A personal loan by nature is an unsecured credit option, i.e., zero security or collateral is required to avail the loan to mitigate any personal or medical exigencies. State bank of India, commonly known as SBI, is one of those banking institutions that offer financial solutions as well as cater to the needs of the individual.

SBI personal loan is provided based on some of the crucial eligibility criteria and your repayment capacity.

SBI personal loan eligibility criteria

Crucial aspects that impact your SBI personal loan application

• FOIR (fixed obligation to income ratio): FOIR is an important attribute deciding your SBI personal loan eligibility. Your FOIR must be at least 50-60 percent of your monthly income.
• Co-applicant: If you include a co-applicant, it enhances your repayment capacity, which further enhances your personal loan eligibility for SBI.
• Stable profession or job: Stability in the job field is crucial for personal loan approval.
• Company profile: The more reputed your company is, the higher is your chances of availing lower SBI personal loan interest rate.
• Residence: If you reside in a rental home, it lowers your capacity to repay. However, if you remain in your residence, it enhances your repayment capacity, which boosts your SBI personal loan eligibility chances.
• Salary mode: SBI sanctions loan if your salary gets credited to your bank account and not through cheque or in hand.
• Location: The location you reside in determines your eligibility chances for a personal loan. It is usually high for the urban locations and low for the suburban or rural areas.

Compulsory testimonies for the SBI personal loan

• Passport size photo
• Duly filled up loan application
• Identity proofs – Photocopies of PAN card, Aadhaar card, Driving license
• Residence proofs include Aadhaar card or utility bills like gas bills or electricity
• Bank statement for the past six months
• Income tax returns for the salaried include from 16 or IT returns for the past 2 financial years. And for self-employed individuals, the IT return must be for 3 years.

SBI personal loan interest rate

 How to avail SBI personal loan?

• Customers simply can approach their nearby State Bank of India branch for submitting their personal loan applications.
• They also can download the personal loan app from SBI’s official site, fill it and finally submit it online.
• For the existing bank customers, after personal loan approval, the loan disbursal is usually fast.
• For the new customers, the approval process takes place after the verification process. Loan disbursements in such cases might take some time.

SBI personal loan repayment

You must repay your personal loan through the EMI form in the following ways:

• Post-dated cheques: This is submitted in thoroughly fresh sets in a timely manner. You can submit the same from a non-State Bank of India institution at the nearest SBI center.
• Standing instruction: This facilitates regularly scheduled payments for the fund transfer. Your EMI would get deducted towards the end of the month from your State Bank of India account as specified.
• Electronic clearing services (ECS): It is applicable for the non-State Bank of India account holder who wants to deduct their EMI automatically towards the end of the monthly cycle from their savings account.

Kinds of personal loan interest rates

There are 2 kinds of personal loan interest rates, these are:

• Floating interest rate
• Fixed interest rate

Floating interest rate: This depends on either internal benchmark fixed by the lender as per the market condition. As an outcome, the floating rate of interest is liable to change as per market, which results in a decrease or increase in repayment tenure or monthly payout based on whether the interest rate is upward or downward.

Fixed interest rate: Here, in this case, the interest rate stays the same throughout the loan repayment tenure. Consequently, monthly EMI also stays fixed throughout the repayment period. It might assist you in planning out your monthly expenses in the long tenure.

Rate of interest for distinct applicants

Many lenders factor in various parameters when determining the applicable rate of interest for personal loan applicants. One such parameter is the applicant type. Following are crucial insights regarding how SBI personal loan interest rates tend to differ based upon the applicant type.

• Self-employed and salaried: Whether the seeker is self-employed or salaried, it can considerably impact the rate of interest applicable to a personal loan. Usually, salaried employees having a stable employment record with reputed organizations tend to avail personal loans at a lower interest rate than their self-employed category. This is because the salaried employees working with reputed organizations have higher job security and, in most situations, have the potential to repay their personal loans. However, self-employed applicants with a stable income source can even avail of personal loans from NBFCs and banks at a competitive rate of interest.
• Women: Specific banks or institutions like NBFCs provide preferential interest rates to women. And likewise, SBI also offers preferential rates to women. This is an attempt to promote salaried women.

How to avail low rates of interest on personal loans?

Follow the listed tips to low avail rate of interest on your personal loan:

• Maintain a strong credit score of 750 and above.
• Maintain a low CUR (credit utilization ratio) of below 30%.
• Avoid applying for personal loans with various lenders in a short time span.
• Avail personal loan from bank or NBFC with which you already share a relation in the form of fixed deposit or savings account etc.