Nationwide cuts personal loan rate

6.5% APR Representative on offer to Nationwide current account holders. The new rate is open to both new customers and for new loans to existing customers.

Nationwide is also the only high street lender to offer a ‘soft quote facility’.  The soft quote simply allows a customer to know what APR they would be eligible for without impacting their credit file.

Nationwide FlexAccount customers who use it as their main current account could benefit from a competitive rate of 6.5% APR Representative.

This new rate is applicable for loans of up to five years between £7,500 and £14,9993 taken out through a branch, over the telephone or via the Internet.

Those who do not have Nationwide’s FlexAccount will still be able to take advantage of a competitive rate of 6.6% APR Representative, which is only fractionally above Nationwide’s headline rate. 

This offer is available if customers apply through an online aggregator, such as moneysupermarket.com, for loans between £7,500 and £14,9992 for a term of up to five years.

Richard Napier, Nationwide’s head of banking, said: 

“There are occasions when people want to make that bigger purchase, such as the dream car or home extension, but don’t have the money up front to buy it.  In those cases a personal loan may be the best option available, especially with loan rates edging back towards pre-credit crunch levels.

"However, shopping around for the best personal loan rate is not always as straightforward as shopping around for the best savings rate.

"This is because gathering multiple personal loan quotes with different providers in a short space of time can leave a mark on consumers’ credit history and hinder their chance of being accepted for credit. Soft quotes are one way around this and Nationwide is leading the way with its own flexible loan search facility. 

"This gives consumers the chance to quickly search for a competitive loan deal with Nationwide without impacting their credit score, which is especially convenient for those searching online.”