SBI extends teaser home loan till Dec

Country's largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday said it will extend its 8 per cent concessional home loan scheme, popularly called teaser rates, by another 3 months till December.

"We will extend it(concessional home loan scheme) till December," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told reporters on the sidelines of an event to launch Para Military Salary Package here.

The popular home loan and car loan schemes by SBI was due to expire on September 30.

Bhatt's comments came close on the heels of HDFC relaunching its teaser rates and its chairman Deepak Parekh's announcement that the schemes were going to stay permanently.

For the first year, SBI home loan is offered at 8 per cent interest rate and at 9 per cent for the second and the third year. From the fourth year onwards, home loans up to Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) attract 9.25 per cent interest while higher loans carry 9.75 per cent interest rate.

At present, the scheme carries 10 per cent interest rate from the fourth year onwards. Car loan is also available at 10 per cent concessional rate. SBI had last extended the special scheme till September 30 from June 30, 2010, owing to a huge demand from its customers.

The scheme was originally supposed to end by April 30, 2010.

Meanwhile, SBI launched specially designed products and services for the Central Para Military Forces Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Border Security Force (BSF), National Security Guards (NSG), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

A number of concessions in interest rates on loans and waivers in service charges are extended to account holders, he said. Other features, which form the Para Military Salary Package include waiver of service charges for non-maintenance of minimum balances in salary accounts, free drafts, free cheque books, free remittances within the bank and other benefits, he said.

Last year, SBI had designed special packages for the Armed Forces--Defence Salary Packages for the Army, Navy and Air Force -- through which the bank garnered about 13,00,000 accounts.