Dumfounded by the banks

tryingtogetby_2

I recently applied for a loan to pay off credit and store cards. I went with the bank I have an account with (A&L). The advertised rate was 6.9%, my credit rating, according to experian, is excellent. So why would the bank come back and accept my application at the rate of 12.9% APR - a full 6% above the indicative rate. I have spent the last 2 hours trying various numbers and being pushed between 'wrong' departments and no one is able to say why this is the case other than it is the bank's policy.

Anyone out there with an idea as to how the banks are able to still get away with these ridiculous rates?

ILW

Depends how you define ridiculous.

Has anybody else offered you a better rate?

[Deleted User]

It's your risk profile, indebtedness and so on.

Experian don't lend a lot of money out, so the score doesn't mean much apart from making people feeel better. It's the history of your report and current circumstances which matter.

Tixy

12.9% is probably an average rate for someone with a good credit history (although you haven't said how much the loan was for).

The bank only have to give the representative APR to 51% of people they accept. People who they still want as a customer but don't quite meet their target criteria get offered a higher rate, like yourself, and people with poor or even average credit history get declined.

CLAPTON

how much are your current debts?
how much do you earn
do you use your overdraft
how much were you trying to borrow