Short Term Loans for Bad Credit

Reviewed by the 3BCash Compliance Team · Last reviewed 2026

Short term loans for bad credit, done as installment loans: 3BCash offers fixed bi-weekly or monthly payments over a relatively brief term, not one lump-sum payment due on your next payday. Bad credit is considered, the credit check to start is soft, and the payment schedule is set before you sign.

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Short Term Loans for Bad Credit

Short term loans for bad credit don't have to mean a single balloon payment or a hidden fee structure. At 3BCash, bad credit is considered because we look primarily at your income and banking history, not just a score. Our soft credit check lets you see if you qualify without a hard inquiry landing on your report. Short term loans for bad credit online through 3BCash follow the same review whether you apply from your phone or computer.

• Steady, verifiable income direct-deposited by your employer into a checking account
• A checking account at least 60 days old in your name
• Gross income of at least $1,500 per month
• At least 23 years old, reachable after work, and not currently in bankruptcy

A hard credit check may still occur later during final approval. See our full borrower requirements for details.

Short Term Installment Loans vs Short Term Payday Loans

If you've been caught in a short term payday loan cycle before, a short term installment loan is structured differently on purpose: the amount you owe shrinks with every payment instead of resetting each pay period. See our full installment loans vs payday loans comparison for more detail.

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Short Term Personal Loans

Short term personal loans and short term unsecured personal loans describe the same product at 3BCash: no collateral required, a fixed payment schedule, and an amount tailored to your situation, from $100 up to $35,000 depending on income and state. As a representative example: a $500 loan repaid in 16 bi-weekly payments at an APR within your state's legal limit (see rates by state). This is an example only; confirm your exact terms when you complete the application form.

Comparing short term loans for bad credit usually comes down to a few things: whether bad credit is truly considered, whether the credit check is soft or hard, and whether the payment schedule is fixed or variable. On all three, our answer is the same across every amount we lend: bad credit is considered, the initial check is soft, and payments are fixed from day one.

How Repayment Works

Who a Short Term Loan Fits

A short term installment loan makes sense for a discrete, short-lived expense — a car repair, a medical bill, or a utility payment you need to make before your next paycheck. It's a different tool from a long-term personal loan: the amounts tend to be smaller, the terms shorter, and the process faster, but the fixed-payment structure means you're never guessing what you owe. It's not meant to be a repeat, ongoing source of income — if your budget shortfall happens most months, a short term loan is a temporary fix, not a solution, and it's worth reviewing your monthly expenses alongside applying.

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If you need a specific dollar amount right now, see our fast cash loans page, or check $500 fast cash for smaller amounts. Loans are not available in all states. There's no obligation until you review and accept your payment schedule.

How the Term Length Changes Your Cost

With a fixed-payment installment loan, the number of payments you choose shapes two things at once: how much each payment costs and how much you pay in total. Neither direction is automatically "better" — it depends on what your budget can absorb right now, and there's no single term length that fits every borrower or every expense.

3BCash offers repayment terms from as short as 7 days up to 12 months, depending on your amount, state, and application. There's no single right length — a shorter term saves on interest if you can handle the higher payment, while a longer term eases the payment if your budget is already tight this month. If your income is steady and predictable, a shorter term can make sense; if it fluctuates from month to month, the lower payment of a longer term may be the safer choice.

Try Different Numbers of Payments

Use the calculator below to see how a $1,000 loan's payment changes as you adjust the number of payments. Moving the slider toward fewer payments raises each payment but lowers the total cost; moving it toward more payments does the opposite.

As always, this is an example only — your actual rate is within your state's legal limit (see rates by state), and your exact terms are confirmed when you complete the application form. Playing with the numbers before you apply is a useful way to find a payment you're confident you can keep up with every pay period, not just the one that gets you approved.

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