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Loan rates slashed... for a limited time
There's a price war going on in the personal loan market right now, which is good news if you want to borrow a larger sum of money.
Sainsbury’s Bank has slashed the interest rates on its medium-sized personal loans.
The changes follow hot on the heels of its supermarket rival Tesco cutting its loan rates until 5th February, and means Sainsbury’s now takes top spot in the best buy tables.
So if you want to borrow between £7,500 and £15,000, have a good credit rating, have a Nectar card you've used in the last six months and can repay the loan in up to three years, you could qualify for a market-leading rate of 4.6% from Sainsbury’s.
If you want to repay between three and five years, the rate is now 4.7%. Repay over five years and the rate goes up to 6.7%.
[Give yourself a £4,000 cash boost]
Two types of loan
These lowest rates are available on what Sainsbury’s calls its Shopper Standard loans, which are open to anyone who holds a Nectar card. If you don’t already have one, you need to get hold of it and use it either in store or online before you can qualify.
Sainsbury's has also cut the rates on its Shopper Reward loans. These offer a range of Nectar benefits, but more importantly come with far higher rates. For example, a loan repaid over three years has a representative APR of 4.9%, compared to 4.6% on the Standard loan.
These reduced rates are available from now until 3pm on 31st January.
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Not just any loans, these are M&S loans
M&S Bank has also cut its loan rates but across all loan sizes, with existing M&S Bank customers getting the lowest rates on offer.
And these reductions mean it's now near the top across all the best buy tables.
Top medium-sized loans over three years
Here’s how the best buy tables for medium-sized loans now look, starting with loans repaid over three years.
Provider | Representative APR |
4.6% | |
4.7% | |
4.7% | |
4.8% | |
4.8% | |
HSBC Personal Loan** | 4.8% |
4.9% |
*M&S Bank customers only
*HSBC current account customers only
Top medium-sized loans over five years
And here are the top rates over five years.
Provider | Representative APR |
4.7% | |
4.7% | |
4.7% | |
4.8% | |
4.8% | |
HSBC Personal Loan** | 4.8% |
*M&S Bank customers only
**HSBC current account customers only
Top small loans over five years
Here are the top rates for loans of £5,000-£7,499 repaid over five years.
Provider | Representative APR |
5.7% | |
6.1% | |
6.2% | |
6.2% | |
6.4% | |
6.4% | |
Clydesdale Bank Online Personal Loan | 6.4% |
Yorkshire Bank Online Personal Loan | 6.4% |
*M&S Bank customers only
Top larger loans over five years
And here are the top rates for loans of £15,000-£24,999 repaid over five years. As you can see, the top four rates are only available to banks' existing customers.
Provider | Representative APR |
First Direct existing customer* | 5.1% |
Barclays Barclayloan** | 5.9% |
Lloyds Bank Personal Loan*** | 6.4% |
Bank of Scotland Personal Loan*** | 6.4% |
6.7% | |
6.7% | |
6.8% | |
6.8% | |
6.8% | |
Clydesdale Bank Online Personal Loan | 6.8% |
Yorkshire Bank Online Personal Loan | 6.8% |
*First Direct 1st account customers only
**Barclays current account customers only (must have had account for minimum of seven months and have deposited minimum of £1,000 a month)
***Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland customers only
****M&S Bank customers only
Will I get the best rate?
The rates shown above are the representative APR for each loan, which has to be offered to 51% of all applicants. However, to be one of those people you'll need a good credit rating. If your credit rating isn't spotless, you may still be offered a loan but at a higher rate.
