TotallyMoney has announced the rollout of the TotallySure for loans, helping customers avoid application rejection with pre-approval, while guaranteeing interest rates, loan amounts, and loan term:

Last year, the personal loan market grew by 13% — to £42.1bn, and 14% (7.2m) of UK adults now have a personal loan† However, in the past two years, 31% of personal loan applications were refused, and 6.8 million adults (13%) avoided applying for a financial product or service because they thought they would not be eligible§

TotallyMoney research also found that that a £3,000 subprime loan could cost customers an additional £2,499 in interest over three years when compared to a market-leading product. In addition, regulation requires lenders to only provide 51% of applications with the Representative APR (advertised) offer — meaning millions of customers are potentially being given a worse deal

In addition to improving transparency and driving better customer outcomes, TotallySure benefits banks by matching them with more suitable borrowers, reducing costs, and improving trust and brand loyalty.

The need to fix broken loans

However, banks aren’t required to tell applicants if they’ll be accepted for a product when applying — and the process requires a hard search from the lender. These are recorded on the applicants credit file, and multiple hard searches can negatively impact their chances of borrowing.

This lack of transparency has led to a third (31%) of personal loan applications being rejected in the past two years, while another 6.8 million adults have avoided applying for a financial product or service because they thought they wouldn’t be eligible. Both of these outcomes can impact somebody’s long-term financial future, by negatively impacting their credit file, or pushing them into the arms of high cost, unregulated and illegal money lenders.

Furthermore, regulation means banks only need to provide 51% of customers with the advertised (Representative) ARP — meaning millions of people could be offered a much worse deal to the one they thought they were applying for. So it’s not surprising that 40%of borrowers have a low or moderate level of trust in their loan provider.

TotallySure helps put an end to both loan application rejections and improves transparency by offering pre-approval, guaranteed APR’s, guaranteed loan amounts, and guaranteed loan lengths. That way customers can avoid multiple hard searches, protect their credit file, and apply with confidence, knowing that they’ll get what they apply for.

Pre-approval and guarantees — giving customers what they need

Following its successful launch of TotallySure for credit cards, TotallyMoney has announced the rollout of its market-leading feature for loans. TotallySure is the first feature of its kind to provide customers with pre-approval, guaranteed rates, credit limits, and loan durations.

• Pre-approval: Loan applications often require a hard credit search — and too many of them can harm your ability to borrow. Pre-approval means that subject to final checks, applicants will be accepted — helping improve certainty and reduce hard searches.
• Guaranteed APR: The rate of interest on a loan is key to how much the customer will pay over the length of the agreement. TotallySure puts an end to representative APRs by guaranteeing the interest rate and the cost to borrow.
• Guaranteed loan amount: Many applicants will take out a loan to consolidate debt or make a large purchase — so knowing you’ll get the amount you apply for is essential. And this is why TotallySure offers come with guaranteed loan amounts.
• Guaranteed loan term: It’s essential customers know how long they have to pay back the loan, so they can better manage their finances, and plan for the future. This is why TotallySure removes any surprises and locks in the loan term.

TotallySure sets a new standard of care, improving transparency, and creating better customer outcomes. This new feature also benefits lenders by driving more eligible customers and reducing the costs of failed applications, while eliminating uncertainty and improving trust.

Alastair Douglas, CEO of TotallyMoney comments: “Launching TotallySure for loans is a huge milestone in helping customers create financial momentum. That’s because somebody with a poor credit score, or even somebody who perceives themselves to be ineligible for the market-leading product, could pay almost £2,500 more in interest on a £3,000 loan over three years.

“And with the personal loans market continuing to grow — so will the number of people whose long-term financial lives might be impacted by rejected applications and being offered worse deals to the ones advertised.

“Which is why we’re excited to announce the launch of TotallySure for loans — providing customers with pre-approval, and guaranteed interest rates, loan amounts and loan terms. This means customers can avoid rejection, protect their credit files, and apply with confidence in knowing that they’ll get the same offer they applied for.

“This is a big step forward in creating a better and fairer loan market which works for both customers and lenders. And that’s why our ranking algorithm is prioritising loans which put customers best interests first, and carry the TotallySure badge. It also benefits banks by matching them with more suitable borrowers, reducing costs, and improving trust and brand loyalty.”