Personal loan

Personal loans are the most common type of loan. The market for personal loans is very competitive with the major supermarkets joining the other key players in providing competitive rates for the consumer.

A personal loan is a form of unsecured borrowing and this gives less risk to the consumer than a secured loan. One of the key features of a personal loan is that it provides the borrower with structured repayments so that the consumer knows exactly how much they will have to repay each month, how long it will take to repay all of the personal loan and the total interest element of the overall charge.

Personal loans for small amounts up to £1,000 typically charge a higher interest rate. The best value loans in terms of interest charge are loans between the value of £7,500 - £14,999. Currently, June 2011, loans of this value can be found charging interest as low as 6.7 per cent over a typical repayment period of 36 or 60 months.

	Nationwide slashes personal loan rate Nationwide has cut its personal loan rate by 0.3 per cent, something that may tempt new and old customers.
	Sainsbury's reduces personal loan rate Sainsbury's Finance has announced it has reduced its best buy personal loan rate to 6.9 per cent APR Representative for loans between £7,500 and £14,999 until March 29th.
	ECB offers banks a further €530bn through loan scheme More than 800 European banks have applied for funds totalling €530 billion through LTRO, the European Central Bank’s cheap loans programme.
	Nationwide cuts personal loan rate Nationwide has cut its personal loan rate for its main current account customers to 7.2 per cent APR typical.
	Personal loan rate war begins A personal loan rate war has broken out in the personal loan market, according to Moneysupermarket.com.