Customers shop for beverages at Thanh Do Supermarket in northern Lang Son City. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Hue

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— Experts have urged consumers to carefully study the terms for loans to make sure they stay solvent.

Friedrich Weiss, general director of PPF Viet Nam, warned that most customers did not read loan contracts carefully.

He added that to protect themselves, borrowers should update their knowledge on lending terms.

According to financial expert Dinh The Hien, borrowers should clearly understand the duration of a loan, interest rate, monthly payment and relevant fees.

Interest rates on loans for buying vehicles or television, for example, could be up to 30 per cent a month, Hien said, adding that borrowers should choose financial institutions with suitable terms.

Hien said that in Japan, financial companies had different interest rates for different groups of customers, depending on their assets, income and credit records. This meant that customers with higher solvency enjoyed lower interest rates.

He said Viet Nam could learn from this to develop different packages to meet a variety of customer demands.

Lawyer Phan Thi Viet Thu said that instalment loans were relatively high, so consumers should carefully consider what they are signing.

She said the rights of borrowers were protected when taking out loans as they were when purchasing other products. — VNS