interestrateripoff Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/8243570/Personal-loan-rates-lowest-for-two-years.html A price war has broken out in the personal loan market, with the average rate on an unsecured loan of £7,500 falling to 7.89pc – the lowest level since November 2008. However, those looking to borrow a smaller amount will not see the benefits of rate cuts as the average rate on a £3,000 loan has increased by 2.19 points to 15.12pc in the same time period, while the average cost of a £5,000 loan has increased by 1.6 percentage points, according to moneysupermarket.com. The most competitive deals are available on loans of between £7,500 and £15,000 and eight providers have reduced their rates since December. For instance, this week Santander cut its rate from 7.8pc to 7.3pc on loans for customers using comparison sites, while Sainsbury’s Finance reduced its rate to 7.4pc and Marks & Spencer Money has launched a new loan at 7.5pc. Tim Moss, the head of loans and debt at moneysupermarket.com, said: “With many consumers reviewing their finances in the New Year, it is great to see providers creating some healthy competition in the unsecured loans market after a period of relative inactivity. “For those looking to borrow over £7,500 there are some excellent deals and in some cases it pays to borrow slightly more as it would cost you less overall. Unfortunately, we have yet to see rates drop as rapidly for smaller loans.” Quick everyone borrow some money and spend it on a foreign holiday, lets get the economy moving again by all taking on some debt. Remember you get a better deal the more debt you take on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Quick everyone borrow some money and spend it on a foreign holiday, lets get the economy moving again by all taking on some debt. Remember you get a better deal the more debt you take on. ...say you only wanted say £3k but wanted the £7.5K rate.....could you borrow the £7.5k then make an early repayment of the unwanted £4.5k? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxdiver Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) Savings rates on ZOPA have fallen off a cliff. Rates are low - with average rates for a loan in the region of 7.5-8%. for low-risk borrowers it's even better. It looks to me that lenders are having a hard time finding yield, hence the low rates. Edited January 6, 2011 by maxdiver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scepticus Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 In other news, interest rates set to soar any time now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.