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How to save money while paying off a debt? Or a few words about refinancing without fear

01.04.2021

You live and work abroad and you’ve had more than your fair share of dealing with bank loans in Norway, so perhaps you think: What more there is to know about them? See for yourself!

Bank loans in the country of fjords are the topic that many of our clients probably know quite a lot about. All in all, we spare no effort to provide the best and the most accessible knowledge in this area. However, even when it comes to such a broad topic as finances in Norway, you can find niches and myths that even someone like you might have believed.

How to save money while paying off a debt?

Refinancing of expensive credit cards

Only few people know that maintaining a credit card, or maybe even a couple of credit cards, can be expensive. To begin with, a credit card is a type of loan grated to you by a bank. So if you have more than one credit card, or both a loan and a credit card debt (or multiple loans and credit cards), you can simply refinance them. Provided, of course, that it will be profitable for you. How can you benefit?

  • You save money. You’ll be able to pay all bank charges and interests only once a month.
  • It’s comfortable. You won’t have to remember to make several money transfers to pay off your debt. One transfer will be enough.

 

Bank charges - they don’t come cheap

When you’re paying off a loan, you also have to pay additional fees related to banking services in a given institution, for example you pay for loan insurance.

One can name:

  • monthly bank fee (Termingebyr) - an estimated cost of managing the loan. It’s also called an administrative fee by some of the lenders. Usually it’s between 30 NOK and 70 NOK
  • as well as establishment fee (Etableringsgebyr), in other words, a commission which is charged at the beginning of the loan period.

 If you’re paying off several loans in various banks, you have to bear the costs of more than one monthly fee. When you decide to transfer your loans to a single bank, by refinancing, you can get these monthly payments reduced and gain better terms of repayment of the consolidated debt.

 

 

Till the contract termination do us part

The common assumption is that signing a bank agreement is synonymous with taking an oath with a given bank, which will be valid for a specified number of years.

It’s not true!

You have the right to improve your situation if the opportunity arises.

 

When you apply for your first loan (without any credit history), you usually don’t have too much choice - you need to take advantage of the best among the offers provided to you by the banks. Later, when the banks make sure that you are solvent (you are able to pay off the liabilities without complications or delays) they can offer you better terms. This is when the banks begin to compete with each other for customers.

 

Remember that you can go through the refinancing process several times in order to find the best and most beneficial repayment options.

 

What’s important - the bank will not charge any additional fees connected to faster repayment, so it’s wrong to believe that singing a first loan agreement deprives you of better repayment options.

 

 

Threat of revenge from the bank you are bound with

Some people may think that the bank with which you are bound by a loan agreement, will behave like an abandoned spouse once you transfer your debts to another institution, in order to obtain more favourable repayment terms. You don’t have to fear sweet revenge from them. Nothing like that is going to happen.

 

Continuing the line of thought from the previous paragraph, we would like to encourage those who can see better repayment options for themselves, but are filled with remorse towards the abandoned institution. You don’t have to strive for loyalty to the bank. The only thing you should seek is maximizing savings wherever possible. This also applies to loans. We, adding immodestly, will be happy to help and advise you on every matter.

 

 

Bisnode rating and submitting a refinancing application.

When paying off a loan, aside from suspecting an upcoming revenge, many chose not to check offers from other banks for fear that it will reduce their creditworthiness. Nothing could be further from the truth!

 

Sending a request for a better offer once in awhile doesn't affect your Bisnode rating negatively.

 

It’s especially important to check various offers when you already have a loan. You won’t lose anything by sending a non-binding request and keeping your finger on the pulse, but by searching information about current offers you can gain a lot:

  • If a bank offers you a cheaper loan repayment, it opens up possibilities for saving money.
  • If you don’t receive a better offer, you can stay with your current bank, knowing that your creditworthiness hasn’t changed or has changed insignificantly. Then you should wait until your creditworthiness is higher and there are more favourable offers form banks.

 

How much does it cost to get our help in finding a suitable offer?

Our advisors often receive questions like: “How much does it cost?” or “What percentage do you charge?” Our help in finding a consumer loan, as well as refinancing option, is completely free. We are remunerated by the banks, so our clients can check loan offers free of charge with just one application. Finding a cheaper repayment option will result in lower overall debt costs and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

 

 

How does a refinancing application look like?

The application for a loan refinancing looks exactly the same as a regular loan application. However, it’s necessary to indicate which loans and credit cards you want to refinance, as well as in what amount. After being presented with the offers, you can choose the most favourable one (a good loan advisor should present you calculations and refinancing benefits for your situation.

 

Have you found the courage to check whether the banks can offer you something beneficial? Don’t hesitate to contact us:  epost@multinorfinans.no or fill in the contact form.

 

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