Searching for the right money lender is crucial for many reasons — such as getting the best loan package, borrowing from a legalised money lender in Singapore that has your best interests at heart, and avoiding contact with unlicensed money lenders.

However, getting a loan from a trusted licensed lender takes patience and time, with various considerations to be mindful of as well. Some of the different factors include checking a lender’s legitimacy, the variety of loans offered, the interest rates and loan packages, as well as their online reviews.

While we’ve brought up the different factors of identifying a licensed lender, we’ll be zooming in on money lenders’ reviews for today’s piece.

Read on to understand why looking at money lenders’ reviews is crucial before borrowing, how the list of licensed lenders from the Ministry of Law helps, and ways to find the best money lender in Singapore.

Why checking money lenders’ reviews is important

Licensed money lenders’ reviews tell you how satisfied customers are with the lender’s services, a lender’s credibility and reputation, and ultimately, help you determine if you should borrow from this money lender.

Transparency

A trustworthy money lender will always be transparent about their loans, interest rates, and fees. Most importantly, the best money lenders’ reviews will show if a lender is open about their terms and conditions — this gives you an inkling whether the lender is transparent or not, hence helps you make a more informed decision when choosing which lender to borrow from.

You don’t want to end up paying for additional fees that you weren’t aware of in the first place, right?

Legitimacy

Licensed lenders are officially registered under the Ministry of Law and have the legal right to lend money. Looking at reviews will help you verify a lender’s legitimacy and observe if they’re doing things the right way.

This is especially important to ensure you’re not engaging an unlicensed lender, or worse yet, getting into a money lender scam.

Reputation and trustworthiness

Reading money lenders’ reviews tells you a lot about how reputable they are. If the reviews speak highly about a lender, you’re in good hands — the money lender is trustworthy and knows what they’re doing.

Poorly-rated reviews, on the other hand, might mean there’s something not quite right with the money lender — whether it’s the exorbitant interest rates offered or the way a customer is being mistreated.

Customer service

The best money lenders’ reviews will even detail a customer’s experience with them in entirety and their satisfaction towards the money lender. The best money lenders’ reviews are helpful in telling you more about how a lender treats their customers, what kind of loan packages are provided, and how satisfied borrowers generally are with the customer service.

Always refer to the official list of lenders by MinLaw

Besides checking money lender’s reviews, the first thing to do is check if the money lender is listed on the Ministry of Law registry.

The list comprises the business name, physical address, licence number, landline numbers, and online websites the lender owns, if any. Ensure you make a call to the listed business number and go down to the physical office for further verification, just to be safe. In any case, all licensed lenders have to do a face-to-face verification with their borrowers before loan approval and disbursement.

Remember, this list is your best guide to refer to when verifying a lender’s legitimacy. It will even help you identify a blacklisted money lender. To date, there are no suspended money lenders as of the time of writing.

Where to compare or review legal lenders?

Loan comparison sites: Use websites like CompareSing to easily compare between the many licensed lenders in Singapore, from their loan tenures and interest rates to fees, charges, and repayment methods. This will help in your search for a low interest rate personal loan which suits your budget.

MinLaw’s official list of legal lenders: It’s a comprehensive list of all licensed lenders with all the necessary details which let you verify a lender’s legitimacy — licence number, physical office address, business name, landline numbers, and online websites.

Licensed lenders’ official website(s): The official website(s) of a licensed lender will usually indicate its licence number and physical address, which you can cross-check with MinLaw’s official list of lenders.

Money lenders’ reviews online: Check a licensed lender’s official website, loan comparison websites, or Google reviews to see what past customers had to say about their experiences with the money lender.

How to find the best licensed lenders?

To find the best licensed lender near you, follow these steps:

1. Search ‘best licensed money lenders near me” on your internet browser
2. Check the licensed lender’s address
3. Click on ‘Direction’ to view the licensed lender’s business address on Google Maps
4. Repeat the above steps to note down licensed lenders near you
5. Read licensed money lender reviews online to narrow down your choices

Example:

By clicking on ‘Directions’, I can view Goldstar Credit Hougang’s location on Google Maps.

By clicking on ‘Goldstar Credit Hougang’, the following will show up (refer to the screenshot below).

Click on ‘4,626 Google reviews’ to read reviews on Goldstar Credit Hougang

What to look out for when reading licensed money lender reviews on the internet?

Pay attention to the things or attributes that reviewers have frequently mentioned in their reviews, such as whether or not the licensed lender:

• Is helpful and understanding
• Puts borrowers’ needs first
• Offers repayment plans catered to borrowers’ needs
• Offers fast approval for loans
• Gives a clear explanation of the loan
• Offers good, professional service
• Is efficient and reliable
• Is highly recommended by their customers

Also, look at the number of reviews the licensed lender has garnered to date. Some money lenders have zero or barely any reviews, while the top licensed lenders have thousands of glowing reviews.

Where can I find the top licensed lenders in Singapore?

It’s one thing to read licensed money lender reviews when looking for legal lenders near you.

Always verify a money lender’s legitimacy before engaging with them. Check if the money lender is inside the Registry of Moneylenders’ complete list of licensed lenders. With an increasing number of loan scams in Singapore, it pays to be extra vigilant to avoid becoming victims of illegal money lenders and scammers!

Below are some of the recommended licensed lenders for your consideration. All of them are highly rated money lenders with solid reviews to back their professional services.

CompareSing can help you find the right money lender

With so many licensed lenders in Singapore, it can be difficult to locate the right money lender that best meets your financial needs. This is why CompareSing is the perfect platform to help make your search easier.

Boasting an easy-to-use loan comparison interface, CompareSing helps connect you with top licensed lenders in Singapore, all at no extra cost.

Simply complete a simple online form on our website, and multiple licensed lenders will reach out to you in no time with loan quotes. Many of them strive to respond to loan enquiries within 30 minutes.

About the Author

Led by a team with invaluable expertise across Singapore’s licensed moneylending, banking, and finance industries, CompareSing provides users with a streamlined yet informative experience at every step of their loan journey.