Our thoughts on the changing shape of the consumer credit market.
If you’re reading this, most likely you have a TotallyMoney account and you have already checked your credit report and credit score. If you haven’t got one yet, don’t worry. You can sign-up for yours in less than five minutes. It’s totally free, forever! Regardless of whether you have a high or a low …
Read moreHow we’re making it easier for customers to fix credit report errors
Borrowing Power is unique to TotallyMoney. It’s one number to show how likely you are to be accepted when you apply for credit — and you won’t find it anywhere else. Think of it as your credit health meter. The higher your Borrowing Power, the better the credit card and loan offers you’re likely to …
As part of our mission to make credit better, we want to give our customers all the tools they need to improve their credit status and get the best outcomes from their borrowing so that they have a more affordable life. We understand that the world of credit reports is opaque, we want to lift …
In an economy where credit products are so readily available, it’s surprising how little we know about our own ability to get credit. If you asked any of my friends about their credit history you would likely be met with blank stares and confused looks. Understanding your credit report is important, but we are rarely, …
On Sunday, TotallyMoney’s 250,000th customer joined our service to get access to their free-forever credit report, Borrowing Power and best credit matches. Our growth since our September 2017 launch has been sensational. In only five months, we’ve attracted one-quarter of a million people to use our service. In that time, we’ve launched a national TV advert, become …
The length of interest-free balance transfers is falling. In September, the longest interest free period for Balance Transfer Offer was 43 months. At the time of writing this article, the maximum you can get is 39 months. That’s if you are accepted by the lender. How to find the best offer You can check your …
At a recent Data Disruptors Meetup, Looker CEO Frank Bien delivered an opening presentation about how the data landscape had changed over the past decade Three eras of data Bien outlined three eras in data; the first in which querying data was very slow and expensive, and therefore it wasn’t done that often and only …
Visit any price comparison website and you will quickly be funnelled into a comparison of either credit cards or loans. They are treated entirely separately and assume that the customer has a clear need for one product type or the other. Break with Tradition There are obvious differences between credit secured from a loan …
Read moreDo customers really think in terms of cards or loans?
Visit any price comparison website, and you are quickly funnelled into a comparison of either credit cards or loans. They are treated entirely separately and assume that the customer has a clear need for one product type or the other. However, is this the case? There are distinct differences between credit secured by a loan …
Read moreDo Customers Really Think in Terms of Card or Loans?
Back in the day (as recently as 30 years ago) how would a lender know whether to give someone money or not? From the borrower’s point of view, how could you prove you were a safe bet? Decisions used to be made face-to-face over lots of paperwork and still on limited insight. Then enterprising people …
Read moreShining a Light into the Black Box of Credit Reference Agencies
Building a product that can be used by, and useful to, everyone is an exciting challenge with unique rewards.
We’ve just launched our live credit score and report service – giving our customers the power to make even smarter credit decisions.
See the steps we have taken to interact with our customers in a way that helps them and makes them continue to use our service.
Technology is giving more power to the consumer. Read about TotallyMoney.com’s Match Factor service and how it is helping people find the right cards.
A look into the rapidly growing world of contactless payments and the impact this could have on credit cards, and possibly even mobile phones.
Senior Marketing Manager Ben Reeves gives his thoughts on what companies should think about if they are marketing their brand and product or service offering on TV in 2017.
One commuter managed to claim half of his season ticket back after repeated delays on Southern trains.
With the average diet only lasting for 19 days, TotallyMoney.com has taken a look at some of the most popular, analysing the ideas behind them, meal plans and both the health costs and potential financial costs involved.
This is the 5th consecutive year that headline personal loan rates have fallen.
Being a product manager is easy right? All we’ve got to do is ideate a list, prioritise that list and lastly execute said list – Here are the fundamentals taken from the Mind the Product London 2016 conference to make sure our products succeed in three simple steps.
The latest consumer credit figures from the bba show that consumer credit is growing at 7.2%, the highest rate in a decade. It seems that consumer confidence remains strong following the Brexit referendum. Savvy borrowers are continuing to take advantage of the cheap deals that followed in the wake of the Bank of England interest rate …
Read moreConsumer confidence remains high, but millions still missing out on cheaper borrowing
“These things may be electronic, connect to the internet, exist on the web or in the physical world, make data beautiful or simply make people smile” – Brendan Dawes
The surprising but welcome finale to the Generate London 2016 conference was Jeff Veen’s talk Crafting a Creative Culture. In the FinTech industry the work environment makes all the difference for the employees and, consequently, production. To me, work culture is a game changer that ultimately determines if I will perform well for a company …
Last week, the FCA published their Credit Card Market Final Findings and announced the introduction of measures designed to protect consumers. The publication highlighted two particular concerns. First, that a significant number of people in the UK carry potentially problematic debt for a number of years – they found that 650,000 people had been in …
Read moreCredit card holders to get ‘time to find a new deal’ alerts
Are you a Fiery Red? A Sunshine Yellow? An Earth Green? Perhaps you are a Cool Blue? An excellent training session that some of us at TotallyMoney.com undertook with Ralph Peters of Inspire Results reminded us that a little awareness, of self and others, can go a long way in making our day to day …
The number of complaints received by the financial ombudsman service about credit cards has fallen for the third consecutive year. The ombudsman’s annual review of consumer complaints, published today, reported 8,200 received complaints in 2016, down from 19,634 in 2013; a drop of 58% over three years.1 Many of the complaints received were about claims …
Read moreCustomer complaints about credit cards continue to fall
On Wednesday, Google announced that, from 13 July 2016, it will no longer allow ads for payday loans, which it defines as any loan where the repayment is due within 60 days of the date of issue. In the USA, ads will also be banned if they have an APR of 36% or higher. The …
Read moreWhy we agree with Google’s move to ban payday lenders
I’m excited to be able to announce a first for the credit industry: intelligent search results ranking for credit products. TotallyMoney.com Match Factor performs a series of complex calculations and analyses of eligibility; APR and other product features; lender acceptance data; and usability and user experience insights. These algorithms are personalised to reveal the best …
Google has started to wind down its financial products comparison service less than one year after it was launched in the US. It will be shut down completely in both the US and UK by 23 March 2016. Google compare will be familiar to most people as the special box that appears at the top …
In 2015, we saw significant changes in the credit card market with new providers and brands entering the market and continuing product innovation. This year is likely to be one of transition for many of the leading card providers who are mindful of the impending shifts in the wider economy. Here, I’ve put together a list …
As part of our ongoing efforts to understand consumer needs and make the world of credit a fairer place, we conducted a survey that found only one per cent of the population knew how long it would take to pay off £2,000 in credit card debt by making the minimum repayments each month. In order …
One: Increased used of free credit report services Credit Karma and ClearScore are offering a great free consumer proposition. Why would a customer pay for their credit report when they can get it for free? In 2016, we expect more people to subscribe to a free credit report service to better understand their credit rating. …
Read moreThree things that will change the credit market in 2016
Google avoids legal censure in the US for monopolistic abuse: but is the FTC right? Here’s the inside track from the UK. Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it would not be taking legal action against Google for monopolistic abuses provided that Google changed some of its business practices relating to mobile patents. Interestingly, …
Last week, Google’s settlement offer to the EU Competition Commission was revealed. Predictably, the offer was pretty half-hearted. But the UK online comparison industry, which will be heavily affected, has so far remained publicly silent. Google was hoping to address the EU’s concerns that its promotion of its own vertical search services is anti-competitive (amongst …
Can I be the first to say that there’s an innovation coming in credit cards that’s going to take huge chunks out of the payday market? Payday’s growth has been astonishing in speed and scale. The credit crunch and recession that followed left an enormous, underserved gap in the loans market beneath the high street …
Read moreThe credit card innovation that’s going to decimate payday
Congratulations to MoneySupermarket.com. Our biggest competitor became a billion pound company for the first time this week as its share price climbed to an all-time high of £1.92. Moneysupermarket is a brilliant business and an enormous force for good. They claim to have saved consumers billions; I think that’s true: they’ve disrupted nearly every market vertical they’ve touched. They …
This is a curious case about the credit regulations that even the Regulator appears to dislike. MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) is one of the most trusted and influential consumer finance websites in part because they explain things simply. In the interests of clarity MSE pretty much ignores the consumer credit advertising regulations and the regulator doesn’t seem …