Despite the recent onslaught of negative economic news, it seems that there may be some hopes for optimism for some UK citizens seeking personal loans. Nationwide recently cut the rate on some of their personal loans to a shockingly low 6.2%, becoming the lowest rate offered in the United Kingdom.
Nationwide is not the only insurance company dropping their rates, as many providers have been doing the same for the past couple months. A couple weeks ago HSBC and Tesco Brent began slashing their rates as well. Of course, this rate is not available to all customers, as only those with a Nationwide current account that are applying for loans between the amount of 7500 to 14,999 pounds would be considered eligible.
However, all other personal loan applicants with acceptable credit would be eligible for the loan rate of 6.3%. According to Graham Pilkington, head of personal loans for Nationwide, this low rate is designed to accommodate the needs of people that are looking to consolidate debt with the holidays fast approaching. In January of 2011 the lowest rate offered on a 7500 pound loan was at 7.4%, nearly 1% higher.
Economists have been adamant about warning that these appealing low rates are not available to everyone, and that only those looking to borrow within the highly competitive 7500 to 14,999 pound bracket could benefit from the record low loan rates. Many people have wasted time applying for loans after learning of the new personal loan rates, only to find that the rate is only available to a specific tier of the market. In fact, interest rates available for smaller loan amounts are remaining somewhat high, and someone applying for a loan worth less than 3000 pounds would likely still encounter double-figure APR’s, possibly as high as 20%.
