By Standard Correspondent
Standard Chartered Bank has lowered the cost of borrowing on personal loans by 3.5 per cent.
The bank has also re-introduced the fixed mortgage for a limited period with rates starting at 10.9 per cent.
According to Kariuki Ngari, the Executive Director for consumer banking, the new rates are the lowest in the market and provides an opportunity to customers to buy homes.
He said the rate of repayment would remain low for the life of the mortgage.
Mr Ngari said the rate review is meant to open up products to more customers by making them affordable and highly competitive.
He said the bank was optimistic that the move will open access to credit to people who wished to borrow but were otherwise restricted by the cost of credit.
"As a bank, we are always looking for ways of fulfilling our customer needs. Our customers can use this lower rate to consolidate their various loans at the lowest repayment rates in the market. We remain open for business and as we implement these changes we will continue to look into our customer’s needs and market trends to provide highly competitive products," said Ngari.
Loan defaults
As the industry continues reeling from massive loan defaults attributed to the lending spree that many banks undertook over the last two years and the cost of credit, StanChart has maintained the lowest non-performing loans portfolio in the market.
Last year, the bank’s total non-performing loans stood at 2.5 per cent compared to 3.9 per cent for the same period in 2008.
"We continue to focus on the basics of banking and money supply," said Ngari.
