Moneysupermarket: Greater transparency needed in credit search market

The Treasury Select Committee has been called upon by the managing director of a price comparison site to work at increasing transparency in the credit search market, following research by the company revealing consumer ignorance of industry operations.

Toby Van Der Meer of Moneysupermarket.com addressed the group of cross-party MPs, asking them “to press for change”, as shopping around for financial products is becoming harder in the face of lower acceptance rates and increased fears of “tarnishing credit scores”.

Recent research by the website revealed that 46 per cent of consumers are unaware that ratings may be affected through multiple credit applications.

“We need to see greater transparency and fairness in the consumer credit market,” Mr Van Der Meer remarked, adding that quotation searches instead of full credit searches should be used by providers.

The move by Mr Van Der Meer comes after the recent launch of an investigation by the committee into the disadvantages created for debtors by credit checks conducted when trying to obtain cards and loan deals.

By Sarah Adie