UOB personal loan: Interest rates, eligibility and more

Whether you need to cover an emergency expense, pay for a wedding or buy a new car, a personal loan could be a good option.

Among the many options for personal loans here in Singapore is the United Overseas Bank (UOB), one of the country’s major banks. But is the UOB personal loan the right choice for you?

We’ll cover everything you need to know in this handy guide, from interest rates to eligibility. This should help you make a smart, informed decision before you borrow.

Learn more 📖

Once your payment lands in your Wise account, you can even start spending right away using your international Wise debit card.

We’ll look into how this works later. But for now, let’s focus on the UOB personal loan.

Your options for a UOB personal loan in Singapore

There are a couple of personal loan options to choose from at UOB. There’s its standard Personal Loan, along with its UOB Cashplus loan account. This comes with a Visa card to cover your spending.

UOB Personal Loan

This is a straightforward personal loan, ideal if you need instant access to some extra cash. In fact, if accepted, you can potentially receive your money the same day you apply.

The UOB personal loan offers¹:

• Fixed monthly repayments - to help you manage your finances
• Low repayments from as little as S$0.65 a day
• Cash rebate of up to S$600 when you borrow at least S$30,000 on a long UOB term loan
• Choice of loan term, from 12-60 months.

You can apply online at the UOB website, and should be accepted provided you meet the eligibility criteria (which we’ll cover in just a moment). You may also need to pass certain credit checks.

UOB Cashplus loan

The other option is to open a UOB Cashplus account, which gives you access to a line of credit when you need it. The account comes with a free Visa card for everyday contactless spending, and you can manage your money between different UOB accounts. This makes it a good option for UOB current account holders.

UOB Cashplus offers²:

• Flexible repayment options
• Access to a line of credit up to 4x your monthly salary
• Complimentary Visa card, offering 10% cash rebate on all purchases
• A choice of term lengths from 3-12 months - ideal for short-term borrowing
• UOB MediPlus option to finance medical bills.

Interest rates

We’ll focus here on the UOB Personal Loan, as this is the most straightforward option for borrowing money from this particular Singapore bank.

Here are the interest rates you need to know, based on the term length of your loan:¹

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the UOB personal loan in Singapore, you’ll need to meet the following requirements¹:

• Aged between 21 and 60 years old
• Have a minimum annual income of S$30,000
• Be an existing UOB Credit Card or CashPlus customer
• Be a Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident (PR).

If you’re already a UOB customer, you shouldn’t need to provide documentation to prove you meet the minimum income threshold. However, you will need to give your National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) number and date of birth ³.

For new customers, you’re likely to need to provide bank statements or other proof of income, and verify your identity using the SingPass Digital ID service⁴ as part of the application process.

Is the UOB personal loan for foreigners?

As you can see from the eligibility list above, the UOB personal loan is only available to Singapore citizens and permanent residents. This means you are unlikely to be accepted as a foreigner, if perhaps you haven’t quite secured your PR status yet.

If you want to double-check whether or not you can apply for credit with UOB as a foreigner, you can always get in touch with the bank to find out your options.

Receiving finance from abroad? Save money with Wise

If you’re not eligible for the UOB personal loan, or at least not until you’ve secured your PR status, you may need to look into finance options from your home country. If you want to receive loan payments from abroad, pause before using your bank.

⚠️ You could be charged high fees to receive money internationally, and to convert the currency to SGD.

A cheaper, easier option is to use Wise. Open a free multi-currency account and you’ll get access to local account details, such as a UK sort code and account number, US routing and account number, or an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) for EU countries.

Using these details, you can receive your loan payments in the loan provider’s local currency. Then, you can convert to SGD when you’re ready using Wise’s mark-up free exchange rate. It could save you a bundle, and make getting a loan just a little more affordable.

So, that’s pretty much it - everything you need to know about the UOB personal loan in Singapore. We’ve covered interest rates, eligibility and how to apply for credit with UOB, plus how to save money by using Wise to receive loan payments from overseas.

You should now be all set to weigh up your options, crunch the numbers and find the right loan option for you. Good luck!

Sources used for this article:

Sources checked on 23 April 2021