Consumer watchdog Which? has condemned this approach as "sneaky", wondering how customers will ensure a good personal loan deal when there is no easy way to compare the APR (annual percentage rate) . There is speculation that the increased popularity of price comparison websites in recent years has prompted banks to adopt this veil of secrecy. (source: "MSN the well known search engine")
If the paragraph above looks familiar, it's because it's a direct quote from one of the most popular financial advice sites in the UK. What writer Stuart Farr is talking about is a practice newly adopted by many major banks - leaving their typical rates out of their loan adverts. Instead, they claim to offer 'personal pricing' on personal and homeowner loans. This policy allows them to get around one of the protections that the government places on loan adverts - that the 'typical APR' advertised must be the one offered to at least 2/3rds of accepted applicants.
The end result is that if you're looking for a homeowner loan in the UK these days, you may feel like you're shopping in the dark. When the banks start dropping their APR adverts, you no longer have an easy tool to find the most economical loan. The truth is, though, that APR was never the best way to evaluate whether a loan was the best deal for you. There are too many ways that the figures can be manipulated to show a falsely low cost - and then there's that 2/3rds rule. The Consumer Credit Act of 2004 has a flip side. If 2/3rds of all accepted applicants get the preferred rate, that means that 1/3rd - 1 in 3 - are offered a loan at a higher rate of interest.
There's a good reason that the popularity of price comparison web sites has spooked the big banks into cloaking their typical rates. It's because informed consumers force them to meet the market prices offered by smaller loan companies and lenders - or lose business to them. With the new secrecy about interest rates and the attitude of 'you'll have to apply to find out how much we'll charge you to do business with us', financial pundits are advising consumers to cut back on their comparison shopping. Their reasoning runs like this:
Every time a lender checks your credit it leaves a footprint on your credit record. When you shop around to multiple lenders to get quotes on personal or homeowner loans, you're marking up your credit record and making it look like you're desperately searching for money to borrow. This will affect your credit rating and make it harder for you to qualify for loans with good interest rates.
Few of them are giving consumers the advice that will keep their credit ratings from being marked by comparison shopping. For the past several years, credit reporting agencies have offered 'quotation credit reports'. A quotation report costs the bank the same amount as a standard credit report, and it gives the lender enough information to give you a reasonable rate quote based on your credit history. The difference is in the footprint it leaves on your credit report - instead of indicating that you applied for a loan, it indicates that you are comparing rates before applying.
By all means, know what your credit rating is and whether it is likely to qualify you for the best rates - but don't let the fear of driving your credit score down keep you from shopping for the best possible loan. Instead of applying, ask for a loan rate quote, and request that they use a quotation credit report to make their determination. If the lender refuses, or tells you that it's against their policy, take your business to a lender that isn't afraid to let you examine their pricing before you sign on the dotted line.
When you go to someone and ask them about a thing you know nothing about, why are you eager to hear everything they say? It is because of fear-not fear about learning something new, but fear of a realization of what we knew as no longer our being. It is the ego fearing for its existence. The ego relies on what it knows to assure itself of its own immortality. When someone tries to teach us something new, there is natural resistance to the information. The ego does not want to replace what it knows as real with something that may invalidate or deny what it has experienced, because it would deny its own awareness of self.
The ego clings to physical things to assure itself of its existence. The ego is reluctant to know of things it has not experienced, the abstract is something it can not hold on to as real. When someone comes to us with information we did not ask for, our arms go up in a posture of defensiveness. And once again it is about fear, we are afraid what we already know will not being able to stand up to the new information. So in other words, what we knew in the past may not be real, or perhaps a lie and it invalidates what we believe to be our good sense of judgment and our very existence. However, when we seek new information it is a sign the ego has matured and is ready to move into a place of new awareness. The ego has taken charge of its own destiny and is creating it.
From ignorance, the ego does not understand its relationship to all other things. The ego sees itself separate from spirit, and does not realize it has the power, or it is the power that commands the spirit to create. For most, we do not want to know we have the power to command, nor do we want the responsibility for it. What if we realized we could change the world into anything we desired? And in doing so we made a mistake, what if we did it wrong? Could we live with what we have created?
The power to create is within each and every one of us. There are no worlds or circumstances we could not create. In the immature mind, this information could destroy the ego, or even more accurately the ego would destroy itself. With power comes responsibility most of us are not ready or willing to accept. With the knowledge you could fly off the top of a 20 story building-would you take the responsibility to do it. Yet it is in the knowing you can do it, that commands the spirit to make it so.
It is much easier for the ego to accept it would be stupid to jump off a building and expect to fly than to know it could fly. It is a built-in safety protocol that imprisons it and protects it within its limited awareness. Even if one witnesses another doing it, the ego will not believe it. Because it goes so much against what the ego knows as its truth-as how it sees itself-it will even deny what is presented to it in three dimensional colour.
You have the power to create anything you desire. You have the power to create and destroy worlds. You have the power to create life and destroy it. Yet you are limited by your ego who says you do not! It is the ego afraid to let go, afraid to accept new information, afraid of its own vulnerability and presence which controls you. The ego is a whimpering child afraid of the dark, wallowing in its dirty diaper-in control of unlimited massive power.
If I come to you and told you you are God, how would your ego respond to this new information? Would you need proof, or could you accept it? If I told you I am God and everyone around you is God, would your ego fight for equilibrium? Could you even accept there might be a possibility I am correct? How you answer this question will give you an exact estimate of whom and were you are in your spiritual evolution. It will give you an exact indication of your fear level. It will tell you exactly why your life is the way it is now, and how far you have to go. If you see this information as an assault on your intelligence then you are in denial. If you see it as an opportunity, then it is a symbol of higher awareness. It doesn't really matter whether the information is valid or not-it is all about how you perceive it. It is about accepting your power or denying it.
This may just be a dumb little article, but it is also a gift and opportunity to validate what you already know-it was written for a purpose-your purpose, because it is you who is reading it, and it is no accident or coincidence.
Both Jon Francis & Roy E. Klienwachter are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jon Francis has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Credit Cards Benefits and Credit Cards. Jon Francis has worked within the UK financial sector for more than 15 years. He's had over 100 articles published, recognised for his use of plain English to demystify the financial jargon usually associated with. Jon Francis's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.
Roy E. Klienwachter has sinced written about articles on various topics from Alternative Medicine, Facts about Barack Obama and Alternative Medicine. Roy E. Klienwachter is a resident of British Columbia, Canada. A published author, a student of NLP, ordained minister, New Age Light Worker, Teacher and Phenomenologist. Roy's books and articles are thought provoking, and designed to empower your imagina. Roy E. Klienwachter's top article generates over 1220000 views. to your Favourites.