How to Wonga

Applying for Wonga is simple. There’s no nightmare paperwork to tackle, documents to fax or cheesy hold music to endure, because our unique service is online from start to finish. To begin, use the sliders on the home page to decide exactly how much cash you want to borrow and how many days you need it for. We'll show you the full cost and, once you're happy with everything, click apply. We'll then ask for some personal details and banking information for our super-fast credit check.

	We usually provide you with an instant answer and, if approved, we send the cash to your bank within 15 minutes! That makes us the fastest and only 24/7 lender in the land
	On your chosen date we collect a single payment from your debit card, so you just need to ensure the required funds are available in the associated bank account
	You can initially request any amount up to £400 and, providing you keep using the service responsibly, we'll gradually increase your Wonga trust rating, giving you more borrowing flexibility if you ever need it. Once you have an account, you'll find application is even faster next time too!

If you're still feeling a bit foggy, there's further introductory information below. Or check out our FAQ page for answers to most specific questions.

Short-term credit

We don’t want to keep you in debt. That may sound funny coming from any lender, but Wonga provides fast cash advances for a few days or weeks. We’ll only lend you money for up to a month and you are always free to make early repayment with no hidden fees.

Unlike some lenders or credit card providers, we won’t keep rolling your existing balance endlessly or encourage you to make minimum repayments. So please think very carefully before you apply, because we expect you to repay us when you promise to. If you have any doubts over whether you'll be able to do that comfortably, please don’t apply in the first place.  

Transparency

We'll always tell you upfront what the cost of your cash advance will be. There are no catches or extra costs to worry about, providing you stick to your side of the deal. Our service has a Typical 2689% APR, but bear in mind that APR is a measure of annual interest and a Wonga loan is only for between one day and a month. Only using APR when considering a Wonga cash advance is a bit like trying to plan a short hotel break using the theoretical cost if you were to stay all year! We also add a £5.50 transmission fee that helps cover the cost of our super-fast cash deposit system - the quickest cash transfers on the web. Again, this is included in the total cost you'll be shown up-front.

Failure to stick to your side of the deal

The only way costs will mount beyond our initial calculation is if you don’t keep your promise. In other words, if you ask us to change your repayment date, or don’t ensure sufficient funds are available for the automated collection. If we can’t collect payment from your debit card first thing on the day you selected, you will incur a missed payment fee of £7.50. If we still can't collect payment at the end of the due date (5pm), you will incur a further fee of £17.50 towards the cost of a failed collection. Your account will then be handled by our professional collections team.

They will do their best to come to an arrangement with you and help you resolve things, which is always our goal. Wonga doesn't believe in hitting you with ongoing and multiple charges, like most traditional lenders will, but interest will continue to accrue on your balance for up to 60 days if we can't reach a fair agreement in the meantime. If you don't work with us and we can't recover the money over a reasonable period, your account may be passed to an external collections partner.

Continued failure to repay a loan will also mean credit reference agencies (CRAs) will record the outstanding debt. This information may be supplied to other organisations by CRAs and fraud protection agencies to perform similar checks and to trace your whereabouts and recover debts that you owe. Records remain on file for six years after they are closed, whether settled by you or defaulted.

Finally, your Wonga trust rating will be hit hard and you probably won't be able to borrow from us again.

None of these things are worth risking, so if you have doubts about whether you'll be able to comfortably repay a loan, please don't apply in the first place.