GXS Bank's FlexiLoan. The personal loan for you? We "reviewed" it for you!

GXS Bank's FlexiLoan.  The personal loan for you? As we have seen so many “comparison” review sites or bloggers reviewing it, we thought we would chip in, but with a twist.

Not all review sites are what they claim to be—many are nothing more than paid advertising platforms, serving the advertisers that pay them.

Across markets from the U.S. to Australia, regulators are discovering that these platforms often highlight results based on payment, not on what’s truly best for the borrower or consumer. What you see isn’t always an unbiased comparison, but a curated list bought by those who pay the most.

While general information, such as miles or points per dollar spent, is easy to research, loan amounts and interest rates are highly personal. They change from one borrower to another based on each individual’s credit score & profile. That rate they “reviewed” or “compared” for you is actually a teaser rate. Here’s how it works in detail. They are rates that you may or may not get, and in many countries, regulators are either suing them for clickbaiting consumers or publishing warnings on them.

But if you are pressed for time, you don’t have to read the article above - here is an image that says it all. The comparison website itself telling you that they are basically useless.

Credit: Head of Lendingpot. Strangely enough, Lendingpot appears to be exposing its own practices. For more of their contradiction or to join the conversation, click here. What’s more, when we pointed out the conflict of interest of brokers owned by lenders, they echoed it months later—despite being owned by IFS Capital & PhilipCapital!

Credit: Public reviews you can find on Seedly and Google. More proof those teaser rates are useless.

Every now and then, you’ll see them write comparisons like “this loan vs. that loan.” But think about it—if they claim to compare 10 loans, did they really take all 10 and pay interest on each one?

In the UK, at least 51% of borrowers must actually enjoy the quoted rate. Singapore, however, has no such law. And even if the rates are genuine, what about the loan amount or tenure? 1% on a $100,000 loan but giving you only one month to pay up is still not something you may want to go for, right? The real issue, however, is relying on a loan “comparison” website and going with their suggested loan. Without checking further, you could easily have overpaid by thousands—when another bank could have given you a better deal. We’ve covered this in the article above.

And thus we built FindTheLoan.com, to be loan comparison 2.0 and Singapore’s 1st loan marketplace. Instead of teaser rates or applying with multiple lenders one by one, you can reach multiple lenders at once with your actual documents, and they will make a full credit assessment as if you had walked in to them individually, and they will revert with their actual offer. All you need is a few minutes to complete an application that will reach many lenders.

But back to the issue. We may not stop lenders from partnering with them, strengthening both their wealth and their reach, and the problem just grows bigger and bigger. But we can challenge misleading advertising to create a safer environment for SMEs, consumers, and borrowers. From fake reviews by the ex-head of CIMB to fake loan types by smaller lenders to other misleading information, you will be surprised just what the situation is in the lending space in Singapore. If you think something doesn’t look right, we invite you to share your thoughts on this LinkedIn post or on our Reddit, TikTok, or Facebook post, if you prefer - where exposed these bad practices. However, we have tagged a number of MPs on LinkedIn who, during parliament, have asked about matters such as greater consumer protections. Weighing in there, and as more people share their thoughts there, could finally catch their attention to do something about the industry and better protect borrowers. Every comment, repost, or show of support matters — it increases the chances that policymakers take notice and act.

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