Bank interest rates on loans

Banks in Ghana with the highest and cheapest interest rates on loans

You probably won’t need to visit this blogpost if banks in Ghana made information about the cost of borrowing readily accessible. By readily accessible, I mean published on their websites. One way you could find information on interest loans in the country is to call up the banks, one by one. How arduous is that? That is where this post comes in. Maybe it can be of help.

Data released by the Bank of Ghana showed that as of July 31st, 2021, Calbank had the lowest average interest rate on loans at 15.97% per annum. Agricultural Development Bank Limited, on the other hand, had the highest average interest rate of 24.89%. 

The Bank of Ghana periodically publishes either the lending rates or the Annual Percentage Rates on loans to increase transparency in the finance market.

Before proceeding, let us see which banks publish the interest rates they charge for the various loans offered on their respective websites. I checked the websites of ten randomly selected banks in the country. I consider my internet searching skills as very good. These are the banks (in no particular order) Stanbic Bank, Calbank, Fidelity Bank, Prudential Bank, Access Bank, Absa, NIB, Ghana Commercial Bank, First Atlantic Bank and Universal Merchant Bank.

The results of the search on the websites of banks? Zilch, Zero! Interest rates were not found on their respective websites.

The information generally available on the respective websites of banks in Ghana provided some information on the various loan products, qualification requirements, application process, repayment terms and maximum loan amount. Fidelity Bank, Absa and Prudential Bank had loan calculators, which also had some indicative interest rates. GCB’s website had an undated post stating that interest rates on personal loans had been reduced to 24% from 26% per annum.

See for interest rates on mortgages

Screenshot of loan products from UMB without interest rates

Loans information of bank

Why do banks generally not publish interest rates on their loan products on their websites?

If you have spotted interest rates on loans specified on any bank’s website, kindly share in the comment box. I am not referring to base rates or bank rates, though.

Five banks with the lowest average interests rates on loans

  1. Calbank PLC                                                     15.97%
  2. Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited               16.97%
  3. Access Bank PLC                                              17.77%
  4. Bank of Africa Ghana                                         17.19%
  5. OmniBSIC Bank Ghana Limited                        19.75%

Five banks offering the highest average interest rates on loans

  1. Absa Bank Ghana Limited                              23.59%
  2. Agricultural Development Bank Limited          24.89%
  3. Societe General Ghana PLC                           23.61%
  4. GCB Bank Limited                                           22.80%
  5. FBN Bank (Ghana) Limited                             22.25%

Here’s the list of all 23 universal banks in the country and the respective lending rates according to the Bank of Ghana

The list is not ordered

No.Name of BankLending Rate (%)
1Absa Bank Ghana Limited23.59
2Access Bank Ghana Plc17.77
3Agricultural Development Bank Limited24.89
4Bank of Africa Ghana Limited17.19
5CalBank PLC15.97
6Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited21.62
7Ecobank Ghana Limited18.41
8FBNBank (Ghana) Limited22.25
9Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited20.64
10First Atlantic Bank Limited21.35
11First National Bank (Ghana) Limited20.55
12GCB Bank Limited22.80
13Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited16.97
14National Investment Bank Limited21.77
15OmniBSIC Bank Ghana Limited17.95
16Prudential Bank Limited21.93
17Republic Bank (Ghana) PLC21.04
18Societe General Ghana PLC23.61
19Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited20.86
20Standard Chartered Bank (Ghana) Limited20.82
21United Bank for Africa (Ghana) Limited19.05
22Universal Merchant Bank Limited20.39
23Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited19.45

Source: Bank of Ghana (2021)

The rates are an average of all interests on all loan products offered by the respective banks. This means that the real interests of various loan products (personal loans, vehicle loans, mortgages etc.) could differ.

What does the lending rate mean?

Same as interest rates on loans.

As usual, this post is general information only

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