Provident...? (merged)

BungleGirl

Ditto what ASG said - and Credit Unions usually only charge interest of about 1% per month on the decreasing balance (not sure what that is as an APR?) and they loan very small amounts which banks don't.

They are also usually based within communities i.e. schools, community centres, church halls etc.

Also whilst you repay your loan you are encouraged to add a little bit each week to your 'shares' (basically your savings) so when you have repaid your loan you should have more money saved up than when you started.

ASG_2

1% per month = 12.68%APR

Rafter

ASG wrote:

1] Who says that all provi customers are high risk? People who are on low incomes/ benefits usually have the most stable income
2] Like I said - get down to your local credit union. They lend to members, minimum deposit is usually £1 AND they often provide money management courses. Directors of credit unions are volunteers, so profits are returned to members.

1) Totally agree that not all provi customers are high risk, but they are below the radar of major high street lenders (even the more Ethical ones like Co-op or Nationwide). Even knocking out the bad debt charge from my calculation, a doorstep lender would need to charge 250%+ APR to fund the cost of collecting small amounts from many people on a weekly basis.

2) Credit Unions are fantastic organisations who can make a real difference to peoples lives, especially the education role they fulfill.

Personally I agree with the government that everyone should be entitled to access to the banking system (through basic bank accounts). I also think that everyone should be entitlted to a small (say £100) amount of emergency overdraft repayable over a short period, to avoid the tempation of using doorstep lenders or getting clobbered by excessive bank charges for small breaches of account conditions.

R.

ASG_2

Rafter,
sorry to go on, but how does

195+50+60+100+12.50 add up to £467.50?

Rafter

ASG wrote:

Rafter,
sorry to go on, but how does

195+50+60+100+12.50 add up to £467.50?

It doesn't, but it was Monday morning! I have amended one of my assumptions so that it does add up properly now. For your information the APR would be 316% if my calculation had been correct. Still a huge number, still the number required for such an expensive doorstep operation.

You get the same effect with some 'premium' credit cards where you pay a monthly fee for travel insurance or other benefits.

R.

pavlovs_dog

Kzlnd wrote:

I received a letter from the scum around a month ago.. I had heard about them, their nasty APR rates and nasty collectors, so certainly wouldn't touch them.
I was quite annoyed that they'd sent me a letter, not sure WHY they would send me such a letter, I don't have bad debts/poor credit rating etc..
I decided to read the laughable letter and yes 177% was quoted so I called the idiots up and complained about receiving the letter and the disgusting rates they charged.
I told them that I wanted to be removed from their database, but was told they had no record of my address details but would make a note on the system not to send any mail shots to me in future..
I received another letter last week :mad: :mad:

they keep doing that to me, and everytime i phone them up on their (free ) phone number, complain, ask again to be removed from the database, and then send them their junk mail (and sometimes other companies ) back to them in their pre-paid envelopes

Kzlnd

pavlovs_dog wrote:

they keep doing that to me, and everytime i phone them up on their (free ) phone number, complain, ask again to be removed from the database, and then send them their junk mail (and sometimes other companies ) back to them in their pre-paid envelopes

So do I! Makes me chuckle, whether it gets opened or not :rolleyes: :rotfl:

shoperholicnot

They add the interest for the shopping
vouchers at the beginning, so even if you paid it in 2 weeks you would have to pay the full interest

inmypocketnottheirs

Rafter wrote:

1) (even the more Ethical ones like Co-op or Nationwide).

R.

Co-operative Bank - ethical, I don't think so!

Cumbrian_Male

shoperholicnot wrote:

They add the interest for the shopping
vouchers at the beginning, so even if you paid it in 2 weeks you would have to pay the full interest

NOT TRUE

You would still receive a rebate of interest as per the The Consumer Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 2004

I also have an interest here as I work for Provident.