Secured loans in the UK ended up with a pretty bad reputation after all the financial fuss of ’07 kicked off. There is no doubt the secured loan lending practices of the past were just as bad as some of the crazy mortgage offers around at the time with up to 125% of the value [...]

I run a personal finance website and on this site I have affiliate programs and also direct access enquiry forms. An affiliate program allows me to display links to other websites and earn commission when someone clicks or applies. Like this: Virgin Credit Card – 0% for 16 months 2.98% fee (typical 16.6% APR) The [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything but this had to be said! A lot more information is being made available regarding loan payment protection and the cost to the borrower and the benefits of shopping around for prices. I recently looked at the figures and found some staggering results. One lender quoted for a [...]

Have you been shopping around for a secured loan and been quoted what you think is an unnecessarily high fee for arranging the loan? The secured loan market has grown in recent years and as a result there are a lot of companies now providing loans or brokering loans. As with any industry with a [...]

As you may or may not know Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts with micro credits (or microloans or microfinance) in Bangladesh. Providing small cash loans to people in thirld world countries enabling them to start their own small business. Now you can follow in [...]

This is old news (as in the story came out last month) but I’ve only just found the article. Apparently around 1600 students enrolled across the UK don’t exist. Fraudsters enrol then use their fake status to obtain student loans. One such fraudster borrowed over £65,000 using 17 fake identities! “The government-owned Student Loans Company [...]

Some recent shifts in interest rates have led to a shuffling in the order of unsecured personal loans available online through affiliate programs. The current standings (correct as at 20/06/2007 – information sourced direct from the lenders websites). Ordered by typical APR: Moneyback Bank Loan – 6.2% Alliance & Leicester – 6.4% Halifax – 6.4% Bank of [...]

Payday loans have been big business in the USA for many years and are common place alongside credit cards and mortgages. The idea is ‘quick cash’. Small loan amounts for short term borrowing. The name ‘Pay Day’ suggests a ‘loan until payday’. You take out a small loan of up to £1000 and you pay [...]

For many years one of the unique selling points of secured loans has been something of a myth. It has been advertised that the APR of secured loans is often more competitive than unsecured loans because they are less of a risk to lenders. The loan is secured on property so applicants are less likely [...]

People all over the place are advertising the ‘best secured loan’ but what are they really offering? The best secured loan for one person may not be the best secured loan for another. Companies are also not allowed to claim they offer the ‘best secured loan’ or any other kind of financial product unless they [...]