The effectiveness of mandatory comparison rates: information, capacity and choice: first issues paper

Financial de-regulation and significant innovation within financial markets has seen a rapid increase in the type and number of consumer credit products available. What is not known is how consumers, and particularly low-income and vulnerable consumers, have adjusted to this changed environment. From little choice in products and suppliers twenty years ago, consumers now have an enormous range of choices available to them. From relatively straightforward calculations based on a loan repayment schedule, consumers now also have to contend with a variety of different charges on top of the loan repayments. For many, credit is a lot easier to secure than it once was. One obvious symptom of this increased complexity is the increasing importance of mortgage brokers as an intermediary between consumers and providers. [Introduction]