Have you ever heard of Great Plains Lending? If you search the internet for loans you are bound to come across this company sooner or later. Let's review Great Plains lending and their installment loans, but first let's take a step back...
There are so many online lenders and yet so few of them offer anything like a true loan. What does that mean? It was only a few years ago that a loan meant that you got some money for a considerable period of time. A loan meant you got to use the money for six months, or one year, or three years. What an amazing concept, a loan that actually lasts for five years. Please, wishful thinking is a waste of time. Banks do not issue credit except to people who do not need it. Getting a loan from your bank is done. Those days are gone.
If you are looking for a true, long-term lender you can just forget it. Unless you live in a big house, own a lot of assets, or make over $80,000 a year then it's not happening. So we are left with the plethora of online lenders, of which there are thousands. Among that huge group of lenders are the tribal lenders, who are the best at making loans to practically anyone in a bad situation.
When you break down the list of tribal lenders you notice something really fast which is that very few of them actually lend money. I know this sounds strange but think about it for a moment. The vast majority (let's say at least 90%) of tribal lenders only provide payday loans. And a payday loan is really not much of a loan. Yes, you do get access to funds for anywhere from 8 to 16 calendar days but is that really a loan? As strange as it sounds I'm at the point where I'm saying "No" this is not a loan. It is much more akin to "access" rather than a loan. So from now on let's use the word 'access' when discussing payday loans.
Most tribal lenders will let you access some small amount of money (often between $400 to $600) for roughly 14 days. Last time I checked 14 days equals 336 hours. So, once again, this isn't a loan it is access to some cash. There are a ton of companies that get involved in this business with all sorts of names like Black Bear Advance, Big Eye Lending, Arrow One Lending, the list just rolls on. The good thing is Great Plains Lending is different from them. If you are actually looking for some time to repay, which means you are looking for an installment loan, then Great Plains Lending is one of the better (and maybe the best) option for that "long-term" loan.
Now we have to caveat this by saying a true long-term loan would be something more like a bank or credit union would issue, which would last years and have a semi-reasonable interest rate. But in case you haven't heard the financial crisis of 2007 - 2010 really never ended, especially if you work for a living. So that's the conditional statement. Tribal installment lenders (like Great Plains Lending) are not cheap and actually are not very reasonable. But since we live in highly unreasonable times, well this frankly the type of debt instrument you will have available to you. There's a very good chance you will not get anything that resembles a bank loan or anything as good as the loans of 2006 and prior.
That leaves us with installment loans. Payday loans are mostly traps and not very helpful, as they quickly come back for the money. True long-term loans are just gone. Great Plains Lending offers the best of what is left in the lending business, which is a 24 week (paid 12 times with bi-weekly payments) loan.
The listed APR for this loan is very expensive. The company website lists the average loan as having a 448% APR. I know it's difficult to believe that this product is better than the others but this is the truth we face, as the payday lenders are even more expensive.
Now here is where the nuts and bolts of this situation get specific. Right now there is an entire army of online lenders trying to get you to borrow money from them. A lot of people have already been through the ringer and have gone bankrupt. Many other potential borrowers don't qualify because of terrible loan history or prior bankruptcy filings. So there is essentially a static pool of people who are going to turn to these high cost online loans, which includes both payday and installment loans.
So the competition is hot amongst the companies who issue online loans and Great Plains Lending falls into that fray. They want to issue loans but only a set number of people apply to them everyday. Some are accepted but many others are not. Some that are accepted wind-up turning to alternative lenders. All of this means that Great Plains Lending wants new customers and they are not necessarily getting as many as they would like.
Just as a new car buyer would negotiate the price and terms of a new automobile purchase, so can you bargain for better terms and interest rates on your loan with Great Plains Lending. Of course the company might say no outright or they might make a counteroffer. Either way, the truth is they need business, and if you have any decent credit rating at all or if you have a job you've been at more than five years, don't let them push you into the higher rate loan.
A good starting point would be to say something like "I know you have the standard bi-weekly payment of $101 for a $500 original loan, but I would be willing to pay $72 every two weeks" and just see what they say. Good chance they will fight back. That's alright because so can you. A good approach would be as follows...
Just advise Great Plains Lending that you want a better interest rate than the 448% APR they offer. After all, it does mention on their website that the "usual" APR is 448% but in fact you are an above average customer and would prefer a better rate.
The reason I believe Great Plains is going to work with you is the competition from other companies. There are no so many online lenders that Great Plains actually needs your business. Now one caveat against this strategy is if you have really terrible credit or some big black mark against your credit score. Then there won't be much of an incentive for the company to work with you. But assuming you have some fair level of credit and you have been at your job for more than a year, then charge ahead and tell the firm you need a better rate for them to win your business.
Also, tell Great Plains that you have another online lender who is willing to loan the same amount of money for 25% for a 16 day loan. There's a very good possibility the person you're working with will ask to go away for a minute or two, which means they want to clear the lower rate with their manager. Remember all of these simple contracts are put together from the same master contract. All that changes are the terms such as dates, dollar amounts, and interest rates. So all the manager has to do is agree to lower the rate to win your business.
If it were a year or two ago I would say this negotiating method wouldn't do you much good. But now with lenders everywhere and more workers tapped out than ever, I think it would be foolish not to pursue a negotiated (improved) loan rate. Besides it doesn't hurt to try. Perhaps if they don't help on the interest rate side they will allow for more time on the loan, a grace week for instance. With Great Plains Lending it is definitely worth the time and effort to attempt to get them to provide you with better terms. I believe they will.
Great Plains Lending is an automatic recommendation when it comes to tribal lenders. Why? Because so few of these firms provide installment loans. Great Plains Lending is designed entirely around installment loans that have 24 week time frames, with 12 bi-weekly payments. Yes, this is expensive but remember that getting a payday loan which is due in 14 days and that you can't repay in full will also be quite expensive as you start rolling the loan over every two weeks.
Great Plains is great with their repayment arrangements but not so great with their interest rates. When, and if, you apply make sure to work on them and negotiate hard. Ask to talk to a manager. Tell them you have decent credit and you do not deserve to have a 448% APR, tell them to get it down to a maximum of 300% and you'll do business with them.
If you need a loan make sure to check out Great Plains Lending, and if you need an installment loan then you definitely want to learn about this company.
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