Researchers at MoneySupermarket.com have unearthed 110 charges and fees on basic financial transactions that customers may be liable for.

In the UK, penalties hidden in the small print can add up to more than £8 billion ($16 bn) in revenues for finance companies, credit cards and banks. And a similar situation may also exist in the USA.

The website looked at five common financial products : current accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards and savings.

Mortgages, with arrangement, booking and valuation fees accounted for 46 of the total. These have risen to around £1000 ($2000) in the past year.

Normal bank accounts can levy 32 penalty charges, while credit cards account for 16 fees. Loans attract up to 11 charges.

Stuart Glendinning, Managing Director of the website, said : “It is unbelievable that five financial products can be the root of so much penalty pain.”

Nick Gardner, a director at Chase de Vere, the mortgage advisers, said the range of fees embedded in home loans is “cunning and completely unacceptable. The headline rates may be coming down, but the number and scale of fees have risen enormously.”

Maybe it’s time to get that old magnifying glass down from the attic.

If you have a poor credit record, low earnings or have recently moved to another country, you may be classed as “sub-prime” by lenders if you apply for a loan or a mortgage.

There’s no escaping this Mark of Cain even if the only flaw in your situation is that you have recently taken a new job or become self-employed.

Banks and mutual lenders treat sub-primes in a straightforward fashion — with high interest rates. Indeed, the unfortunate sub-prime will often have to approach a specialist lender to negotiate their loan.

The recent falls in stock markets around the world were partly caused by a rise in sub-prime defaults in the U.S. following 17 rate hikes in two years. Many had taken out second mortgages to pay off other debts and were unable to meet repayments.

However, these cases should be set in perspective against a background of very low levels of mortage default in both the U.S and the UK.

If you think you may be assessed as sub-prime, try going to standard lenders first and explaining any mitigating factors. For example, that new job may represent a substantial increase in salary.

Should you be knocked back by the big boys despite the good news, the bad news is that you may have to bite the bullet and pay more than the average to get a mortgage.

Once the conditions that make you sub-prime have been relieved, however, you should remortgage at normal rates as quickly as you can.

What are the best strategies for saving money on mortgages? Here Seymore Hennigan gives us the lowdown.

We all like to save money. Why pay more for something, when you can pay less? We could all use an extra few dollars in our pockets, couldn’t we? Most people don’t realize that there are a number of ways to save money on their mortgage. If you were to take out a mortgage on a 25 year term, chances are that by the time you repay the entire loan you will have paid the bank double the amount you borrowed. And you wonder how the banks are making record profits?

One of the best ways to save money on your mortgage is to put down the biggest down payment you possibly can. This way, the initial amount you are borrowing from the bank is lower and the interest you are paying back will be less than if you borrowed a larger amount. Most of us do not have tens of thousands of dollars sitting around. If possible, why not consider borrowing your down payment from a family member? The banks are not particularly keen on this practice, but if someone in your family can afford to loan you the money without interest it can be very helpful in the long run.

Another thing to consider, once you have been approved for a mortgage, is your repayment frequency. Most people opt for a simple monthly payment. There are other ways, however, to approach this. Why not increase the rate of repayment? If you can manage making a mortgage payment either weekly or bi-weekly, you will save thousands of dollars over the term of your mortgage. Many banks will also allow you to make an annual lump sum payment on the principle of your mortgage. It is wise to take advantage of this opportunity, as you are paying directly on the principle amount of your loan.

For most people, purchasing a home is the single greatest investment they make in their lifetime. Owning a home provides stability for your family, and in time you will have a significant amount of equity tied up. Buying a house can be considered an investment, and you should look at ways to maximize your investment. There are ways to save money on your mortgage, and you would be wise to consider all of your options. Wouldn’t you rather make your money work for you, than to always work for your money? Short term compromises can lead to long term savings. Think ahead!

Our guest author, Seymore Hennigan, has worked in finance for many years. When he is not crunching numbers or advising his family and friends on investments, he writes freelance articles for mortgageguide101.com – an independent mortgage guide filled with extensive information about buying a new home - http://www.mortgageguide101.com/buying-a-house.aspx, home buying tips - http://www.mortgageguide101.com/articles/when-you-shouldn’t-buy-a-house.aspx, first time home buying - http://www.mortgageguide101.com/first-time-home-buyers.aspx and more.

The Money Blog has no financial connection with the above websites and businesses.

There are many ways of finding a loan. Nowadays many people go online to dig out the crucial details of both lenders and loans. Here, John Mussi takes us through the process:

Researching the options available to you for a loan can be a long task, especially if you don’t take advantage of some of the features available to you on the internet. In addition to simply finding out basic loan information, you can whether certain types of loans are right for you and in the case of some lenders actually apply for your loan directly from the lender’s website.

In order to find out whether researching your loan options online is right for you and to learn how to do your research so as to optimize your experience, here is some information on online loan research options that you might find helpful.

Starting your search
When starting a search for loan information online, you should always use your preferred search engine to find the sites that may provide you with the information that you’re looking for. Use keywords for the type of loan or lender that you want information on, and you should receive several pages worth of results for potential lenders and financial information sites. Generally, the first page of results will offer you the most pertinent results for your search keywords, though some may also appear on the second page.

Of course, if you’re looking for a specific lender, you can search for their website or go directly to it if you have the website URL.

Researching physical lenders
If you’re looking for additional information on physical lenders in your area, you can likely find out about them and the loans that they offer form the lender’s website or from a portal website that has links and information on several different lenders of the same type.

Depending upon how complex the website is, you may be able to find either a large or a smaller amount of information on lender specifics or on certain types of loans. Even for those websites that are primitive and don’t offer much in the way of specific information, you can still find phone numbers and ways to contact customer support and make information requests.

You can also take time to research other methods of finding information, such as service reviews from online newspapers and e-zines as well as “best of” competitions that some communities have to determine which businesses in their area provides the best services.

Finding an online lender
In addition to simply finding information on physical lenders, you can use the internet to find a lender that does their business exclusively online. These lenders tend to offer competitive if not lower interest rates than their physical competitors, in large part due to the reduced overhead of doing their work online.

To find an online lender, you should begin in much the same way as you would begin your search for information on any other lender… utilize your preferred search engine or enter in the URL of an online lender’s website that you’ve seen advertised in newspapers, tabloids, or on the television.

Online lenders usually have large amounts of information on their services available on their website, though if you don’t find the information that you’re looking for then you will also have a variety of contact options available with which to request the information that you want.

When you can’t find the information that you want
It’s important to realize that a website, no matter how complex it may be, might not have the information that you’re looking for. If this is the case, feel free to use a contact form, send an e-mail, or call a provided phone number with your specific questions. That’s what they’re there for… to answer whatever questions you might have.

Our guest author is John Mussi, founder of Direct Online Loans which help homeowners find the best available loans via the www.directonlineloans.co.uk website. The Money Blog has no connections with this website.