BOB cuts home loan rate to industry low

The interest rate now stands between 8.35% and 9.35%

BY 70 BPS

PUBLIC SECTOR lender Bank of Baroda (BOB) on Monday lowered interest rate on home loans by 70 basis points (bps) to 8.35 per cent — the lowest in the industry.

In doing so, the bank has decided to offer home loans at its one-year marginal cost of fundsbased lending rate (MCLR) without any spread to customers with CIBIL score of 760 and above.

“We will also allow customers with CIBIL score of -1 to 0 (no borrowing record) to get this benefit,” a BOB official said. Following the cut, the home loan rate stands between 8.35 per cent and 9.35 per cent.

The bank has also waived-off switchover fees for existing customers who wish to shift from the base rate to MCLR. “In case of existing home loan borrowers of BOB, who are not yet converted to MCLR rate structure can avail of the benefit of reduced rate of interest by converting from base rate to MCLR without any additional charges,” the bank said.

BOB said on a home loan of Rs 50 lakh, reduction in interest rate by 70 bps will help a home buyer save Rs 2,496 per month and approximately Rs 9 lakh during the loan tenure of 30 years.

The rate of interest on car loans and mortgage loans starts at 8.85 per cent and 10.35 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Bank of India (BOI) has also revised its retail lending rates. Home loans will be available at 8.65 per cent for women and at 8.7 per cent for others, while vehicle loans will be offered at an interest of 9.35 per cent.

As reported earlier, savings from the switchover to the MCLR are now very impressive — almost six-fold in some cases after the latest rate cuts — that more customers might migrate to it. For a Rs 50-lakh loan from SBI with a tenure of 20 years, a borrower can now save nearly Rs 6 lakh. Given SBI’S base rate is 9.25 per cent, a customer would repay Rs 1,11,46,423. A switch to the MCLR at 8.65 per cent — 8 per cent plus a spread of 65 basis points — would lower the repayable amount to Rs 1,05,28082. Add the switchover fee of Rs 25,000 and this would be Rs 1,05,53,082. That’s savings of Rs 5.93 lakh. FE