Faxless Cash Advances

One of the biggest hassles that come with a cash advance is faxing documents to your lender. Why are these documents necessary? Can anything be done to bypass the faxing process? Read this article to find out more about the necessary evil that accompanies many cash advance products and which steps you can take to prevent a request for faxed documents.

Why is faxing even important?

One of the biggest problems that plagues the unlucky American consumer today is identity theft; a process by which criminals will secure personal and private information about you (social security numbers, birth records, etc.) and use that information to exploit your credit ability. Online cash advances provide the perfect opportunity for many of these thieves to apply and receive a good-sized chunk of cash without ever having interaction with the company that issued the quick cash advance. The faxing of documents provides a sort of insurance to the cash advance lender that the person receiving the cash advance is in fact who they say they are; requiring customers to do this also helps to protect you as a consumer from fraud were your information to be obtained illegally by any party that is not authorized to conduct financial transactions on your behalf.

What documents will I need to fax?

This is entirely up to the lender that processes your cash advance application, though the most commonly faxed documents include:

• Forms of government-issued identification (such as a driver's license, birth certificate, etc.)
• Copies of your past pay stub(s) - have two prepared just in case
• A copy of your most recent banking statement
• A voided check
• Statements of income from any other source (welfare, annuities and other disbursements)

The goal of these documents is twofold: (1) verify your identity and (2) verify claims of income as stated on your cash advance application. Many cash advance companies do not require the faxing of any documents unless something doesn't quite add up from the information you provide on your application. As such, if you wish to obtain a faxless cash advance, it is in your best interest to be as truthful and accurate as possible when filling out the information requested by your cash advance provider.

They say I need to fax documents... now what?

If a company says you need to fax them documents in order to receive your cash advance, there's a good chance that abandoning that company and going for another won't do you any good. The cash advance industry has set up systems that almost act like a miniature tracking system, so other lenders will know if you've submitted applications to their competition and will be less likely to authorize you for a cash advance.

Fax services are generally available from your local library or post office box stores (such as FedEx/Kinko's, Office Max, Staples, etc.). Alternatively, if you have a scanner, you can set up a free trial account with an online fax provider (at the time this article was written, a great deal was being offered by TrustFax) and use your computer to transmit the needed documents to your cash advance lender with relative ease. The fastest way is to use your scanner to scan the documents and then use your online fax provider's website to send those documents to the fax number as provided by your lender.

Lenders are generally aware that the faxing of documents is a big hassle for most consumers, and with so many adopting a faxless cash advance approach to lending they might be more willing to work with you if you explain your situation. Give them a call or send them an email and let them know why faxing is a problem for you - a good lender will work with you to see that you get the cash advance you need as quickly as possible.