Customers wait to be served at Standard Chartered Bank branch in Nairobi. The bank's annual Grand Sale will see consumers offered loans for as little as 10.9 per cent. Photo/FILE
What you need to know:
Grand Sale to run for a limited period of 45 days starting July 15 and ending on August 31, 2014.
Bank offering mortgages and business loans at 10.9 per cent, personal loans from 14.9 per cent.
Customers transferring their loans from other providers will not pay legal and valuations fees.
Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya has slashed borrowing rates on three key loan products for a 45-day period as part of an annual marketing campaign to push access to credit.
The bank is offering mortgages and business loans at 10.9 per cent, close to two percentage points above the newly launched Kenya Banks Reference Rate (KBRR). Personal unsecured loans will also be available from 14.9 per cent (KBRR + 5.77 per cent).
The bank, however, did not advertise Annual Percentage Rates for the three types of loans only adding that customers transferring their loans from other providers will not pay legal and valuations fees.
It was not immediately clear whether all other fees were waived or were included in the margin above KBRR advertised.
The Central Bank of Kenya recently set the KBRR at 9.13 per cent as part of new regulations requiring banks to be more transparent about how they set their interest rates. The same rules required banks to describe all loans using a standardised APR measure which factors in all charges tied to a loan and makes it easier to compare loans from different banks.
In a statement released Monday, Standard Chartered said the margin of 1.77 per cent on top of KBRR will remain fixed for the duration of the facility for all loans taken up during ‘The Grand Sale’. The interest charged on the loan will, thus, vary along with the KBRR which CBK says will only change every six months unless unexpected factors make a change necessary.
Speaking during the launch of the campaign, regional Head of Retail Clients, Bhartesh Shah said that the move was in response to “increased consumer appetite to borrow as well as... sophisticated consumers seeking more financial options”.
“These are the lowest borrowing rates in the market today complimented by innovative bundle solutions, longer payment periods and higher loan amounts,” Shah said. “Customers can borrow up to Sh100 million to purchase their home and can have up to 25 years to repay the facility. Our customers can use these lower rates to consolidate their various loans at other financial institutions at the lowest repayment rates in the market.”
The Grand Sale will run for a limited period of 45 days starting July 15 and ending on August 31, 2014.
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