| Why you should never take a loan from your bank
You can almost always borrow more money for less by shopping around online. Save yourself hundreds of pounds by not falling for the hype. Have you ever been tempted by the thought of borrowing thousands when your bank sends you a loan offer in the post? What about that moment when you ring up and they offer you an account review and you just know they actually mean to offer you a personal loan? Our advice is to steer well clear of most high street banks if you are looking for a loan. Most offer really poor value and you can do much better shopping around for cheaper credit. This is especially true if you are looking to borrow less than 7,500. Compare personal loan rates with our best buy tables High Street bank loan rates look good on paper The big banks are masters of the art of spin.
Japanese lenders deny loans to credit risks
TOKYO: Aiful, Japan's biggest consumer lender, and its two closest rivals rejected more than half of loan applicants in January as they seek to trim costs by weeding out borrowers who could default. Aiful cut approvals by half, granting unsecured personal loans to 36 percent of applicants in January, compared with 72 percent in February 2006, according to data on its Web site. Acom, the second-biggest lender, cut approvals by a third to 47 percent in the same period. Promise ratified 40 percent. Bad-loan costs have mounted in the $170 billion consumer finance industry since Japan's courts last year opened the door for borrowers to claim refunds of interest and regulators reined in collection tactics. The three biggest lenders forecast a combined $5 billion loss in the year to March 31 and may struggle to return to profit as a new law caps their charges at the same level as banks.
That slow killer in your wallet
Do your bit for society. Use plastic, reads a very cleverly worded advertisement of a credit card, where the card issuer promises to contribute a sum to a well-known charity, if you spend money through its cards.
The bank also makes it very convenient to pay off the money thus spent in easy installments by allowing you to pay only 5% of the total amount due.
The only fly in the ointment is the interest that the bank charges if you do not pay off the full amount on the due date. The average interest rate charged on the amount revolved (bankerspeak for the amount allowed to be rolled over and paid later) is around 34% per annum.
I am sure you have wondered why the average rate of interest on credit cards is around 34% per annum when the average rate on a home loan and personal loan is around 10% and 18%, respectively? There are several reasons for this.
It's back to school for these young mothers
CHENNAI : Teaching pre-nursery children can be difficult, according to young women graduates from the Teachers' Centre of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School. The homemakers-turned-teachers joined the centre diffidently a year ago to sharpen their communication skills to handle youngsters. But what they have since discovered is that they can handle a large classroom of noisy and mischievous children. On Friday, at the 17th valedictory of the training programme, they paraded their newly acquired communication skills in front of the faculty, family and friends. The women underlined the significance of inculcating Indian values such as praying in children. Their tableaux explained that children should be taught values such as being accommodative, non-violent and honest. From the coming academic year, 16 mothers will be admitted to the course though the Centre has the capacity up to 30, said Y.G.
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