Personal loan lenders often charge a variety of fees on top of (sometimes even instead of) interest. Particularly if you're looking to borrow a relatively small amount, fees can make a big difference to your total cost, so you might want to explore which options charge fewer or even no fees.
What fees are on personal loans?
Personal loan lenders may charge fees for:
- Loan establishment (sometimes a fixed up front fee or a small percentage of the loan amount)
- Documentation fees
- Annual or monthly ongoing fees (sometimes called 'account keeping' fees)
- Penalties for paying the loan off early
- Penalties for missing repayments
See also: The different personal loan fees explained
How much are personal loan fees?
The fees on a personal loan can depend on:
The lender
Different lenders have different fee structures for personal loan products. At the time of writing, the big four banks charge a loan establishment fee between $150-$250 for personal loans (although its waived in many cases) and a monthly $15 'account keeping' fee. Other lenders charge a proportion of the loan amount - Nimble for example charges an establishment fee of 20% of the loan amount on its Payday loans, then a monthly fee of 4% of the loan amount. Despite these products technically not charging interest, these fees can make the loan extremely expensive relative to what you borrowed.
The product
Lenders also often charge different rates depending on the type of personal loan - whether its secured or unsecured, fixed or variable.
The borrower
It's common for lenders to charge higher interest rates for borrowers deemed higher risk, but some lenders also discriminate between customers on fees, particularly loan establishment fees. For example, OurMoneyMarket charges a loan establishment fee based on the 'loan grade' that can be anything from $0 to 6% of the loan amount.
In the 23/24 Financial Year, RBA data suggests households were charged a total of $390 million on personal loan fees, up 34% on the previous period.
Low fee personal loans in Australia
In Australia there are many lenders that advertise personal loans with low fees. This might mean a smaller establishment fee with no ongoing costs, or a waived establishment fee and just a small monthly charge. However, you should be aware these products may charge higher interest rates to compensate. The comparison rate is a good measure of how much the loan will actually cost, taking into account both rates and fees, so is a useful way to compare products.
No fee personal loans
Some lenders go even further, offering products with no upfront or annual account keeping fees. Current examples include:
- Now Finance charge no upfront or ongoing fees on personal loans, nor even fees for missed repayments, although third-party enforcement costs may be passed on.
- Pepper Money also currently offers no fee personal loans.
- Great Southern Bank charges no monthly or early payout fees, and until July 2026 is offering a waiver on its $225 establishment fee.
Should you get a low fee personal loan?
Pros of low fee personal loans
- High fees can be a significant portion of the overall cost of a personal loan, particularly for smaller amounts.
- High fees are also often baked into the loan amount, which means the fee could accrue interest.
Cons of low fee personal loans
- Products with low fees sometimes compensate by charging higher interest rates.
- It may also be harder to be approved for some low fee products.
Savings.com.au’s two cents
As with any loan product, if you're in the market for a personal loan you should work out exactly how much it will cost you over the entire loan term rather than being drawn in by either a low fee or a low rate. The comparison rate is a handy way to compare products like for like, although on loans that charge fees exclusively you might need to crunch the numbers, perhaps estimating how long you think it will take you to pay the loan off.
In general, the smaller the amount you're borrowing the more influence the fee will have on the total cost. If you're borrowing $5,000 from a lender with a $250 establishment fee, that's already another 5% of the borrowed amount, while if you're borrowing $50,000 it's just 0.5%. For larger amounts, the interest rate might be a more relevant concern.