Saturday, February 6, 2010

“Banks risk-averse as personal loan rates hit a high (Yorkshire Post Today)” plus 1 more

“Banks risk-averse as personal loan rates hit a high (Yorkshire Post Today)” plus 1 more


Banks risk-averse as personal loan rates hit a high (Yorkshire Post Today)

Posted: 05 Feb 2010 10:13 PM PST

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.

The average rate for a £5,000 loan repaid over three years is currently 12.4 per cent, despite the Bank of England base rate being at a record low of just 0.5 per cent, financial information group Moneyfacts.co.uk said.

The last time loan rates were this high was in 2001, when a comparable deal averaged 12.5 per cent, but the base rate was 12 times higher at 6 per cent.

Interest rates on loans have been forced up by a combination of a lack of competition in the sector as banks become increasingly reluctant to do unsecured lending, and higher pricing for risk in the face of rising default rates.

Three-quarters of banks now restrict personal loans to their existing customers only, and nearly all of them employ so-called risk-based pricing, under which the rate charged is tailored according to the borrower's creditworthiness.

The stagnation in the personal loan market is illustrated by figures released by the Bank of England, which showed that borrowing through both loans and overdrafts contracted during all but one month of 2009.

Michelle Slade, spokeswoman for Moneyfacts.co.uk, said: "Banks don't want to lend on personal loans as, unlike on a mortgage, there is no security that a loan debt will be repaid.

"They are pricing that risk into their rates and they are trying to
deter people from taking them out.

"In such a risk-averse market, lenders are only offering loans to the most creditworthy applicants and then at a premium."

The best buy rate offered on a personal loan is also at a nine-year high of 8.9 per cent, offered by Alliance & Leicester on a loan of £5,000 taken out over three years.

This compares with a rate of just 5.7 per cent in 2006.

Moneyfacts said the lack of competition in the market was highlighted by the fact that the usual post-Christmas "loan sale", when lenders discount their rates to attract borrowers, failed to happen this year.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.



image

Federal SBA loans available to victims of recent flooding (L'Observateur)

Posted: 06 Feb 2010 06:27 AM PST

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.


Comment posters are responsible for the opinions they express and the accuracy of the information they provide. We urge comment writers to treat this as a public forum where manners matter. We encourage a collegial, non-insulting tone. All readers comments must be approved by our staff before posting to the Web site. Be aware, in accordance with the Communications Decency Act and provisions upheld in judicial appeal, that you are responsible for comments posted on this Web site. The L'Observateur is not liable for messages from third parties.

DO NOT POST:
* Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults or threats.
* The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.
* Comments unrelated to the story.

Opinions, advice and all other information expressed in The L'Observateur reader comments represent the individual's own views and not necessarily those of L'Observateur. L'Observateur does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice or opinions offered by anyone other than authorized L'Observateur spokespersons.

Thank you for your comments!

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.



image

0 comments:

Post a Comment