We all want to get the best rate possible when it comes to borrowing money, but how can you actually get the best deal? Whenever I’m asked a question like this, I always look at it from the creditor’s perspective: the competition for loans is huge. Take your average high street bank, for example, and let’s pretend for a second that another bank has just opened up opposite them. The new bank offers loans at a lower interest than the current one. It’s at this point that, if I worked in the first bank, I’d be worried.
Loans can be one of the most successful (if a little risky) ways for creditors to make money. So by shaving a fraction of a percent off of the interest rate the bank opposite would quite happily draw in a good number of the first bank’s customers. That’s bad for business, so the first bank lowers their loan rates to match, and throws in a free gift. The price wars are similar in some respect to those in supermarkets. But I doubt you spend quite as much on your groceries as you do on taking out a loan. That’s why it’s important to get the best loan deal for you first time, rather than wishing you went...