Bad news for 2023 baccalaureates: Student loan interest rates are skyrocketing, in line with mortgage and consumer loan interest rates. If young people could borrow less than 1% in 2022, the best offers this year are close to 2% for the time being. It is, for example, 1.50% at Crédit coopératif, 1.69% for SG (new name of Societe Generale Group’s retail bank), 1.89% for LCL, 1.9% at Caisse d Normandie savings, 1.90% at CIC and Crédit Mutuel.
Over 60 months, the price of a loan of 15,000 euros has thus gone from 307 euros in 2022 at 0.80% to 735 euros this year with 1.90%. In addition, for borrowers who want it, the costs of death, loss of autonomy, disability insurance, which are usually billed at around 1%. Prices may also continue to rise in the coming weeks.
“The higher costs of student loans are linked to the increase in the bank’s refinancing costs [les taux auxquels les banques elles-mêmes empruntent l’argent qu’elles prêtent, qui dépendent de la politique monétaire de la Banque centrale européenne]from 0% a year ago to 4% today”explains Olivier Morin, member of the board of La Banque Postale Consumer Finance.
Many companies nevertheless display differentiated prices according to the studies followed by the young client. “Students from the Grandes Ecoles are future leaders to whom the banks will be able to sell investments and a mortgage afterwards, the banks have therefore contained the increase in their rates on this target”says Basile Duval, spokesman for the comparator Panorabanques.
Up to 120 months
Some schools negotiate preferential terms for their students with banks. Students graduating on July 4 therefore have an interest in checking whether their education has entered into an agreement with a bank. SG thus offers loans from 1.69% to 3.39% depending on the education. For BNP, the rates are between 1.99% and 2.79% in agreement with the school and otherwise reach 3.29%. Postbanken offers 2.50% to students from 200 schools with which it has partnered, and 2.90% to others.
Conversely, Crédit Agricole Ile-de-France (2%) and Crédit Coopératif (1.50%) practice a single interest rate policy, regardless of the rate chosen. At LCL, the rate of 1.89% also applies to everyone, but it is only offered up to 3,000 euros. “Students take out this loan and then another, the interest rate of which depends on the studies followed”, says Julie Selas, career path and credit offer manager at LCL. It is 1.99% for students from Grandes Ecoles, 3.20% for students from other schools within the framework of a partnership and children of clients and 3.60% otherwise.
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