Moneyextra.com says personal loan bargains still available

January 25th, 2007

January's unexpected hike in base rates isn't being reflected in higher personal loan costs - yet - says Moneyextra.com

This month's interest rate rise took many by surprise but even though mortgage rates are on the rise and some savers are starting to benefit, few personal loan rates have been affected yet. Robin Amlôt, Senior Editor of Moneyextra.com, comments, "Anyone who's been looking to borrow money shouldn't have been put off by the base rate rise - only a handful of lenders have raised their unsecured personal loan rates."

"The rate rise was a close call. The Bank of England's policy-setters voted 5-4 for the increase with the Governor, Mervyn King, casting the decider. But many analysts reckon the base rate could rise again and very soon at that.

"If you're looking for a loan - whatever the reason: be it a new car, holiday, home improvements or even debt consolidation - you should consider acting now to lock in an attractive interest rate."

It is significant that the earliest to raise their personal loan rates have been among the most competitive lenders.

Moneyback Bank has raised its rate to 5.9% APR, up 0.2% - less than the base rate rise - and remains at or near the top of the best buy tables¹. However, Northern Rock has put its rate up by 0.3% to 6.1% APR while Eskimo Loans has raised its rate for loans of £5,000 or more by 0.6% to 6.9% APR.

Check out the latest loan rates at www.moneyextra.com/compare/personalloans.

 

For further information, please contact:

Robin Amlôt
Senior Editor, Moneyextra
Tel: 0870 191 5626
public.relations@moneyextra.com

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

¹ Tables show the most competitive loans available via Moneyextra's online loans comparison tool as at 25 January 2007.

* Source: Moneyextra.com 25/01/07

Moneyextra.com is one of the UK's longest-established personal finance websites. It has 536,000 unique users and delivers 5.5 million page views every month and has 513,000 registered users.

As at 19th January 2007, Moneyextra.com featured:

• More than 10,000 Mortgages from 126 providers
• 127 Personal Loans from 49 providers
• 208 Credit Cards from 62 providers
• 1,492 Stocks & Shares ISAs from 58 providers
• 170 Cash ISAs from 90 providers
• 121 Current accounts from 36 providers
• 849 Deposit accounts from 145 providers