Metro Bank announced on Monday it has launched the first set of RateSetter-powered personal loans through its banking branches. Aach of the new loan applications will be assessed and arranged by using RateSetter’s lending technology. Those who qualify for the loans may borrow between £1,000 and £25,000 for one to five years, with a 4.9% annual percentage rate. The loans are available to people aged 21 or over and residents in the UK for a minimum of three years.
While sharing more details about the loans, Rhydian Lewis, CEO at RateSetter, revealed:
“Pairing Metro Bank’s deposit base with RateSetter’s lending capability was always exciting and in the space of just a few months the combination is already delivering results. Our aim is to offer a first-class borrowing experience for customers and I am delighted that we are now doing so through the stores, as well as online. We have established strong momentum and I look forward to continuing to expand our presence in the personal lending market.”
The launch of the loans comes less than a year after Metro Bank acquired the online lender and less than two months after the banking group took over RateSetter’s remaining consumer portfolio. RateSetter recently revealed that the portfolio purchase means that all RateSetter investors will receive their money back in full and the investing side of RateSetter will close. The lender will be providing two months’ notice of account closure and so this will happen on April 2nd. This process is expected to take five days.
“Naturally, no investment release fee will apply to money returned to investor’s Holding accounts from the purchase. Invested money will continue to earn interest until then and repayments will continue to be treated in line with investors’ account settings until then too.”
Daniel Frumkin, CEO at Metro Bank, recently spoke about the acquisition by stating:
“The pandemic has clearly impacted performance, leading to significant expected credit losses, but our transformation strategy is firmly on track and we have accelerated initiatives to shift our asset mix, bringing higher yield and improving net interest margin, as evidenced in the second half. The purchase of the RateSetter platform has allowed us to enter the unsecured lending market. In addition, we have made progress against each of our strategic pillars, including the sale of part of our residential mortgage portfolio to further optimise our balance sheet, the launch of higher yielding products including specialist mortgages, and we have grown customer accounts to 2.2 million.”
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