Moneysupermarket publishes loans review
Moneysupermarket has published user reviews on UK personal loans based on data collected from 11,000 users. The research, believed to be the largest personal loan review ever conducted in the UK, compares acceptance rates across loan providers, the number of customers who get the lowest headline rates and customers’ assessments of the service offered. Moneysupermarket believes the feedback is an accurate market assessment because of the volume of responses and the fact that only those who had applied for loans through the site were polled.
Stuart Glendinning, managing director at moneysupermarket.com, said: ‘Since the OFT applied the condition that 66 per cent of successful loan applicants must benefit from the headline rate on price for risk products – which predominate in the loans market – there has been an on-going suspicion, from many within the loans industry, that this condition has not been adhered to by some providers. Our users seem to indicate the industry is abiding by the regulations albeit there is no doubt that acceptance rates have diminished over the last two years, so it is 66 per cent of a smaller pool of users that are benefiting from headline rates.’
However, acceptance rates vary widely among providers. Glendinning added: ‘The feedback shows some providers having markedly different acceptance rates, though it should be noted providers with more competitive rates will attract applicants with better credit profiles. Currently Moneyback Bank is shown as having the highest acceptance rate overall on personal loans at 59 per cent, according to moneysupermarket.com users. Of those accepted for the Moneyback Bank’s loan, 65 per cent were offered an interest rate at sub six per cent, and a further 30 per cent were offered an interest rate of between six and 7.9 per cent.’