Competition increases in personal loans market
January 8, 2011 by Reno
Filed under News, News-Loans
The start of this year has marked a change in the personal loans market that has seen a variety of well known lenders reducing the rates on some of their personal loans, and this has resulted in the average rate of interest being charged on loans of between £7500 and £15000 falling to their lowest level since November 2008.
Many consumers who have been considering a loan will welcome the news, as it means that they will pay far less for their borrowing as lenders compete with one another to offer the best deals and entice consumers away from their competitors. High Street banking giant Santander is offering a personal loan between these amounts at just 7.3 percent, and others are also offering similar rates.
However, those that are after a loan of £5000 or less will find themselves paying far more in the way of interest, as the rate of interest on smaller loans has actually increased during this period. Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and M&S Money are amongst the other lenders that have decided to reduce their interest rates on larger loans, but some are only offering the most competitive deals to existing customers rather than both existing and new customers, which may cause some disappointment amongst both consumers and industry officials.
Tags: year, expert, customer, loan rates, downside, new customers, moneyA financial expert stated: ‘It’s welcome news for customers to see loan rates falling at long last and from some of the largest providers in the market. It’s a shame that the rate cutting has, apart from Tesco and M&S Money, been targeted at existing customers only. The other downside is that lower interest rates are not on offer for smaller borrowings, so for anyone looking to borrow a sum of say £2,000 to £3,000, the interest rate will be well into double figures and in some cases pushing 20% APR.’
Credit cards hit by widespread rate increases
November 6, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards
Over 120 increases in rates and fees have hit the UK’s credit cardmarket.
According to Moneyfacts.co.uk, in the past two months, cards have felt the indirect impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis that has led to a global credit squeeze and resulted in rising charges.
The website’s research has found that cash withdrawal fees have increased on 69 cards, 25 now have higher rates on cash withdrawals and foreign usage charges have spiralled on 18 cards.
Esther James, credit card analyst at the website, said: “Following a year of rising rates and fees, its time to take a look at your card. Check the interest rate you are paying, as there are still some great 0 per cent deals on purchases and balance transfers to be found.
“So don’t pay interest unnecessarily. Make sure you look after your own pocket instead of fuelling the profits of the card providers.”
She added that there is enough choice for consumers not to be caught out, with 300 credit card providers on the market.
Tags: interest, rates, apr, increase, cards, creditBarclays offer reduced personal loan rates
October 9, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Loans
Barclays bank has announced it will cut its personal loan rates when many lenders are having trouble maintaining current rates, according to Gary Druggan, managing director at Barclays Personal Loans. 
Cutting rates on its entire book, the lending giant steps up competition in a move that takes advantage of its “strong balance sheet”.
The bank reports that Barclayloan Plus loan rates are going down by 0.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent APR typical.
Mr Duggan said: “At Barclays we are able to take advantage of a very strong balance sheet and finance loans from our very strong deposit taking business, enabling us to cut rates for this campaign.”
Personal loan rates have been just one of many things to be affected by recent credit crunch.
With many lenders forced to push rates up by as much as four per cent, borrowers would have trouble finding a rate below 6.9 per cent.
Mr Druggan added that anyone finding better loan rates than offered with Barclays will be refunded the difference and will also receive a bonus of one pound every month.
Are You Paying For Your Cash Back Credit Card?
May 13, 2007 by admin
Filed under Credit Cards
The offer seems to be too good to be true. Spend money on your credit card and your provider will give you cash back on the card as part of your credit card loyalty program. The more you spend, the more cash back you become entitled to. This all sounds well and good, but if you’re not careful you may very well find out that it is you who are paying for the cash back bonus you’re getting, not your UK credit card provider.
In order for your cash back reward program to work in your favor you need to be a disciplined credit card user. This does not mean that you should not use your credit card, or only use it in certain circumstances. In fact, you really should be using the card as often and as much as you can if you want to take the full benefit of the loyalty program. What it does mean, however, is that you need to make sure that you clear your credit card balance at the end of each credit card statement billing date. If you fail to clear your credit card balance on the statement due date, and you carry-over your credit card balance to the next month, then you start to become the person paying for your cash back rewards, not your credit card provider.
The reason why it is so important that you do not carry over a credit card balance to the next payment statement date is because you need to avoid incurring any interest or fees if you want to benefit from the cash back loyalty program. As soon as you lose this, any benefit you would have got from your cash back credit card loyalty program will be cancelled out by the interest and fees you need to pay for carrying over a balance on the card. Indeed, you may well find that the interest and fees you pay each month for carrying over the balance on your credit card will exceed any cash back you would be entitled to. Unfortunately, this aspect of cash back credit cards is something that UK credit card providers are relying on in order to fund the cash back they’re offering you in the first place.
Consequently, if you are the type of UK credit card user who pays off their credit card statement balance at the end of each billing cycle, then having a cash back credit card loyalty program can prove to be very lucrative for you. However, if like 60% or so of the other users of UK credit cards you are a borrower on your credit card, then it is very likely that you should look for some form of alternative loyalty program or, more importantly, a credit card that offers you a lower monthly interest rate than your current card provider offers, as, in the long run, this is very likely going to save you more money.
If you are in any doubt as to whether or not a UK cash back credit card is for you, be honest with yourself and ask yourself whether or not you have the discipline to pay off your credit card statement each month. If the answer to this question is yes, then this card is working for you. If the answer is no, you are paying for your credit card cash back loyalty program offer – and then some.
Richard Smith
13th May 2007
More Information:
External Links:
- More cash back credit card offers from CardGuide.co.uk
- Cash Back or Rewards – You Choose
Not sure which would be the best for your spending levels? This article discusses the advantages and limitations of bothtype of credit card offers
Rushed car loan choice can be costly
February 13, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Loans
Motorists have been warned that making the wrong choice in regard to their car credit could leave them at a significant financial disadvantage.
A study by price comparison site uSwitch.com has revealed that around 187,000 of the cars sold in March will be purchased with the help of showroom finance.
Such practices will result in around £228 million being wasted on charges for the year, the company states, explaining that the average showroom loan offers 10.12 per cent APR, a staggering 4.22 per cent higher than the best regular loan on the market.
“A rushed decision or just taking the finance deal offered by the car dealer could turn out to be a long term financial burden,” explained Nick White, the director of financial services at uSwitch.com.
“Paying too much for car finance is really easy to avoid,” he added, before suggesting that a comparison website might be a good place to start.
Opting for the best loan available could save a motorist around £1,200 over the loan’s term when compared with showroom finance, the company said.
Car Loans
Houses are the single biggest purchase you are likely to make in your life. The second isn’t so cut and dried, but it’s fairly likely to be a car. Given that you’ve probably already got quite a lot of credit and debts, and so there is a good chance another personal loan would be turned down by one of the regular banks is now the time to turn to a specialist car finance package? If so, are they really just for those who can’t get finance elsewhere?
