Interest-free loans at Thai Money Expo

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Interest-free loans at Thai Money Expo  
The Nation: 7 May 2010
Interest-free loans at Expo
By SIRIPORN CHANJINDAMANEE
The Nation
Published on May 7, 2010


Home and personal loans with no interest charges are being spotlighted at the 10th Money Expo 2010, which opened yesterday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok.

The annual expo is expecting about the same number of visitors and value of transactions as it achieved last year, due mainly to lower spending sentiment as a result of the recent political mess.

Last year's expo received 700,000 visitors and achieved transactions valued at Bt130 billion, buoyed by "plastic money" - credit and debit cards - which were the highlighted financial products.

This year's Money Expo, with a "Road to Wealth" theme, runs until Sunday. It features 200 booths representing state-owned and private financial institutions, many of them with special offers and promotions. Non-bank institutions and small- to medium-sized state enterprises have also joined the expo.

"We believe that visitors this year will gain more benefits from the expo than in previous years, especially from loans with low interest rates" said organising chairman Santi Viriyarungsarit, who is also editor-in-chief of Money and Banking magazine.

Home, personal and multi-purpose loans, and those for small- and medium-sized enterprises, are being offered without interest charges for the first two to 36 months. Saving products and life-insurance policies with rates of return up to 6 per cent per year are also on offer.

Santi said the Money Expo was a good opportunity for people wanting to borrow money before a probable hike in interest rates in the next quarter.

Krung Thai Bank is offering loans with no interest charges for one year for non-performing assets, for six months for home loans, and for 36 months for K-Express cash.

Siam Commercial Bank is offering to charge no interest for two-round accounts for Speedy Cash personal loans, while Bank of Ayudhya is offering SME loans with no interest charges for the first three months.

Kasikornbank is offering a 5-per-cent interest rate on fixed deposit accounts for the education of children. Kiatnakin Bank is offering interest at 6-per-cent per year for 135-day fixed-deposit accounts, and the Islamic Bank is offering a 3-per-cent annual rate of return on fixed-deposit accounts.

Bangkok Bank has unveiled a special home-loan offer and is launching five new bancassurance endowment products, two new mutual funds investing in gold and an ATM-enrolment service for Internet and mobile-phone banking.

Home-loan borrowers who also choose Bangkok Bank's Home 1st insurance option will pay interest at a rate of just 0.9 per cent for the first nine months of their home loan.

The Money Expo will also offer a wide variety of investment alternatives such as stocks, gold bullion, gold futures and debentures offered by 30 asset management companies and 20 insurance companies.

[TBWG]

Interest-free loans at Thai Money Expo  
The Nation: 7 May 2010
Interest-free loans at Expo
By SIRIborn CHANJINDAMANEE
The Nation
Published on May 7, 2010


Home and personal loans with no interest charges are being spotlighted at the 10th Money Expo 2010, which opened yesterday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok.

The annual expo is expecting about the same number of visitors and value of transactions as it achieved last year, due mainly to lower spending sentiment as a result of the recent political mess.

Last year's expo received 700,000 visitors and achieved transactions valued at Bt130 billion, buoyed by "plastic money" - credit and debit cards - which were the highlighted financial products.

This year's Money Expo, with a "Road to Wealth" theme, runs until Sunday. It features 200 booths representing state-owned and private financial institutions, many of them with special offers and promotions. Non-bank institutions and small- to medium-sized state enterprises have also joined the expo.

"We believe that visitors this year will gain more benefits from the expo than in previous years, especially from loans with low interest rates" said organising chairman Santi Viriyarungsarit, who is also editor-in-chief of Money and Banking magazine.

Home, personal and multi-purpose loans, and those for small- and medium-sized enterprises, are being offered without interest charges for the first two to 36 months. Saving products and life-insurance policies with rates of return up to 6 per cent per year are also on offer.

Santi said the Money Expo was a good opportunity for people wanting to borrow money before a probable hike in interest rates in the next quarter.

Krung Thai Bank is offering loans with no interest charges for one year for non-performing assets, for six months for home loans, and for 36 months for K-Express cash.

Siam Commercial Bank is offering to charge no interest for two-round accounts for Speedy Cash personal loans, while Bank of Ayudhya is offering SME loans with no interest charges for the first three months.

Kasikornbank is offering a 5-per-cent interest rate on fixed deposit accounts for the education of children. Kiatnakin Bank is offering interest at 6-per-cent per year for 135-day fixed-deposit accounts, and the Islamic Bank is offering a 3-per-cent annual rate of return on fixed-deposit accounts.

Bangkok Bank has unveiled a special home-loan offer and is launching five new bancassurance endowment products, two new mutual funds investing in gold and an ATM-enrolment service for Internet and mobile-phone banking.

Home-loan borrowers who also choose Bangkok Bank's Home 1st insurance option will pay interest at a rate of just 0.9 per cent for the first nine months of their home loan.

The Money Expo will also offer a wide variety of investment alternatives such as stocks, gold bullion, gold futures and debentures offered by 30 asset management companies and 20 insurance companies.

Hmm


Beware of bankers bearing gifts!

Also I was under the impession that charging/paying interest was a no no under Islamic principles?

TBWG