Banks offer offers on personal loans to new customers

National banks have begun offering offers on salary transfer, loans and personal financing to new customers, including a reduction in the interest rate from 0.5% to 1%, starting from a fixed 4% for residents, and 2.4% for citizens, depending on the value of the salary, with the possibility of postponing the payment of the first installment. For a period ranging between three and seven months, while a bank offered a reward to new customers who transfer their salaries to it, in the amount of 12 thousand dirhams, in the form of “cash back.”

According to information collected by “Emirates Today” from sales representatives in these banks, the offers come as part of promotional campaigns since the beginning of the current year 2025, and will continue until the end of next March, or until the end of the target set by the credit departments in the banks.

In response, banker Tamer Abu Bakr told Emirates Today: “Almost all national banks have had promotional offers since the beginning of 2025 related to personal financing and loans, and transferring debts from one bank to another.”

He added, “Most of these offers mainly target new customers who transfer their salaries, whether this is accompanied by obtaining new financing, or transferring old debt from one bank to another.”

Abu Bakr continued: “These banks compete in providing facilities, the most important of which is the grace period that extends up to seven months before starting to pay the first installment, which is considered a period of relief from the burden of debt, helping the customer manage his financial affairs,” pointing out that there are one or two banks that offer… They offer a cash reward to the new customer upon transferring his salary, which is usually deposited into the beneficiary’s account after depositing three consecutive months’ salary.

Abu Bakr stated that the interest rates offered in the offers start from 2.4% up to 5.2%, with a fixed maximum.

For his part, banker Mustafa Ahmed said: “Banks have multiple offers related to personal loans, including reducing the interest rate by about 1% from what was in effect in the last quarter of 2024, with the possibility of postponing installments.”

Ahmed alerted customers to the long grace period related to paying the first installment, saying: “The customer must pay attention to the issue of the relatively long grace period, which reaches seven months, as it usually leads to an increase in the value of the monthly installment, given that the total payment period is 48 months. According to the Central Bank’s system, if the amount is large, and the customer chooses to postpone payment, he must compare the value of the installment if he started paying directly with the option of preferring postponement, and decide accordingly.

He added: “Every customer has the right to postpone two months every year, but the grace period that takes place at the beginning of obtaining the loan or financing, the value of which is distributed among the remaining installments, in a way that ensures the bank’s compliance with the Central Bank’s instructions related to the loan repayment period.”

Mustafa Ahmed:

. The customer should pay attention to the issue of the long grace period to postpone the first installment, as it usually leads to an increase in the value of the monthly installment.

. The offers come as part of promotional campaigns since the beginning of 2025, and will continue until the end of next March.

. 12 thousand dirhams “cash”…a bonus when transferring the salary in some banks.