UOB Personal Loan - What You Need to Know Before Using It

First Founded during the Great Depression in 1935 as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by a group of Hoklo businessmen - the bank operated from a single branch bank and engaged in short-term loans to a segment of local businessmen, to be precise, Hokkien Chinese businessmen in Singapore.

You were probably curious about how their works loan works, how other banks calculate their charges as compared to UOB? Or how long it takes to get a response? You were searching online when you found this article. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, as explained here. While MAS released the Guidelines on Standards of Conduct for Digital Advertising Activities, they’re still not extensive enough. In the UK, advertised “1%” or “1-hour” loans must apply to 51% of borrowers, which isn’t the case here. Intermediaries that aren’t bank-owned still dominate the lead generation space. And this is why you need to read this article.

But as we have seen so many “comparison” websites or bloggers reviewing UOB Personal Loan, we thought we would chip in, but with a twist.

Because not all "comparison websites" are what they claim to be—many are nothing more than paid advertising platforms, serving the advertisers that pay them, instead of you.

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 pretty much sums up everything.

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 review found on Seedly and Google

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? The real issue, though, arises if you used a loan “comparison” platform and simply went with the loan they promoted. Without comparing with other banks, you could have paid thousands extra—missing out on a cheaper rate. The article above explains how this actually works.

And thus we built FindTheLoan.com, 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.

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. 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. We cannot stop lenders from adding to their profits and reach by working with them. And more and more Singaporeans see their ads as a result, creating a feedback loop. But we can break it by exposing misleading advertising, protecting consumers, borrowers, and SMEs in the process as everyone forwards it to just a few other friends.

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything",  Albert Einstein

Because it is a recurring issue found in not one but many platforms, such as Roshi, SingSaver, Lendingpot, and Lendela, and it proves that these problems aren’t accidental—they’re built into how these platforms operate. Even as MoneySmart flaunts 60 million users across the region, its growth tells a familiar story. That when profit takes priority over helping customers, misleading advertising thrives unchecked.

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