4 ms·

Out of curiosity: what was the interest rate on your credit card, and what was the rate after you refinanced your CC debt through Lending Club?

pc86 11y ago
LC rate was about 14% (average according to their terms) - they've since sent me mailers offering 8% or lower, not including the origination fee which was in the $400-500 range. This was on the 36-month loan that was paid off in 25 months so I'd have to do the math to tell you how much interest I actually paid. Credit cards were 28.99% and 24.99%, so even with the origination fee quite a bit of savings.
- charlesdm 11y ago
  Yikes - those interest rates are insane.
  - Fomite 11y ago
    The interest rates on credit cards can go through the roof if they start regarding you as a default risk.
    - charlesdm 11y ago
      Is that a US thing? I have several credit cards, yet the interest rates tend to "only" be around 10-13% on them (not that I use the actual credit part -- I pay them off each month).
      - GFischer 11y ago
        You think that's bad? Interest rates on credit cards here in Uruguay are insane if you don't pay them in full, from 42% to 99%. Inflation is about 10%, so they're ridiculously profitable. Of course, like a good 3rd world country, we have massive defaults about once a decade, so that wipes out most of the profits for the CC companies. A startup called TuTasa is trying to build a South American LendingClub, but I don't think they're taking off yet: http://tutasa.com.uy/ http://tutasa.com.uy/ One big difference is there's usually only one credit agency (it's Equifax here in Uruguay), and there's a lot more fraud going on than in the USA. http://www.eltelegrafo.com/index.php?id=102900&seccion=locales&fechaedicion=2015-08-16 http://www.eltelegrafo.com/index.php?id=102900&seccion=local...
      - Fomite 10y ago
        Note the "default risk" part of that. I had a credit card that was at a very reasonable interest rate, then due to a series of unfortunate events, I missed a payment. The interest rate immediately shot up to >25%, and I was told it wouldn't come down for more than a year.

pc86 11y ago

LC rate was about 14% (average according to their terms) - they've since sent me mailers offering 8% or lower, not including the origination fee which was in the $400-500 range. This was on the 36-month loan that was paid off in 25 months so I'd have to do the math to tell you how much interest I actually paid. Credit cards were 28.99% and 24.99%, so even with the origination fee quite a bit of savings.

charlesdm 11y ago
Yikes - those interest rates are insane.
- Fomite 11y ago
  The interest rates on credit cards can go through the roof if they start regarding you as a default risk.
  - charlesdm 11y ago
    Is that a US thing? I have several credit cards, yet the interest rates tend to "only" be around 10-13% on them (not that I use the actual credit part -- I pay them off each month).
    - GFischer 11y ago
      You think that's bad? Interest rates on credit cards here in Uruguay are insane if you don't pay them in full, from 42% to 99%. Inflation is about 10%, so they're ridiculously profitable. Of course, like a good 3rd world country, we have massive defaults about once a decade, so that wipes out most of the profits for the CC companies. A startup called TuTasa is trying to build a South American LendingClub, but I don't think they're taking off yet: http://tutasa.com.uy/ http://tutasa.com.uy/ One big difference is there's usually only one credit agency (it's Equifax here in Uruguay), and there's a lot more fraud going on than in the USA. http://www.eltelegrafo.com/index.php?id=102900&seccion=locales&fechaedicion=2015-08-16 http://www.eltelegrafo.com/index.php?id=102900&seccion=local...
    - Fomite 10y ago
      Note the "default risk" part of that. I had a credit card that was at a very reasonable interest rate, then due to a series of unfortunate events, I missed a payment. The interest rate immediately shot up to >25%, and I was told it wouldn't come down for more than a year.