Loans Methodology
How Truva will score and compare loan products before a live loans marketplace or scorecard goes active.
Loan comparison should protect borrowers from the parts of the pricing story that marketing usually hides.
Loans are harder than deposits because the downside matters more. Truva's methodology should compare the real borrowing cost, the amount actually disbursed, the time to funding, and the pain of falling behind.
Core inputs
What the future loans True Value Score will care about
Effective annual cost
Loan comparisons should normalize teaser rates into a cost that reflects the actual borrowing structure, not just the headline monthly number.
Fees and net proceeds
Origination, service, and processing fees matter because they change the amount of money the borrower really receives.
Funding speed
The value of a loan depends partly on whether it lands when the borrower needs it. Speed belongs in the main comparison.
Borrower flexibility
Prepayment rules, restructuring options, and rigid repayment structures can materially change whether a loan is safe for the reader.
Late-fee and rollover risk
The downside scenario matters. Borrowers should see how painful the product becomes if things go wrong.
Preview-only discipline
Truva should not present a polished loan leaderboard before the data and methodology are strong enough to survive scrutiny. That is why the loans landing page is a methodology-led preview first.
When the comparison engine is ready, this page becomes the public explanation of what the engine optimizes for and what it intentionally refuses to optimize for.
Guardrails
A lower teaser rate should not win automatically if the fee structure or disbursement deductions make the real cost worse.
Fast-funding products should not be rewarded for speed alone if the penalty structure is materially harsher.
The methodology should stay explicit about what is still a preview and what is already supported by verified product data.
Normalize cost
Translate teaser pricing into comparable effective annual cost.
Expose speed
Keep funding-time expectations visible alongside pricing.
Protect downside
Surface late-fee and flexibility risk, not just the happy-path repayment.
Related trust pages
Keep the methodology close to the disclosure policy
The methodology explains how loans will be compared. The editorial-integrity page explains how Truva labels partner-supported content and protects editorial judgment.