I am trying to apply for a loan in order to fulfill an urgent personal need. So I went for a Personal loan and tried to start my adventures at Commercial Bank. Since I have already obtained a small loan from them they were weary of providing a second loan, so I looked elsewhere.

Adventure 1 : Hatton National Bank – This started out pretty fine. I had to look for two guarantors who had to sign on a Rs 100/= stamp in front of a Justice of Peace or Attorney at law. They had to declare their movable and immovable assets ( since the loan was for a relatively small amount and they do not like to declare their assets, so they did not do so). After all that hassle, I handled over the application at the bank. I was told to give about 3 days for processing. What I should have known was that it meant that the application will stay idle for three days. On the fourth day I gave a call and I was told that I should get the guarantors ready to come there and sign the application. I asked whether the loan is confirmed, I was told that they will confirm in the evening. In the evening I was told that a guarantor will require some sort of assets, so I have to get him to declare them. I was told initially that my basic salary will have to exceed a certain amount for the loan to be passed and my basic was higher than their limit but now they say that it is not my basic but it should be my net salary that should be higher. So this is when that I understood that my application is being looked at on the fourth day and it remained idle for the last three days. When I explained to the Loans officer what I was told by him before I was told to get the guarantor to declare assets and then it should be okay. After speaking to the guarantor, he said that he will declare his assets and the next morning, five minutes before I could call the bank I got a call saying saying that the manager rejected the application based on the salary so I cannot proceed any further. I was also told that the system does not accept the salary (so who approves manager or system).I have heard that these HNB managers need some sort of incentive to approve anything so I guess if I had met the manager and offered a certain percentage of my loan it would have worked out and the system would have accepted my salary but I was not prepared to do it since I do not like to bribe people and hate people accept them.

Adventure 2 : HSBC - Since I am a HSBC card holder, I was told that I can apply for a lifestyle loan from them. Upon visiting they checked my card details and I was told that I was eligible. I made the application. A few days later since there was no response from them I gave a call to check and I found out that it has been rejected. Apparently they say that there is some score that is very vital and it depends on credit card usage and my score on usage is not enough. So much for a lifestyle loan.

Adventure 3 : ICICI Bank - Called them up and they say that the salary should definitely have been sent to the bank and doing so from now is no point unless I do it for about 3 or more months and then apply. I get mine and hand delivered by the accoutant or the assistant accountant. Only “A” grade private companies and government institute employees are given loans by them if their salaries are not sent to banks. I am still trying to figure how they class “A” grade private companies.

Adventures 4 : State Banks - After my sour experience with state banks trying to get a lease to buy a computer I did not pursue them too much. However I called a few of them and there conditions are so high, I am not sure why anyone who can fulfill those conditions will ever try to apply for a personal loan.

Adventures 5 : NDB - Salary to bank issue exists and is the same as for ICICI Bank. In addition they need higher salary requirements and if I had that salary I would not be applying for loans.

So I have a few more banks on my list like Nations Trust Bank, Standard Chartered and a few other. I will definitely keep all of you posted on my adventures to obtain a loan.