What each bank publishes
Capitec prices personal loans from 12.5% to 28% a year. Its table narrows the range for larger amounts: 12.5% to 28% from R25 000 to R100 000, 13.4% to 26.5% on R250 000 and 15% to 23.5% on R500 000, over terms of up to 84 months. Its page says these rates apply from 29 May 2026.
FNB gives long-term personal loans a fixed rate between 15.15% and 28.25% a year, for up to R450 000 over up to 72 months. Its representative example: R30 000 over 24 months at 18% costs about R1 796 a month with fees, R41 445 in total. Short loans over one to six months may cost up to 5% a month.
Absa starts at 13.75% a year for a personal loan of up to R350 000 over 12 to 84 months. It also offers an Express Loan of R1 500 to R8 000 over one to six months and an Instant Loan of R350 to R8 000 for up to 35 days. Its credit protection plan is compulsory on personal loans.
Nedbank's calculator runs from 10.75% — the prime lending rate — to 28.25%, for R2 000 to R400 000 over up to 84 months. Its example: R50 000 over 84 months costs R1 923.47 a month and R115 408.20 in total.
Standard Bank lends R1 000 to R300 000 over 12 to 72 months at a personal rate of at most prime plus 17.5%, which is the same 28.25%. Its initiation fee runs from R419.75 to R1 207.50, depending on the amount.
Why the fees are the same everywhere
The fees are not a coincidence: they are the legal maximums plus VAT. The National Credit Regulations cap the initiation fee at R1050 and the monthly service fee at R60; with 15% VAT that gives R1 207.50 and R69. On a larger loan every bank charges the most the law allows, so the fees do not help you choose.
The interest cap works the same way. On an unsecured loan it is the repo rate plus 21% a year, now 7.25% plus 21%, or 28.25%. Banks often say “prime plus 17.5%”, which is the same number, because prime is the repo rate plus 3.5%. When the Reserve Bank moves the repo rate, the cap and most variable rates move with it.
What decides the rate you are offered
The “from” rate goes to applicants the bank sees as the lowest risk: a long, clean credit record, a stable salary paid into the bank's own account and little other debt. Everyone else is priced higher, and many are offered a rate close to the cap. That is why the advertised rate says little about your own offer.
The amount and term matter too. Capitec's own table shows a narrower and lower range for larger loans, and a shorter term lowers the bank's risk and your total cost. Our guide on getting a lower rate lists what you can change before you apply.
How to compare a bank with other lenders
Compare the total you repay over the whole term, from each lender's binding quotation, not the advertised rate. Include credit life insurance, which some banks require: FNB, for example, shows a premium of R100 a month where it applies. You may take that cover from an insurer of your choice instead.
Banks mostly lend larger amounts over years. For a few thousand rand over weeks or months, short-term lenders and the banks' own short products are the comparison. Our page on personal loans lists registered providers with the amounts and terms they publish, and RandScout is not a lender: you apply on the provider's site, and it decides.
When these figures change
We read every figure above on the bank's own page on 3 November 2026. Banks change their published ranges without notice, and a repo rate decision changes the legal cap the same day, so check the bank's page before you apply. Rates shown are a year, fees include VAT.