Every comparison on a Nordsek country site is built the same way: one key figure per product category, taken from the provider's published terms, ordered from best to worst, and checked on a schedule. This page sets out the rules.
Financial products are designed to be hard to compare. Our answer is to pick, for each category, the single figure that captures the total cost or return, and to order every comparison by it. Where a product cannot be reduced to one figure we show the components and say that the list is not ranked.
| Category | Key figure | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal loans | APR | Interest, arrangement and account fees, mandatory insurance; EU-standard formula |
| Business loans | Annual cost of credit | All fees and factors converted to an annual percentage over the full term |
| Savings and deposits | Effective annual rate | Compounding and payment frequency; promotional rates shown with their end date |
| Current accounts | Annual cost | Monthly fee, card fee, typical cash and foreign-currency use per the fee information document |
| Credit cards | Annual cost of ownership | Annual fee plus interest at the stated APR on a typical revolving balance |
| Brokers and funds | Total annual cost | Order, custody, currency and fund charges for a stated investing pattern |
| Crypto platforms | Round-trip cost | Spread, trading fees and euro withdrawal on a €1,000 buy and sell |
In order of preference: a data feed from the provider; the provider's published price list and terms; and the representative example the provider is legally required to show. We never estimate a figure a provider has not published. When a figure depends on the applicant, as a loan rate does, we show the representative APR and the advertised range, and we say that your offer will differ.
Regulatory facts, such as whether a provider is licensed and by whom, come from the public registers of the national supervisors: the AFM and DNB in the Netherlands, the ACPR and AMF in France, and the FIN-FSA in Finland, plus the EBA and ESMA registers for EU-wide licences.
By the key figure, best first, for the amount and term the visitor has entered or, on a static page, for the stated representative case. Ties keep the order in which providers were added. Commercial relationships do not enter the ordering. A provider we have no contract with is shown at its published figure; a provider that pays us is shown at its published figure. Sponsored placements, if we ever introduce them, will be labelled as such and kept outside the ranked list.
Figures from a data feed update when the feed does, usually daily. Published price lists are checked at least monthly and whenever a provider tells us of a change. Regulatory status is checked quarterly against the registers. Every page shows the date it was last updated.
It cannot tell you whether a product suits you. A comparison on cost is the necessary first step, not the whole decision. It cannot include providers that do not publish their terms. And it cannot guarantee an offer: the figure you see is the provider's published or representative figure, and the provider decides what it offers you.
If a figure is wrong, tell us through the contact page. We check against the provider's published terms and correct the page, with the correction date, usually within two working days.
Comparison happens where the products are sold. Each country site is written in the local language and lists providers licensed in that market.
