GE Money (on behalf of EBS)

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SteelBlue05

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Well, just rang them looking for a small short term loan (3k) and was quoted an APR of 12.5%, which they immediately dropped to 8.9% after I said I could get it for 8.9% from my own bank (actually it was 8.19 but the girl misheard me). They wouldnt go any lower.

Just an FYI for anyone looking for loans, plenty of room for bargaining.....
 
Re: GE Money (on behalf od EBS)

Rang who - GE or EBS? And what does "on behalf od (of?) EBS" mean? Are GE underwriting loans on behalf of EBS or something? I presume you're going with the cheaper loan from your own bank so?
 
GE Money act on behalf of EBS for loans.....

typo in the title of the thread - should read "on behalf of EBS".
 
I think you'll find that all banks have a bit of a margin they can drop the rate if you ask.
 
Yeah, I think so, but I dont believe everyone knows that...
 
SteelBlue

That is very interesting. Ge Money were trumpeted as the lowest available lending rate by Ted McGovern, the Chief Executive of the EBS at the AGM a few weeks ago. I expressed doubt about it from the floor and your posting backs it up. They attract people in with talk of 8.9% but most people pay a lot more because they don't ask for a better deal.

I will forward this thread to Ted McGovern.

Brendan
 
People need to realise that all these quoted APR rates and other interest rates are often "list" prices as you would have with buying a car. Its the starting point for negotiation. You wouldnt walk into a car dealership and buy a car at list price, yet plenty of people take loans etc at whatever rate the bank first suggests.
 
SteelBlue

There is a difference between GE Money and other lenders. The other lenders tend to have a rate whch applies to everyone. GE advertise the 8.9% rate, but I gather that few get it. They appeared at the top of some of the Best Buys lists and I objected.

brendan
 
Brendan said:
There is a difference between GE Money and other lenders. The other lenders tend to have a rate whch applies to everyone. GE advertise the 8.9% rate, but I gather that few get it.
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Doesn't that apply to some, most or all other lenders? For example, if I recall correctly, An Post/One Direct quote attractive headline rates that only apply to certain customers. Or are they linked to GE too? I thought that most other lenders advertised their best rates with something in the small print that not everybody will get it. Tracker mortgages that apply to certain LTV ratios and/or mortgage amounts and/or to only FTBs/non-FTBs would be other examples. I don't necessarily see that financial institutions should be reprimanded for advertising in this way unless their advertisements are obviously misleading and imply that anybody and everybody will qualify for the advertised rate or make other false claims.
 
SteelBlue05 said:
People need to realise that all these quoted APR rates and other interest rates are often "list" prices as you would have with buying a car. Its the starting point for negotiation. You wouldnt walk into a car dealership and buy a car at list price, yet plenty of people take loans etc at whatever rate the bank first suggests.
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Not quite. GE and some other lenders operate risk-based pricing which means that they offer people with better credit ratings a cheaper loan, and those with poor credit histories higher cost credit based on the higher likelihood of defaulting.

Its the norm in the US, and increasingly common in Europe. There is a small margin for negotiation, but increasingly the cost of credit is being based on your credit rating.
 
ClubMan said:
Doesn't that apply to some, most or all other lenders? For example, if I recall correctly, An Post/One Direct quote attractive headline rates that only apply to certain customers. Or are they linked to GE too? I thought that most other lenders advertised their best rates with something in the small print that not everybody will get it. Tracker mortgages that apply to certain LTV ratios and/or mortgage amounts and/or to only FTBs/non-FTBs would be other examples. I don't necessarily see that financial institutions should be reprimanded for advertising in this way unless their advertisements are obviously misleading and imply that anybody and everybody will qualify for the advertised rate or make other false claims.
Click to expand...

I believe that this can and has already been the subject of advertising standards complaints.
 
"This"? You mean GE's advertisements in particular or the idea of "cherry picking" rates being highlighted in general?

Financial institutions are not charities and should not be obliged to offer credit to anybody and everybody or the same rate to all customers. The former would work against prudential operation of the business and wouldn't please the shareholders while the latter would work against competition and penalise low risk consumers for the benefit of higher risk ones.
 
ClubMan said:
"This"? You mean GE's advertisements in particular or the idea of "cherry picking" rates being highlighted in general?

Financial institutions are not charities and should not be obliged to offer credit to anybody and everybody or the same rate to all customers. The former would work against prudential operation of the business and wouldn't please the shareholders while the latter would work against competition and penalise low risk consumers for the benefit of higher risk ones.
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Advertising one rate but failing to offer it to a certain number of clients.

According to [broken link removed] which is the UK watchdog:

"The Regulations define the typical APR as an APR at or below which the
advertiser reasonably expects, at the date on which the advertisement is
published, that credit will be provided​
under at least 66 per cent of the
agreements he will enter into as a result of that advertisement."

So if an advertiser is selling a product with an advertised typrical APR of 6.5% and offering more than one third of applicants a higher rate, then any advertising can be deemed misleading.​

 
Here is the reply I got from the EBS when I sent them a link to this thread


With our partner GE Money, we offer both a member and a non-member personal loan.
All EBS Members are entitled to our member personal loan rate which is
currently 8.00% APR variable. This ranks in the top quartile of best
buy tables.
For customers who have no relationship with EBS ie are not members and
do not transact any business with the society, we offer a non-member
personal loan with a competitive rate of between 8.9% and 12.5% APR
variable - subject to risk assessment and status.
We advertise our member rate and our advertising is very clear in that this rate is available to EBS Members only.
Brendan, as you know, it is not hard to become a member of EBS. The vast majority of our business written is through our member personal loan at 8%.
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So the best buy for a loan is simple. Open a share account with the EBS for €127 and apply for an EBS member's loan at a rate of 8%.

Brendan
 
lff12 said:
Advertising one rate but failing to offer it to a certain number of clients.

According to [broken link removed] which is the UK watchdog:

"The Regulations define the typical APR as an APR at or below which the
advertiser reasonably expects, at the date on which the advertisement is
published, that credit will be provided​
under at least 66 per cent of the
agreements he will enter into as a result of that advertisement."

So if an advertiser is selling a product with an advertised typrical APR of 6.5% and offering more than one third of applicants a higher rate, then any advertising can be deemed misleading.​
Click to expand...
In the UK, yes, but do you have a link to any Irish legislation/regulation on the issue?
 
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