loans - what a silly company!

[bednobs]

i have a loan with sainsburys bank which is due to finish in January. In order to get rid of all our credit cards, i would like to get anther loan out. I approached sainsbury's to get another loan and was absolutely amazed to find out if you want to extend your loan (or take out another one while you still have the original one) the rate is 14.1%. if you are a new customer it's 7.9%.
What a ridiculous situation! It doesn't give you any incentive to stay with them.
Why d they do this do you think?

[cazzz1975]

to make money...?

[bednobs]

yes, but the whole point is they wont make any more money from me - i will be forced to go with another company now, so they will lose me as a customer

[cazzz1975]

yes but credit is hard to come by at the moment so they stand a chance of making a few quid. some people with good credit histories are being refused loans so there is always a market who are desperate enough to accept the interest charges

[buildersmate]

As above - by attracting new customers, not the existing ones. Same happens with very many financial organisations.
1st Direct would not allow me to transfer my 1stD ISA into their ISA Bond - only transferees in from another ISA provider can do that. Lady on the phone helpfully (but seriously) suggested that if I transferred it from 1stD to another ISA provider, I could then transfer it back again and take advantage of the deal. On yer bike.

[Chasingcars]

Could you move your other credit cards onto a new credit card at zero % apr for say 12 months?
There are a lot of good deals at the moment.