Most complaints about lenders are not about the interest rate. They are about a charge that existed in the agreement and was never mentioned aloud. So here is the whole list, in the format an invoice would use — what each charge is, when it applies, and how often. Nothing here is unusual; the only unusual thing is printing it before you ask.
| Item | What it is, and when it bites | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Interest | The cost of the credit itself. Quote it as an effective annual rate. A monthly figure or a flat rate is not comparable with one and will understate what you pay. | Ongoing |
| Handling fee | An administrative charge on setting up the facility, where one applies. If it is deducted from the advance, you receive less than the sum you pay interest on — check what actually lands in the account. | Once |
| Late payment charge | Applied when an instalment is not received on the due date. Ask the amount and the grace period, and put both in your calendar rather than your memory. | If late |
| Default interest | A higher rate that may apply to sums in arrears. This is the charge that turns one missed month into a materially larger balance. | If in default |
| Early settlement | Settling ahead of schedule. Ask specifically what the settlement figure would be and whether any charge or minimum interest applies — see the note below. | If you settle early |
| Legal and recovery costs | Costs of enforcement where a facility is secured or proceedings become necessary. Rare, and expensive when it happens. | If enforced |
| Payment to any intermediary | Not a charge of ours and never payable. No fee is due to any person before a loan is advanced. | Never |
One question replaces this entire table. Ask for the total amount repayable and the complete payment schedule, in writing, before you sign. Every item above is already inside that number. If a lender will produce the schedule but not the total, they have told you something important about the arithmetic.
Borrowers often assume that settling a loan halfway through costs half the interest. Depending on how a particular agreement calculates settlement, the saving can be smaller than the intuition suggests — sometimes considerably. This is not a secret and it is not unlawful; it is simply a term that has to be read.
So ask this before you sign, not when you want to settle: "If I repay in full at month six of twenty-four, what exactly do I pay?" A lender can give you that figure on the day you take the loan. Get it in writing alongside the schedule, and you will never be surprised by a settlement quotation.
A fixed sum over a fixed term with a written schedule. The final payment date is known on the day of signature.
Working capital for owner-operated businesses in Kowloon and across the territory, sized against a quiet month rather than a good one.
Only where the total cost genuinely falls and the previous accounts close. Otherwise it is an additional loan, not a consolidation.
Secured on Hong Kong property. The asset is genuinely at risk if the arrangement fails, which is stated here rather than in a late clause.
Where the money is going to another lender's instalment, we decline and say why. Approving that application is not a service.
Because it is the part of the agreement people discover late, and because a lender that is uncomfortable printing its own charges has answered a question about itself. Everything on that table is standard in this trade. The only thing being done differently is the timing.
No figure is published here, because any single number would be wrong for nearly everyone reading it. You will be given the effective annual rate calculated on the basis the Ordinance specifies, the total amount repayable and the full schedule, in writing, before signature. The statutory ceiling is an effective rate of 60% per annum — a ceiling, not a target, and lawful is not the same as affordable.
The register of money lenders is maintained by the Companies Registry and searchable free through its e-Services portal. Search it yourself and confirm the exact legal name. Do not rely on a licence number quoted in an advertisement or a message.
They are not connected with this company. No fee is payable to anybody before a loan is advanced, and we appoint no intermediaries. If money has already been paid, report it to the police and do not send more attempting to recover it.
Usually yes, and we will say so if you ask. Bank credit is generally cheaper. Money lenders earn their place where the sum is modest, the timing is short, or the file is sound but does not fit a bank's criteria.
Tell us before it happens. Late charges and default interest are far easier to prevent than to unwind, and the options while an account is current are much wider. If any lender responds to arrears with threats or harassment, that is a matter for the police, whoever the money came from.