M&S Money Reduces Personal Loans To 7.5%

M&S Money is reducing the interest rate for personal loans from 9.9% APR to 7.5% APR (typical) for loans between £7,500 and £15,000.

Effective from 6 January, those seeking personal loans will benefit from lower rates being introduced by M&S Money, the personal finance arm of Marks and Spencer.

The loans will be available between £1,000 and £25,000 with flexible repayment terms over 12 to 84 months. Customers have the option of making no repayments for the first three months, subject to lending criteria.

A loan for £15,000 over five years will cost £298.81 per month at the 7.5% rate.

The offer is also available with M&S Car Buying Plan which allows customers to defer a fixed percentage of their loan, giving them the following options at the end of the term:

• Keep the car and carry on making monthly payments until the whole of the loan is repaid
• Keep the car and pay off the remainder of the loan with a lump sum
• Sell the car and use the money to pay off the remainder of the loan

With Bank of England base rates held at 0.5%, moves by major lenders such as M&S Money to reduce their loan rates in this fashion may indicate a greater willingness to lend money after the credit crunch, although lending criteria, such as credit worthiness and employment histories still make borrowing money difficult.