Ashford W Meikle, Staff Reporter
Loren Edwards, RBTT general manager for retail banking.
RBTT Bank is set to launch a new loan product, Home Equity Plus, which will allow customers to use the equity in their homes to access consumer credit, coming on the heels of the recent launch of the bank's loan summer loan campaign a different product which offers a payment holiday of three-months at the outset.
The product, which RBTT is touting as being unique in the market, comes with a maximum fixed-term repayment of up to 12 years, and allows consumers to borrow up to 75 per cent of the appraised value on the property less prior charges at the interest rate of 19.5 per cent on the reducing balance.
A DEMAND
RBTT's general manager for retail banking, Loren Edwards, told Sunday Business: "We have seen a demand by our customers for such a product. What we are trying to do is position it as a unique home-equity product which doesn't exist in the market at this time."
The loan comes with a range of special offers for consumers such as a three months moratorium on principal payments, partial draw-down arrangements and automatic monthly savings of a minimum of 10-per cent of the monthly payment in a savings account for fixed-term facilities.
Edwards boasted that the product, with three unique features, is superior to that of RBTT's competitors.
"RBTT comes to the market as a trendsetter. We are showing to the market that we can come up with innovative products. The Home Equity Plus loan ... allows customers the option of whether they want to access the facility through a credit card, overdraft facility or a regular demand loan facility." Or, a combination of the three, he told Sunday Business.
LOWEST CREDIT CARD FACILITY
According to the banker, "If a borrower wants to have a credit card facility along with it, they can use it at a much cheaper rate because this will be the lowest credit card facility in the market at 19.75 per cent since the credit card feature will be secured by the equity in the home."
He explained that another attractive feature with the loan is that customers do not have to draw down on all the funds at one time. Also, while the loan can be used for Jamaican dollars and U.S. dollar transactions, repayments can be made in Jamaican dollars at the prevailing exchange rate.
And, for qualified customers, there will be a waiver of registration and commitment fees, if they transfer their existing home-equity loans from another institution."
The RBBT executive says that the bank has a great deal of confidence in he product and expects it to do well.
"The market will determine how long we have it out there. This is a unique product in the market and we expect the market to react and look positively to it."
