HSBC Personal Loan Review: Interest Rates, Calculator & Approval Time
HSBC Personal Loan Review: Interest Rates, Calculator & Approval Time
Ever since Singapore did away with the VTLs and opened the travel floodgates, Singaporeans have been flocking overseas after two holiday-free years.
And by a strange coincidence, there’s also been an uptick in searches for personal loans, although we really hope people aren’t taking out loans to go on holiday.
If you yourself have been searching for a personal loan, this article will guide you through the factors you need to consider such as interest rates and repayments.
Warning: Not to be your mum, but please remember that you should not “anyhow” take out personal loans for non-essential spending like going on holiday or buying new shoes. Personal loan interest rates are quite high and can spiral out of control of you don’t repay them on time. And high interest debt is what makes many people go bankrupt. Personal loans should thus only be used for valid reasons like medical emergencies or consolidating credit card.
HSBC’s person loan is one of the most widely searched-for personal loans after those from local banks such as the DBS and POSB personal loan, OCBC personal loan, and UOB personal loan. Let’s look at how the HSBC personal loan compares to the three local banks’.
HSBC personal loan application criteria
HSBC’s personal loan plan is called the “HSBC Personal Line of Credit (PLOC) Installment Plan.
The minimum loan amount is $1,000, and you can choose from a loan tenor of 1 to 7 years.
For those earning under $119,999 per year, you could potentially borrow up to 4x your monthly salary, although you should of course avoid borrowing more than you need.
The HSBC PLOC personal loan application criteria are as follows:
- Between 21 and 65 years of age
- Singapore Citizens and PRs: Annual income of 30,000 SGD for salaried or 40,000 SGD for self-employed or commission-based
- Foreigners: Annual income of 40,000 SGD and employment pass with validity of at least 6 months
HSBC personal loan application & approval time
You can apply online on HSBC’s website with the following supporting documents:
- Completed and signed Letter of Instruction
- NRIC or Passport
- Notice of Assessment and CPF Statement (via Myinfo, Singpass login required)
- Last 3 months’ computerised pay slips (for salaried employees with monthly income of over $6,000)
- Employment Pass (foreigners only)
If you’re an existing HSBC customer, you don’t have to go through the above procedure. You can just apply through your online banking account.
You can expect to receive HSBC’s approval letter within five working days of your application.
HSBC personal loan interest rate (2022)
HSBC is currently offering promotional interest rates of 3.2% to 8.2% per annum, which works out to an Effective Interest Rate (EIR) of 6% to 14%, when all fees and charges are taken into account. The promotion ended on 4 May 2022.
You also have to pay an annual fee of $60 (waived for Premier customers).
These interest rates are very competitive compared to what POSB/DBS, UOB and OCBC are charging right now, but be aware that what you actually end up paying varies depending on your loan amount and loan tenure.
The easy solution is to use MoneySmart’s personal loan comparison tool to compare loan interest rates charged by the different banks for your desired loan amount and loan tenure.
HSBC personal loan vs DBS, POSB, OCBC, UOB personal loan interest rates
Let’s say you want to borrow $10,000 and repay it back over a period of three years.
Here’s how the HSBC loan would measure up to the three local banks’.
| Interest rate | EIR | Monthly installment | Total amount payable | |
| HSBC | 3.2% | 6% | $304 | $10,960 |
| DBS/POSB | 3.88% | 7.9% | $310 | $11,164 |
| OCBC | 5.43% | 11.47% | $323 | $11,629 |
| UOB | 3.4% | 6.42% | $306 | $11,020 |
As you can see, for this particular loan, HSBC is actually charging significantly less than any of the three local banks.
Using MoneySmart’s personal loan comparison tool, you can work out your interest rate as well as the amount you would have to pay each month for your own situation.