Hong Leong Bank Personal loan - See what we found and what you need to watch out for.

Hong Leong Bank's Personal loan. The right loan for you?

As we have seen so many “comparison” comparison platforms or bloggers reviewing it, we thought we would chip in, but with a twist. By telling you, you cannot trust reviews at all and how they really work. 

Not all comparison platforms are what they claim to be—many are nothing more than sponsored listing sites, serving the advertisers that pay them.

Across markets from the U.S. to Australia, regulators are finding that these platforms often prioritize results based on payment, not on what’s truly best for the customer or consumer. What you see isn’t always an unbiased comparison, but a filtered 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 customer 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. See if you spot what is the issue?

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. When we raised the issue of conflict of interest in lender-owned brokers, they echoed us months later—never mind the fact they are owned by IFS Capital & PhilipCapital! Makes you wonder if they’ve been copying our articles blindly, errors and all.

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 customers 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? Getting the advertised 1% rate, but for only $500 wouldn't be very meaningful, would it, if you needed $5,000? 

And thus we built FindTheLoan.com, Singapore’s 1st loan marketplace. The true issue is if you relied on a loan “comparison” website and accepted their recommended loan without further comparison. You could have paid thousands more, when another bank may have offered a better rate. We’ve explained how this works in the article above. With us, 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 one application, and all the lenders we work with receive that application.

If you think something doesn’t look right, or such sites all to be finally regulated - we invite you to share your thoughts on this LinkedIn post or on our Reddit, TikTok, or Facebook post, if you prefer. 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. While we cannot stop lenders from supporting them and amplifying their platform, we can call out misleading advertising to make the environment safer for SMEs, consumers, and borrowers.

If you enjoyed this article, we’d love for you to share it with others who might find it valuable. Even a quick like or comment here helps trigger the algorithm to reach more people! Our goal is to bring you insights that Big Finance doesn't want you to know, but they often get overshadowed by Big Finance's content due to the large budget they have. Every share helps amplify our work and reach more readers like you!

Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter here or on Medium here and never miss any new articles!

Give us a try — it’s free to get your personalized loan offers today!

Share on: