Cheapest INTERNATIONAL loans?

I_Am_Herenow

Hello

I read recently that some banks in Japan were giving loans to customers of <=2% - but when I visited their websites, neither their English pages nor the Google translation of the Japanese ones seemed to give me any help (no, I do not speak Japanese).

Anyway, which countries' banks offer the cheapest loans (and are there any 0% offers for 6 months or whatever)? Language isn't a particular problem, by the way, as I'm sure every bank in the world has people who speak English, and besides, I'm sure it's not hard to learn "Hello", "loan" and some numbers.

My main concern is this: will they give the loan to people living in the UK? If there are any other restrictions (e.g. you need to have spend at least 2 weeks in Japan or wherever), please tell me!

jonesMUFCforever

The answer is no. Defo or we we would all be doing it yes?
It will be for creditworthy Japanese residents only not holiday tourists.

Just read how many people who have lived here for years from abroad who cannot get full bank accounts and credit cards let alone a loan.

I_Am_Herenow

OK, fair enough (I thought it sounded too good to be true) but, in general, which countries have low percentages for their loans? And for that matter, what ARE the typical percentages on loans that French, Chinese etc. banks give?

jonesMUFCforever

It does not matter does it?
Have you factored the cost of travelling to say China/Japan (assuming you get a visa and they accept you for an account then a loan) you then have a bundle of Chinese currency which you lose out on when converting back to Sterling. It's a no brainer.

devils_advocate

Apart from the fact that you can't open a bank account in japan unless you've got gaijin card, which takes 3 months residency minimum, a visa, a visit to a Japanese embassy somewhere and lots of other hoops to go through, if you do borrow at <2% it is in Japanese Yen. Your average Kenji Suzuki can't borrow at these rates, it would be for large corporates, and the fact that the loan is in yen could mean that you pay 2% interest, but an extra 25% of the loan in the first year because the yen has depreciated against sterling.

The above sounds harsh, I know, but you can get exceedingly stuffed exceedingly quickly by having cross currency exposure. Alternatively, you could be exceedingly fortunate, , but the risk of getting stuffed is still there. It's not unknown for currency values to move by 1% per day.

I_Am_Herenow

ejones999 wrote: »

It does not matter does it?
Have you factored the cost of travelling to say China/Japan (assuming you get a visa and they accept you for an account then a loan) you then have a bundle of Chinese currency which you lose out on when converting back to Sterling. It's a no brainer.

Japanese banks have branches in London..


And anyway, guys, I'm not hell-bent on getting a loan from Japan - the focus isn't Japan here, it's which country gives the lowest interest rates on its loans.

peterbaker

Denmark is still 3 point something I believe after a number of years at 2 point something. They go in for a kind of rolling fixed-rate bourse(? is that the right word?) where the cost of moving from one tranche of money to a slightly different one with the same lender is published daily I think. They also go in for very long mortgages I believe, and there is a current trend of regularly releasing equity to upgrade existing dwellings because they have a housing boom not unlike our own. But AFAIK they are not burdened with misleading mortgage marketing yet.

The Danish Krone is I think linked in some indirect way to the Euro (or was? maybe it isn't anymore), and I think the rates I have mentioned might well be for a Euro mortgage paid in DKR.

I think it is a disgrace that the OFT and ASA (indeed are they still around??) allow 'low rates' to be advertised in the UK when huge entry (and exit) fees are charged routinely now and thus affect would affect quoted APRs hugely if the lenders were honest about it.

That couldn't happen in Denmark just yet. Unlike us, they still have firm ideas about what is acceptable business practice.

I_Am_Herenow

Alright, thanks a lot!

Alright, now we're getting somewhere! Which other countries have nice, low percentages on loans?

jonesMUFCforever

I don't think you are listening at all. It is a non starter - you will not get a loan like this in a month of sundays.

peterbaker

Oh dear jonesy, we are having a bad day, aren't we! I've only just finished chiding your irritability on another thread!

Chill!

Have a beer, relax and watch a movie instead of letting our petty offerings on MSE ruin your evening!

jonesMUFCforever

Peter have a nice evening !
May your Danish Kroner be with you!

I read your 'essay' about exchanging Euros but was not impressed!