Top 5 Student Loan Apps in India 2023 (Instant Loans)

Students may require additional money to fulfill their college requirements like fees, books, extra-curricular activities, food, tools, and much more. Moreover, situations of Instant & Urgent money requirements may rise where parents are unable to fund you. These are the times when Student Loan Apps come to your rescue. These are fast in processing, available anytime, and reliable. Also, the credit limit offered is good enough for students in India. However, there are also things you need to beware of as you know, “loan liya hai toh chukana toh padega (with interest…)”. We have got you the 5 Best Instant Loan Apps for Students in India in 2023 based on Interest Rate, Processing Fees, Trust Score, Eligibility, No-cost EMI, and many more factors.

I personally don’t recommend Student Loan Apps because the pressure of debt can cause misfortune & untoward events! However, on the other hand many students have used it responsibly and have had success.

• Interest Rate = Principal Amount x Tenure/365 x APR (annual percentage rate)

• APR considers Interest, Processing fees, Late fees, and any other charges, and so is always higher than Interest. Thus, Low the APR, better the Interest Rate.

• Interest Rate Decreases as Loan Amount Increases and vice-versa.

• Higher Tenure = Higher Interest, and vice-versa.

• Your CIBIL Score impacts Interest Rates. High CIBIL = Low Interest so always keep a knack of repaying on time or beforehand.

• Your in-hand amount will be lesser than the loan amount because these apps deduct processing fees and other fees (if any) beforehand.

• Most of these apps don’t reimburse you if you pay early, Infact some might reject you in future due to paying way too early.

• They may call/sms/Whatsapp your contacts in case you fail to repay for adding peer pressure.

• 18% GST applicable on all other charges except Interest.

• Loan Amount gets transferred to your Bank account so you need to have one.

• You can convert Repayment Amount into EMIs.

KreditBee is an Instant Personal Loan App. It promises loan disbursement into your bank account in around 15-20 mins post application. There are 3 loan types available out of which ‘Flexi Personal Loan’ is for students who are in the mid/last stages of graduation and those opting for higher education.

• Loan Disbursal Time - 5 mins | make a note that processing & onboarding fee will be deducted from your disbursed amount.

• Required Documents - PAN card and Aadhar card / Passport

• Loan Amount Range - ₹1300 to ₹50,000

• Tenure - 3 to 10 months

• Eligibility Criteria - 21+ age | Indian | monthly income source | ₹25,000 min family income

• Interest - 18% to 30% per annum

• Processing Fee - 2.5% of loan amount, fixed in between ₹85 to ₹1,800 + GST | save on it via KreditBee Coupons and Refer & Earn

• Onboarding Fee for KreditBee new user - ₹200 + GST

• APR - 70% max

Partnered NBFCs include the likes of Piramal Finance, Chola, IIFL, Northern Arc, PayU, and Mirae Asset.

Cons

• 18+ students won’t be able to use it.

• People have claimed rude customer care behavior. Also, they may call/sms your contacts.

KreditBee related Discussions:

• What is KreditBee?

• Without consent KreditBee Soft Inquiry

mPokket delivers quickly, and that too most of the time. It is a less tenure loan program keeping College Students in mind as it's better to free them early from the loan burden. One more interesting part here is mPokket Cashback (mCoins)! When you repay in time or early, this app rewards you with Cashback which can be redeemed against processing fees. Make a note that at start you will only be allowed to get a very limited amount loan i.e. ₹500 or ₹1000.

mPokket also has a ‘Shop’ section where you can buy Brand Vouchers, Restaurant Vouchers, Mobiles, Electronics, etc. It also rewards you with mPokket Cashback on shopping via it from affiliate partners such as Amazon and Flipkart. Moreover, you get ₹5000 in MyCash Rewards automatically as a mPokket new user on signing up. This amount can be redeemed in the Shop section.

• Loan Disbursal Time - 2 to 5 mins

• Loan Amount Source - Bank Account or Paytm Wallet

• Required Documents - College ID, PAN card and Aadhar card / Driving license / Voter ID

• Loan Amount Range - ₹500 to ₹30,000 | Usually you get upto ₹10,000 which can increase or decrease depending on your loan repayment activities.

• Tenure - 2 to 4 months

• Eligibility Criteria - 18+ age | College ID

• Interest - 0% to 4% per month

• Processing Fee - fixed in between ₹50 to ₹200 + GST

• Late Charge - ₹8/day after due date

• Refer & Earn - ₹75/referral

• APR - 142% max

Cons

• Interest rate is high, goes up till 48% p.a.

• Shop section promises higher discounts, but fails to deliver.

• It takes time to update loan repayment status in CIBIL which might impact your score.

• Slow customer service

One of the best things about Pocketly is that you can close the loan anytime. Also, if you don’t have enough funds to repay then just pay the minimum due per month (EMI) and move on. For students, it gives ₹600 credit at start. You can take it up to ₹10,000 by repaying on time and following Pocketly norms. Pocketly follows a similar pattern to mPokket as it is also a low tenure loan program for students.

• Loan Disbursal Time - Dynamic / User-specific

• Required Documents - PAN card and Aadhar card | Video KYC

• Loan Amount Range - ₹600 to ₹10,000

• Tenure - 2 to 4 months

• Eligibility Criteria - 18-30 age

• Interest - 1% to 3% per month

• Processing Fee - ₹20 to ₹120 + GST

• Refer & Earn - upto ₹500 Cashback / referral

• APR - 12% to 36%

Pros

• Low processing fees and APR

• Less Interest comparatively

Cons

• Customer Support, again!

The Slice app has a section called Slice Borrow for student instant loans. The interest rate here is quite good comparatively. The reason why it is in the 1st place in this list is because it provides Interest-Free Loan for a month irrespective of the amount!

• Loan Disbursal Time - Instant

• Required Documents - PAN card | College ID

• Loan Amount Range - upto ₹5 Lakh

• Tenure - upto 12 months

• Eligibility Criteria - Student

• Interest - Dynamic / user-specific | 0% Interest if paid within a month

• Processing Fee - 3% of loan amount | you might get a discount on it

Pros

• If you pay early then No Interest will be charged for the remaining Tenure. This privilege is not present in any of the apps in this list.

• Free Loan available for the 1st Month.

Cons

• 30% of the outstanding principal amount or Rs. 3000 (whichever is lower) needs to be paid as Penalty Charges if defaulted.

StuCred is on the 1st position in our list of Best Student Loan Apps because of its highest trustability. Students from many popular Indian colleges have already used this app. Your credit limit will increase or decrease based on your loan repayment performance. Make sure you have a UPI ID as it uses only this method for bank transfer.

• Loan Disbursal Time - 1 to 5 mins

• Required Documents - PAN card | Aadhar card | College ID

• Loan Amount Range - ₹1000 to ₹10,000

• Tenure - 2 to 3 months

• Eligibility Criteria - College Student

• Interest - 0%

• Processing Fee - 6% per month (all inclusive)

• APR - 72%

Pros

• Allows Tenure Extension if you fail to pay.

• Rewards with Cash (bank transfer) via scratch cards for timely repayments.

Cons

• High Processing Fee and APR.

• 0% Interest is just a namesake. Processing Fee = Interest Rate here.

You will come across many articles on the web which showcase the Best Student Loan Apps but beware because many of them are for salaried/self-employed only. These are included in the list because they are useful for education loans. However, when we talk about Student Loans, it has slight/no resemblance with Education or Higher Study Loans. Moreover, India has banned 232 Betting & Loan Apps linked to China recently!