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Opinion:
MBB is basically an Alliance and Leicester brand, with the distinguishing feature of giving some cashback. If you look at the two websites side by side (MBB and A&L) then their offerings are otherwise very similar. They both have loan illustration facilities which show costs for ... Read review
Advantages: Cashback if you take out the 'protection', competitive APR Disadvantages: Cashback ONLY if you take the 'protection', pushy salespeople
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MBB is basically an Alliance and Leicester brand, with the distinguishing feature of giving some cashback. If you look at the two websites side by side (MBB and A&L) then their offerings are otherwise very similar. They both have loan illustration facilities which show costs for various amount and periods, with and without various levels of 'protection'. I only chose to click on the MBB APPLY button because of their having the lower of the headline ... ...engine league tables for 'typical' APR. So, I filled in the online questionaire and we are off. It is very straightforward and asks all of the usual questions. At the end you get feedback, either 1)go away we don't want to touch you or 2) yes, we may lend you some money on these terms. The sytem will tell you the terms and suggest that you then proceed to talk to someone on the telephone.
Now, I am not the sort to want to take out ... more
I am always wary of schemes that apparently offer 'something for nothing'; 'no free lunches' springs to mind. This is especially so in the financial sector where if you get anything for 'nothing' then that 'nothing' is usually quite expensive. There are some exceptions to this it has to be said, such as cashback credit cards. Here the choice is simple; since we cannot escape paying the hidden costs of using credit cards why not take advantage of any crumbs they are willing to return to us (subsidised by those who pay with cash). Anyway, back to the MoneyBackBank (MBB)...
Personal loans are a very bland offering for most people I imagine. I suspect that most people want CHEAP money NOW, with MINIMAL HASSLE, MINIMUM CONDITIONS, FIXED RATES and possibly the ability to clear the loan early WITHOUT PENALTY. Apparently most people still go to their high street bank when they want money, something that amazes me as they are only one step up from loan sharks when it comes to service, quality and value. Better to shop around and the internet certainly makes that easy, especially with the advent of automatic search facilities such as MoneySupermarket for example.
So, MoneyBackBank will show up in the search results alongside a group of other financial providers, with APR differences of maybe less than 1% but all very competitive. How then does MoneyBackBank try and differentiate itself and gain an edge over the rivals? The simple answer is to give you a tiny bit of your own money back to you as a form of cashback. Now, this reminds me of those insurance products where 'if you sign up we will give you your first month free and a FREE alarm clock radio'. Well, anyone with half a brain knows where that money comes from so unless you fancy a new ACR you may look elsewhere (having said that, I guess it works or why would they persist?). Anyway, to the grist of the opinion:
Features: Competitive rates: 5.7%APR 'Typical' Earn up to £350 moneyback if you take out personal loan protection (yeah, but look at what you have to pay to get this tiny amount!). Ability to apply online and have outline approval quickly.
Opinion: MBB is basically an Alliance and Leicester brand, with the distinguishing feature of giving some cashback. If you look at the two websites side by side (MBB and A&L) then their offerings are otherwise very similar. They both have loan illustration facilities which show costs for various amount and periods, with and without various levels of 'protection'. I only chose to click on the MBB APPLY button because of their having the lower of the headline rates, and because they came out better in the search engine league tables for 'typical' APR. So, I filled in the online questionaire and we are off. It is very straightforward and asks all of the usual questions. At the end you get feedback, either 1)go away we don't want to touch you or 2) yes, we may lend you some money on these terms. The sytem will tell you the terms and suggest that you then proceed to talk to someone on the telephone.
Now, I am not the sort to want to take out loan 'protection' because I am fortunate to be protected by other means. In any case, I am aware that 'protection' products offered with financial products are rarely the most competitive and thus if I want them I will shop around. This point is the only area that I found unhelpful about MBB. When I got to talk to the operator about confirming my choice of loan, with NO protection products, they launched into the hard sell. The very strong impression conveyed, though never said directly, is that if you do not take the 'protection' you will not get the loan. This is just plain hard sell. You do NOT have to take the products. They never say that you DO in a direct sense (and are thus not breaking any guidelines), but the manner of the sales speech IMPLIES that you have to take them (maybe the salepeople get commission/bonuses linked to selling the products). They clearly likely make a good margin on the protection products and maybe this is why their APR is so low. If I had not known more than average about such products or had simply been weaker minded I would have felt under great pressure to agree to add the products into my package. However, I persevered and finally they signed me up for my deal, dispatching the agreement for my signature. The money was transferred to my current account two days after they had confirmed receipt of my signed documents. As I refused the 'protection' I get no cashback, but the rate still makes it a good deal.
Well, what about the cashback since that is the product differentiator? Well, in my ever so humble opinion it is pants. Try this for size...you borrow £25,000 and they will give you £50 back per YEAR of the loan! e.g. according to the website's calculator this £25k loan over 60 months will be £576.56 per MONTH, so over 60 months you will pay ~£9593 in charges and get £250 cashback. Without 'protection' the charges in the example reduce to ~£3717. Remember, you only get the cashback if you buy the extra products so only choose this option if you believe that the products themselves represent good value and that they cover your circumstances.
Summary:
Good APR, very pushy salespeople, efficient process, cashback just a gimmick, ability to pay off loan early without significant penalty. The rate you are offered will depend upon your personal credit score (I was offered 6.7%).
Would I take another loan with them? YES, despite the drawbacks outlined above it was still a good offering for me.
Advantages: Low rate, if your circumstances fit; No broker fees Disadvantages: Poor communication in later stages of application; Individual circumstances ignored
...I was not impressed with Alliance and Leicester. I thought it would be useful, however, to provide a more detailed account of the experiences I had with this company.
Back in February, my husband and I decided that we needed to consolidate some of our debts (credit cards etc) in order to achieve a lower monthly payment and to avoid the interest that was being added to these accounts every month. I was soon going to be on maternity leave and we were ... ...to find a loan company. Alliance and Leicester was the company that it found with the lowest rate, 6.3%, which I thought was really competitive.
I filled in the short online application and waited.
Alliance and Leicester contacted me within a couple of days. It took about half an hour on the phone to give all the details that were needed to process my application. Although I was not yet on maternity leave, I made it clear from the beginning that ...
nessie3105 06.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Alliance & Leicester Loans
Advantages: lower monthly repayments and flexibility Disadvantages: interest paid off first
...took out a loan from Alliance & Leicester. It was at a competetive apr and was with a deferred amount of £1500 to be repaid at the end of the term. This brought down the monthly repayments to a more affordable level while still enjoying the greater buying power of an extra £1500. Obviously you`re paying interest on that money but not paying it back within your monthly repayments. The idea is that at the end of the loan term you sell your car to pay ... ...doing the same thing again. It`s not a bad idea because most people would look to upgrade after three or four years anyway so you can drive around in a better car for that time. Alternatively you could pay back the deferred amount with some other means and keep the car or carry on with the same repayments for a further period until it is payed off.
One word of warning though, if you decide to settle the acount early you will find they use the `rule ...
xyster 16.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Alliance & Leicester Loans
Advantages: Low Rates, Easy to set up. Disadvantages: None I can see so far.
...for the best deal and alliance and leicester came up with a rate of 6.7%. Much better than some of the deals I get in the junk mail I receive on a daily basis.
Already being a customer of Alliance and Leicester, I knew that they were a responsible lender and decided to go for it.
Applying was really simple, I decided on the amount and the term (calculated my monthly repayments using the online calculator), filled in my details online (personal, ... ...received the good news 48 hours later by email that I had been accepted and the next day my agreement papers arrived on my door mat.
I signed the agreement papers and retured them the next day. Two days later the money was in my bank account!
Some more info about the loan.
You can apply for the loan online, on the telephone or at your local branch.
They offer payment protection at a small cost to cover payments in cases of unemployment etc.
...
sambouc 09.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Alliance & Leicester Loans
Advantages: Low Rate, quick decision, very prompt and courteous. Disadvantages: Early settlement penalty, no reward scheme
...better elsewhere I stumbled across Alliance and Leicester. This product is through the Moneyback Bank but it is actually a service from Alliance and Leicester. You can access this from www.moneybackbank.co.uk and it does say at the bottom of the site that it is a trading name of Alliance & Leicester.
Their website is very clear and easy to use - the calculator was a useful tool but I had already worked out how much I wanted and over what period ... ...form online was very straightfoward, and anything they weren't sure about they rang me for clarification.
Now I don't know whether having my last mortgage with them helped but they quoted an interest rate of 5.79% over 4 years for a loan of £4000. The repayment is just under £110 a month and that includes protection.
The whole process of applying took about 30 minutes and once they phoned me 2 days later to confirm the loan had been accepted, the ...
Bigluce 07.12.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Alliance & Leicester Loans
Additional Charges
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Advantages: 3.14% interest, fantastic service Disadvantages: has to be funded with £500 a month.
Top of the range current account from an established Uk Bank.
Offers full account transfering service so you can totally swop from the bank account you are with currently. They swapped my account over for me in a bout 5 weeks.
Best rate of interest currently available on the high street for a customer looking to fund a current account with approx. £500 - £2000 a month.
Also comes with a high interest phone-save account that pays 4.14%.
Staff are very helpful and friendly, and I was told that as a Premier account customer I would qualify for discounts on an Alliance and Leicester Mortgage, as well as discounts on personal loans 7.4% APR fixed, and contents insurance (10% discount)
All in all, a fantastic account and backed up by good service. ...
Advantages: i do on line banking, quite good. Disadvantages: Too easy to get your money , I'm talking the bank making mistakes
the store red faced and went marching into the bank.
When I asked what was going on they said my account had no money in it.
I got a statement out and so that the loan had been paid plus more money to cover the cost s of the arrears.
I wasn't very happy so the bank got on to the loan department at Brighton and got them to refund all the money back.
I had actually filled in an expenditure list of all my incomings and outgoings a fortnight earlier.
When this happened again six months later I applied for a loan with the Alliance and Leicester to pay it off.
No more hassle.
The other problems I have had is when I have bought something mail order over the telephone.
Sometimes it has only been for £10 but for some reason there has been a freeze on my account, this has happened about four times in the last two years.
i only find out ...
belinda9 10.02.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Lloyds TSB
Advantages: Good customer service, competitive rates of interest Disadvantages: I'm still pretty much skint
? Children receive a passbook in their own name (whoopdeedoo)
? Minimum opening balance of £1
Interest rates - £1+ = 4.40%
WOULD I RECOMMEND THEM?
Yes I certainly would. Service was very fast, and staff are incredibly helpful. A telephone helpline is always there ready to help you if you need it, and I?ve only ever been on hold for about two minutes, although in that time they did play this really annoying AllianceLeicester song over and over until I was ready to throw the phone at the wall. On the positive side, the interest rates are pretty competitive, and the online banking facility is kinda cool (I?m only little, leave me be).
AllianceLeicester do a huge range of different accounts, as well as mortgages, personal loans, credit cards and motor finance.
Website: www.Alliance-Leicester.co.uk
Any comments are very welcome. ...
