Sharp rise in personal loan rates
by Gill Montia
Story link: Sharp rise in personal loan rates
Price comparison website, uSwitch.com, has published alarming figures that show a steep rise in the cost of unsecured lending.
According to the firm’s research, rates for personal loans from Black Horse, part of the Lloyds TSB group, have risen by up to nine percentage points, to 36.9%, in the past month alone.
In repayment terms, a customer borrowing £2,000 over two years will pay an additional £225.22, or 35%, in interest to service the rate hike.
uSwitch spokeswoman, Louise Bond, says that volatile markets are changing “best buy” tables on a daily basis.
Other banks are also hiking rates, with research from the website showing that eight personal loan providers have increased the cost of borrowing in the past four weeks, while the number of loans on offer has fallen slightly, from 56 to 52.
Other noteworthy personal loan rate rises are as follows: Bank of Ireland up 1.8% to 10.7% APR; Barclaycard up 0.60% to 8.4% APR; Asda up 0.5% to 7.9% APR and Sainsbury’s Finance up 0.2% to 7.9% APR.
