or via a loan broker?

The problem with choosing a provider directly:

From the outside, it is almost impossible to assess your chances at a specific bank or lending institution. Beyond a well-known brand name and some information online, you don’t have insight into the lender’s internal criteria. Yet these vary considerably – what one bank rejects may be approved without issue by another.

Learn more here about the requirements and criteria for taking out a loan:

3. Approval process: from check to offer – or rejection

aOnce an application has been submitted to the lender, the approval process begins. These are the key steps leading to a loan decision:

• Credit check

The credit check allows the lender to assess your risk as a borrower. This includes data from credit agencies such as CRIF or extracts from the debt collection register. Data from ZEK and IKO are also included, which provide information about existing loans, leasing contracts and your payment history. The goal is to assess your creditworthiness from the lender’s perspective and minimise potential risks.

• Budget calculation: loan limit

The calculation of the loan limit, also called affordability check, is a mandatory step under the Consumer Credit Act. The lender analyses your details on income, expenses and obligations. Querying IKO is part of this statutory affordability check. ZEK is also checked to include commitments outside the Act. The legal loan limit means you can only borrow as much as you could repay within 36 months from your freely disposable income.

• Approval or rejection

Each lender applies its own risk criteria to decide whether to grant you a loan. In case of a positive decision, the lender sets the loan amount and interest rate and issues an offer.

Good to know: about 50% of applications made directly to loan banks are rejected. Learn more here about common reasons for refusal.

When you enquire via Credaris, we only submit your application if we see a high probability of approval – reducing unnecessary rejections and significantly increasing your chances of receiving the loan you want.

4. Loan agreement, right of withdrawal and payout

If approved, you are informed about the conditions – amount and interest – under which you are granted a loan, in other words you receive your loan offer.

• If you accept the offer, you receive the loan agreement.
• With the contract signature date, the 14-day right of withdrawal begins.
• After this period ends, the loan amount is transferred to your account.

We support you right through to payout – and remain at your side as your point of contact afterwards as well.

Loan illustration

Loan amount of CHF 25'000. Effective annual interest rate of 1) 4.9% to 2) 9.95%. Over 36 months, this generates interest or costs of 1) CHF 1'890.36 to 2) CHF 3'839.39 and a monthly instalment of 1) CHF 746.95 to 2) CHF 801.09.

Swiss Lenders offer terms from 6 to 120 months.