20.05.2021
LHV Finance, which offers consumer loans and hire-purchase, has launched a campaign to raise consumer awareness, drawing attention to the fine print that accompanies each loan advertisement.
From time to time, both Consumer Protection and the Financial Supervision Authority have reported the results of the monitoring of various consumer credit advertisements, and also found errors. There are a number of very different consumer credit providers on the market, and not everyone adheres to the same advertising rules. For example, a low interest rate may be advertised to consumers, but the same loan has a very high contract fee or involves various monthly fees, to which little attention is paid. In such a case, the consumer may fail to appreciate exactly what he or she is signing.
According to Mari-Liis Stalde, CEO of LHV Finance, consumers can put together a complete picture by researching the loans and watching advertisements, paying attention to the fine print. ‘The lowest interest rate is not always the best offer. In addition to interest, other fees must be studied, and the accompanying terms and conditions taken into consideration. In order to put together a complete picture, it is necessary to pay attention to the fine print. One must definitely review the terms and conditions and make sure that they are understood clearly before signing the contract’, stressed Stalde.
Consumer credit is a regulated financial product and certain restrictions have been established for its advertising. Lenders are only allowed to promote their trade mark and promote loan products using standard example text. It is this standard example, written in fine print and often located on the edge of advertisements, that the borrower should read especially carefully; a fact that LHV wants to emphasise to people. It is the fine print of the standard example that can be clearly compared in the case of loan ads, and which provides information for selecting the most appropriate offer.
The call by LHV Finance to notice the fine print in advertisements can be seen on city streets and in the press, as well as heard on the radio. The advertising campaign was prepared in cooperation with the Tank Creative Agency.
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