There are fees that you’ll likely need to account for as part of your personal loan in addition to your interest costs, including:

• Ongoing fees from $0 to $10
• Application fees from $0 to $595
• Late fees from $15 to $35
• Early repayment fee dependant on time left on the loan (but is often not charged)

There are several reasons why someone might want to pick a fixed interest rate ahead of a variable one. Firstly, because fixed rates remain the same, budgeting into the future is much more accurate as you have a greater degree of certainty regarding what you’ll be paying each month towards your loan. This can’t be said for variable rates, which are prone to change frequently. Also, if rates are on an upward trend or are at a very low level when you take out your loan, locking it in will protect you from any upwards movement.

Personal loans provide financial relief for a purpose specific to you. They are broad in nature, hence the word “personal”, and that is by design in order to remain versatile across a variety of uses. Personal loans are most often used to supplement or pay for holidays, help complete household renovations or purchase a vehicle, but its uses are certainly not limited to these examples. You’ll be able to find out more information regarding what loan is right for you reading further on and speaking to potential lenders about their individual policies.

No – bad credit borrowers are unlikely to be approved for a variable rate personal loan. This is because the specialist lenders who work with bad credit borrowers will primarily offer fixed rates, giving you few to no variable options. If you do have bad credit, though, a fixed rate can be beneficial for helping your budgeting (as outlined above) rather than not knowing whether you’ll be paying more or less each month.

There are several key criteria that borrowers must meet in order to be considered eligible to apply for a personal loan. The primary qualification points are:

• Be 18 years or older
• Earn at least $26,000 p.a. from consistent income source/s
• Hold stable employment
• Have no history of defaults or bankruptcies

Yes – you can use Savvy’s personal loan repayment calculator to work out the estimated cost of financing. Because the calculator doesn’t include fees, running it with its comparison rate instead of variable rate helps give you a clearer picture of what you’ll be paying each month and overall. If you don’t have your personalised rate yet, you can add 2% to the minimum rate shown above to represent an average interest cost on your loan.

Yes – this is called refinancing your personal loan. What this means is that you’re taking out a new loan with a different lender (whether to take advantage of a lower rate, extend your borrowing term or another reason) and paying off your current loan with those funds. This is a tactic often employed by borrowers who are looking to maximise their overall savings, as they can switch to loans with lower rates and fees, and those whose credit score has improved over the loan and now have access to a good rate.