Source : Economictimes | Dated : July 17, 2020
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed all scheduled commercial banks (except regional rural banks), local area banks and small finance banks to link interest rates of all retail loans, including home loans, offered by them, to an external benchmark with effect from October 1, 2019.
Complying with this directive, most commercial banks have opted for the RBI’s repo rate as the external benchmark to which all floating rate loans are linked. Interest rates linked to the repo rate is called repo rate linked lending rate or RLLR. The RLLR comprises of repo rate plus bank’s spread or margin. As per RBI, banks are allowed to charge a spread or margin plus risk premium over and above the external benchmark rate from borrowers.
Remember, the repo rate is subject to revision by the RBI in every two months.
While the spread charged by a particular bank remains same for all borrowers, the risk premium will differ from one individual to another. For instance, it is usually seen that banks charge higher risk premium from self-employed borrowers as compared to salaried individuals.
Here are 10 banks offering the lowest home loan interest rates for salaried individuals
Bank Name | RLLR | Minimum Interest rate(%)** | Maximum Interest rate(%) |
Union Bank of India | 6.80 | 6.70 | 7.15 |
Bank of Baroda | 6.85 | 6.85 | 7.85 |
Central Bank of India | 6.85 | 6.85 | 7.30 |
Bank of India | 6.85 | 6.85 | 7.15 |
UCO Bank | 6.90 | 6.90 | 7.00 |
Punjab & Sind Bank | 6.90 | 6.90 | 7.25 |
Canara Bank | 6.90 | 6.90 | 8.90 |
IDFC First Bank | 7.00 | 7.00 | 8.00 |
Punjab National Bank | 6.65 | 7.00 | 7.60 |
SBI Max Gain | 6.65 | 7.00 | 7.35 |
**Sorted on minimum interest rate charged by the bank after adding risk premium
*Union Bank of India charges a processing fee of 0.50% of loan amount, max.Rs.15000
*Bank of Baroda charges 0.25% to 0.50% of loan; Min. Rs.8500/- Max. Rs.25000/-
*Central Bank of India charges 0.50% subject to maximum Rs.20,000/-
*Bank of India charges 0.25 % of loan; Min. Rs. 1500/- Max. Rs. 20000/-
*UCO Bank charges 0.5% of the loan amount, minimum Rs.1500/- & maximum Rs. 15000/-
*Canara Bank charges 0.50% subject to a maximum of Rs.10,000/-
*Punjab & Sindh Bank is offering full waiver of processing &inspection charges
*IDFC First Bank charges up to Rs 10,000 as processing fees (additional premium is charged based on risk profile)
*Processing fees for PNB is 0.35%; min Rs 2,500 and max Rs 15,000 plus documentation charges Rs 1,350/-
*SBI as processing fees charges 0.40% plus GST minimum Rs 10,000 and Maximum Rs 30,000 + GST (Exception: Builder Tie-up projects)
Here are 10 banks offering the lowest home loan rates for self-employed individuals
Bank Name | RLLR | Minimum Interest rate(%)** | Maximum Interest rate(%) |
Union Bank of India | 6.80 | 6.85 | 7.15 |
Bank of Baroda | 6.85 | 6.85 | 7.85 |
Central Bank of India | 6.85 | 6.85 | 7.30 |
Bank of India | 6.85 | 6.85 | 7.75 |
UCO Bank | 6.90 | 6.90 | 7.00 |
Punjab & Sindh Bank | 6.90 | 6.90 | 7.25 |
Canara Bank | 6.90 | 6.90 | 8.90 |
IDFC First Bank | 7.00 | 7.00 | 8.00 |
Punjab National Bank | 6.65 | 7.00 | 7.60 |
SBI Max Gain | 6.65 | 7.15 | 7.50 |
** Sorted on minimum interest rate charged by the bank after adding risk premium
*Union Bank of India charges a processing fee of 0.50% of loan amount, max.Rs.15000
*Bank of Baroda charges 0.25% to 0.50% of loan; Min. Rs.8500/- Max. Rs.25000/-
*Central Bank of India charges 0.50% subject to maximum Rs.20,000/-
*Bank of India charges 0.25 % of loan; Min. Rs. 1500/- Max. Rs. 20000/-
*UCO Bank charges 0.5% of the loan amount, minimum Rs.1500/- & maximum Rs. 15000/-
*Canara Bank charges 0.50% (Min Rs.1500/- and Max. Rs.10,000/-)
*Punjab & Sindh Bank offers full waiver of processing & inspection charges
*IDFC First Bank charges up to Rs 10,000 as processing fees (Additional premium charged based on risk profile)
*PNB charges 0.35 per cent as processing fees; minimum Rs 2,500 and maximum Rs 15,000 plus documentation charges Rs 1,350/-
*SBI Max Gain: 0.40% + GST Min Rs.10,000 and Max Rs.30,000 + GST.(Exception Builder tie-up Projects)
All data sourced from Economic Times Intelligence Group (ETIG)
Data as on July 17, 2020
Why RBI took this decision
The central bank took the decision to link the interest rate of home loans and other retail loans to an external benchmark for greater transparency and faster transmission of the policy rate changes.
Previously, under the MCLR (marginal cost based lending rate) regime, whenever RBI cut the repo rate, banks did not pass on the benefits to customers swiftly. On the other hand, when RBI hiked the repo rate, banks swiftly raised interest rates on loans.
In its circular mandating banks to link loans to an external benchmark, banks can choose from any of the following benchmarks:
- RBI’s repo rate
- Government of India 3-month Treasury bill yield published by Financial Benchmarks India (FBIL)
- Government of India 6-month Treasury bill yield published by FBIL
- Any other benchmark market interest rate published FBIL
When can borrowers’ EMI change?
As per RBI’s circular, banks are required to reset the home loan interest rates linked to the external benchmark at least once in three months. This would imply that any change in the external benchmark rate would have to be mandatorily passed on to the customer within three months of the change in the external benchmark
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