Assuming the application has been granted by the bank (on terms you are happy with), you can sign the loan release form. At this stage, you have secured your loan and the bank is ready to pass the money over to you.

This is normally done in one of two ways. Either the funds are transferred into a current account, or similar account, nominated by you. You can then access the cash by means of cheque, cash card, over the counter and any other methods normally available to you. Otherwise, the bank will send you a personal cheque, and you can pay this into your nominated account.

In both cases, the loan account will be treated as a completely seperate account, and the bank will issue statements at the end of each period which is normally every month (or sometimes every 3 months).

They will show your repayments for the period, your interst due and the outstanding balance on the loan. Also, if you have aquired any charges for the period, these will also be displayed. General information and messages, such as current interest rate, proposed increases or reductions in interest along with contact addresses for the bank will be given.

It is important that you do not miss deadlines for paymants, as this will impair your credit rating, and certainly reduce your chances of aquiring credit in future. However, if you anticipate that you are expecting a problem, it is best to call the bank and explain. In many cases, but not all, the bank will allow you a few weeks delay on some payments before they record it externally. This is because they usually report one month 'in arrears'. For this reason, a polite request can sometimes be granted, but if you do not ask the arrears will be reported.