Lauren Robson

As a business owner, access to finance at a fair rate can be the difference between your firm succeeding or failing - without financing, you might not even be able to get your business off the ground. So, what if you’ve got bad credit personally? Despite your business being a separate entity to you it is run by you, therefore a poor credit history may impact your chances of securing a loan. This is the same if you are a sole trader or the owner of a limited company looking for commercial finance.    What are credit scores and why do they matter?   A credit score is essentially a number that signals your creditworthiness to lenders. The higher your credit score, the less risky you are. Credit Reference Agencies decide your credit score. A credit reference agency (CRA) is an independent organisation that collects and stores financial data about you for the purpose of helping lenders decide whether you should be approved for financial products like credit cards, ... Continue reading →

To maximise your chance of approval for any of the above, you should look at which credit reference agency and credit score your lender/institution uses. Pick a lender/provider that will look at your best score! Credit Reference Agencies decide your credit score. A credit reference agency (CRA) is an independent organisation that collects and stores financial data about you for the purpose of helping lenders decide whether you should be approved for financial products like credit cards, loans or mortgages. Each CRA has its own numerical scale that they use to assign you a credit score, which signals to lending institutions how financially responsible you are.  CRAs might be referred to as Credit Rating Agencies or Credit Bureaus.  To see which bank uses which credit score click here.   CRAs typically only keep 6 years’ worth of data at a time. They  hold the following information about you: Personal information like your name, address and former addresses ... Continue reading →

Last year the FCA announced that overdraft fee regulations would change in April 2020. While some overdraft fees have gone down, others have increased. Complex overdraft fees and the variance of fee structure amongst banks made it difficult for consumers to calculate the true cost of an overdraft and compare offers. Data also showed a finite number of consumers were shouldering the majority of the fees charged from unarranged overdrafts. In 2016, more than 50% of revenue banks made from unarranged overdraft fees came from just 1.5% of customers.    The new regulations introduced by the FCA mean banks are now only allowed to charge one annual interest rate for overdrafts.   The new FCA regulations stipulate that:  Banks must introduce a single annual interest rate or EAR on all overdrafts  Charges for unarranged overdrafts can no longer be higher than for an arranged overdrafts Banks must eliminate any fixed fees (i.e. daily or monthly fees)  The ... Continue reading →