Cashpoint

There’s good news for anyone seeking a loan to clear debt as banks have some very reasonable rates of less than 3%.

M&S Bank has just launched a 2.8% best buy on amounts from £7,500 to £15,000. That’s closely followed by TSB which has reduced its rate to 2.9% and Sainsbury’s Bank is offering 3%.

Rates on smaller loans are much higher. The best deals for a £3,000 loan are RateSetter at 6.9%, Hitachi Personal Finance at 7.3% and Ikano Bank at 7.7%.

A zero per cent money transfer credit card is another option, where you can transfer cash to your bank account. MBNA and Virgin Money both offer 0% for 30 months with a 4% fee and Tesco Bank has 0% for 36 months with a 3.94% fee.

Andrew Hagger from personal finance site Moneycomms.co.uk says: “If you’re disciplined a 0% money transfer card is a cheaper option. But sub-3% loan rates are now rare so grab them while you can.”