Like others, it provides all the information you may need to know while shopping for a loan. It is linked to public sector banks and foreign banks, which gives access to a wide range of interest rates.
Mint’s experience
At best, the site provides only a partial solution to your needs. Quotes from different banks are not immediately available. However, once you complete the registration process, you are inundated with calls from sales agents and bank employees over the next couple of days, offering you quotes on rates. The Internet, in this case, is the launch pad for the search. But a lot of information comes on phone over a period of time from sales agents, and the personal financial information you entered on the portal in the first step has to be repeated on phone again and again.
The problem
A general problem with such telephonic interaction at this stage is that sales agents and bankers mostly give only partial information. For instance, potential sellers rarely offer information on some basic customer queries, such as the cost of loan pre-payment. Only when prodded do some offer information on the benchmark for floating rate home loans.
Bankbazaar.com
Not even a year old, the portal is networked to a large number of banks and financial institutions.
Main function and USP
Like other sites, Bankbazaar.com too offers a primer on interest rates. However, unlike others, it has eliminated contact with sales agents and employees of the gateway websites for basic information. This is the only site among the four here that offers the going rate for a customer’s specifications almost instantaneously.
Mint’s experience
If convenience is the benchmark for the Internet’s popularity, Bankbazaar.com comes good. With straight quotes from different banks, it is the transparency factor that adds to its utility. Every single quote from a bank comes with a table, which breaks up the repayment into components such as service tax and the bank’s processing fee. Currently, it only offers home and personal loans.
The problem
When it comes to loans, nothing is as it seems. The advantage of phone calls is that they often lead to quicker conclusions. For instance, based on the financial specifications entered by Mint on the site, the portal said ABN Amro was willing to offer us a personal loan. When we entered the same details on another website, we were refused a loan, through a phone call, because the bank considered our “job profile” to be too risky.
Loanraja.com
It offers both loan and insurance products. Like most other sites, Loanraja.com too forwards applications to banks and insurers.
Main function and USP
It serves as a launch pad to put customers in touch with agents. It covers a wide variety of financial products.
Mint’s experience