M&S Money Announces Reduction of Loan Rate to 6.9% APR

LONDON, March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- M&S Money has revealed is has reduced the rate on its personal loans from 7.5% APR to 6.9% APR (representative).

The offer applies to individual loans between 7,500 pounds and 15,000 pounds.

Loans are available between 1,000 pounds and 25,000 pounds with flexible repayment terms over 12 to 84 months. Customers who apply for a personal loan with M&S Money have the option of making no repayments for the first three months, subject to lending criteria.

Colin Kersley, M&S Money chief executive, said: "Our new loan rate, together with the M&S Credit Card offer of 0% for 15 months on shopping, makes our credit products highly competitive in the market."

The offer is also available with M&S Car Buying Plan which allows customers to defer a fixed percentage of their loan, giving them a number of options at the end of the term. These options include the customer keeping the car and continuing to make monthly payments until the whole of the loan is repaid, the customer keeping the car and paying off the remainder of the loan with a lump sum or the customer can sell the car and use the money made from the sale to pay off the remainder of the loan.

About M&S Money:

M&S Money (the trading name of Marks & Spencer Financial Services) was founded in 1985 as the financial services division of Marks and Spencer Group plc.

The company is a top ten credit card provider and the second largest travel money retailer in the UK.  M&S Money also offers a range of insurance cover, including home insurance and car insurance, as well as loans, loan payment protection, savings and investment products.

In November 2004, Marks & Spencer sold M&S Money to HSBC. HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 8,000 offices in 87 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Latin America and the Middle East. With assets of US$2,418 billion at 30 June 2010, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.

M&S Money has an executive committee comprising an equal number of representatives from HSBC and Marks & Spencer.

SOURCE M&S Money