Fact-Checking Policy

Purpose

Accurate financial data is the foundation of a useful loan comparison. This policy describes how 44Finance verifies lender information before it is published and how we maintain data quality over time. Our goal is to ensure that every numeric claim on the site — APR, fees, loan limits, disbursement speed — is backed by a verifiable source.

Data sources

We rely on the following primary sources when verifying lender data:

• Lender terms pages: official product pages, pricing calculators, and fee schedules published on the lender's website.
• Legal disclosures: mandatory consumer credit information, representative APR examples, and pre-contractual documentation.
• Regulatory filings: data published by financial supervisory authorities in each market (e.g. Finantsinspektsioon in Estonia, Finansinspektionen in Sweden).
• Partner API feeds: structured data received from affiliate network integrations, where available.

We do not rely on user-submitted data, social media posts, or unverified third-party aggregators as primary sources.

Verification workflow

Every piece of lender data passes through a five-step verification process:

1. Collection: the data analyst locates the latest terms and pricing disclosures from the lender's official channels.
2. Cross-check: key fields — APR, interest rate, loan limits, fees, and disbursement time — are compared against at least two independent data points where possible (e.g. terms page vs. representative example vs. partner feed).
3. Calculation validation: where applicable, we independently calculate the total cost of credit for standard scenarios and compare the result with the lender's stated figures.
4. Recording: verified values are entered into the system with a verification timestamp and the name of the responsible reviewer.
5. Publication: data is published or updated on the live site. The verification date is recorded internally and reflected on the offer metrics dashboard.

Roles in the verification process

• Data analyst: collects and enters raw lender data. Responsible for first-level accuracy.
• Reviewer: independently verifies the analyst's entries against original sources. Has final sign-off authority.
• The same person should not both enter and approve data for the same lender in the same review cycle.

Freshness standards

Data freshness is a critical quality metric. Lender information is considered stale if it has not been re-verified within a defined threshold period. Stale data is handled as follows:

• Offers with stale data are visually flagged with a "Stale" badge in comparisons and on the offer metrics dashboard.
• Stale offers are automatically downranked in comparisons and cannot receive a "Recommended" badge.
• The freshness threshold and stale status for all lenders is publicly visible on the offer metrics dashboard.

Review frequency

Core lender pages are reviewed on a recurring schedule, with priority given to high-traffic markets and recently changed offers. Ad-hoc reviews are triggered when a lender announces pricing changes, when a reader reports a discrepancy, or when a partner feed delivers updated data.

Error correction policy

When an error is identified:

1. The incorrect data is corrected as soon as possible after confirmation.
2. The page timestamp is updated to reflect the correction date.
3. If the error materially affected rankings, offers are re-scored immediately.
4. The correction is logged internally for audit purposes.

Report an inaccuracy

If you believe any data on 44Finance is incorrect or outdated, please let us know via our contact page. Include the specific page URL and the data point you believe is inaccurate. We investigate all reports and update the data if the issue is confirmed.