The questions below are the ones people actually ask before applying. Where an answer needs more room than a paragraph, it links to the page that gives it.
514loans is not a lender. We match your application with partner lenders, and a partner that accepts it provides and services the loan. That shapes several of the answers here, so it is worth stating first.
Applying
What do I need to apply?
Four things: a Canadian address, an active bank account that receives your income, photo identification, and proof of address. The identification can be a driver’s licence or passport; proof of address can be a utility bill or bank statement showing your name and address.
You will also complete an Internet Banking Verification, which is a read-only connection to your bank account. It confirms that income arrives regularly and that the account is in good standing — the things a partner lender assesses instead of pulling your credit file. It takes a couple of minutes and does not give anyone the ability to move money.
There is no fee to apply, and applying does not affect your credit score because no credit check is performed.
Do I qualify?
The baseline criteria are the same regardless of credit history: you are a Canadian citizen, over 18, employed full time, hold an active bank account, and are not currently in a consumer proposal or bankruptcy.
The full-time employment requirement is worth reading closely. If you work part time, on contract, or through gig platforms, you may not meet it — better to know before you spend time on an application than after. What partner lenders look at beyond that is set out on our bad credit loans page.
Which provinces do you serve?
Applications are accepted from across Canada. Which partner lenders can act on one depends on the province, because consumer lending is provincially regulated and not every lender operates everywhere.
Quebec is the notable case: the province caps annual rates at a level that makes payday lending commercially unviable, which is why payday lenders do not operate there. Installment lending is unaffected.
What happens after I submit?
Your application goes to our application host and from there to partner lenders in our network. A lender that accepts it contacts you directly to finalise the details. Because there is no credit check to wait on, that is usually quick, though the exact timing is set by the lender rather than by 514loans.
If you would rather your information was not shared with partner lenders, the answer is not to submit an application — that sharing is the service and cannot be separated from it. Every party that receives an application is listed in our privacy policy.
Money and cost
How much can I borrow, and for how long?
Loans range from $300 to $3,000, repaid over 90 to 120 days. Payments are usually bi-weekly and aligned to your pay dates, so money leaves the account when it arrives rather than between deposits.
What you can borrow depends on what your banking history supports, and the partner lender sets the final amount.
What does it cost?
Partner lenders charge an APR of 22% to 32%, depending on the risk score of the application.
A representative example at the top of that range: a $300 loan at an APR of 32% over 98 days is repaid in 7 bi-weekly payments of approximately $44.99. The total repayable is $314.93, of which $14.93 is the cost of borrowing. That includes all membership fees as well as interest and capital.
Two further fees apply only if something goes wrong: $50 for a payment returned for non-sufficient funds, and $35 to reschedule a payment. Worked examples at other amounts are on the installment loans page, and the full terms on loan terms and borrowing example.
How fast does the money arrive?
Once a partner lender approves your application and you sign their agreement, funds are deposited to the account you used for verification. Same-day funding is common but not guaranteed, and the timing is the lender’s to set.
Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm. A partner lender may contact you outside those hours; they keep their own schedule.
Can I repay early?
Yes, and it costs less. The cost of borrowing accrues on the outstanding balance, so clearing the balance sooner means less of it accrues at all.
On the $1,000 example, the first payment carries $12.31 of borrowing cost and the last carries $1.82, because by then almost nothing is outstanding. Paying ahead of schedule removes the later, cheaper cost first — so early repayment saves real money, but less than the headline rate suggests.
Arrange it with the partner lender directly, since the agreement is with them, and ask whether any administration fee applies to settling early. That is the lender’s term to set, not ours, and it varies.
If something goes wrong
What if I miss a payment?
The partner lender charges $50 for a payment returned for non-sufficient funds, and your bank may add its own charge on top. If you know in advance that a payment will not clear, rescheduling costs $35 and is the cheaper option.
There are limits on rescheduling: the first payment cannot be moved, two payments in a row cannot be, and no more than two per loan term. Contact the lender before the payment date rather than after.
What if I am declined?
A decline is not permanent. The most common reasons are recent non-sufficient funds activity, income that cannot be verified through banking verification, or existing obligations that leave no room for another payment.
If the money is needed to clear debts rather than meet a one-off cost, borrowing again may be the wrong tool — credit consolidation covers the alternative. A non-profit credit counselling agency or a Licensed Insolvency Trustee will assess your options at no cost and without lending you anything.
Who do I contact about an existing loan?
The partner lender that provided it. They hold the agreement, take the payments, and handle any change to the schedule. You can also sign in to the client portal to see your balance and payment schedule.
If you are not sure which lender you were matched with, email [email protected] and we will point you to them.
About this service
Is this a payday loan?
No. A payday loan is a single lump sum, principal and fee together, due on your next payday — typically $15 per $100 borrowed over 14 days, which annualises to around 390%.
An installment loan is repaid gradually in fixed payments over 90 to 120 days at 22% to 32% APR. The balance falls with every payment, so the cost portion falls too. The comparison is set out in full on installment loans versus payday loans.
Do you check my credit?
No. Partner lenders verify income through a read-only connection to your bank account instead of pulling your file from Equifax or TransUnion. There is no hard inquiry, so applying has no effect on your credit score.
This is not generosity — a bank record is a better predictor of whether the next payment will clear than a score describing how someone handled credit years ago.
Do you contact my employer?
No. Nobody calls your employer, and no employment reference is requested.
Income is confirmed through the banking verification instead. What a partner lender sees is the pattern of deposits into your account — that money arrives, how regularly, and from a consistent source. They are assessing whether the next payment is likely to clear, and a deposit history answers that without involving anyone else.
This matters to more applicants than it might appear. People often avoid borrowing precisely because they do not want an employer to know, and the verification step is sometimes assumed to include a call. It does not.
Is my information safe?
The application is submitted through our application host, and from there to partner lenders so they can decide whether to make an offer. Banking verification is performed by a specialist provider.
Every party that receives your information is named in our privacy policy, along with what each one receives. Nothing on this site loads analytics or advertising until you choose to allow it.
Still have a question? Contact us, or start an application — it takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.