Every personal loan, car loan, and unsecured business loan advertised in Australia uses the same structure: a sharp headline rate prefixed with "from", followed by a comparison rate and a small-print disclosure. The headline rate is typically 5.99 to 8.99 per cent. The comparison rate is typically 50 to 150 basis points higher. The small print says rates are subject to credit assessment.
The actual rate distribution offered to applicants who apply is not the headline rate. Risk-based pricing means each applicant is quoted a rate based on the lender's credit assessment of the specific file. The cleanest credit profiles get the headline rate. The median applicant gets a materially higher rate. The 25th percentile gets a rate close to the lender's upper range cap.
For most non-bank consumer lenders in 2026, the actual rate distribution looks roughly like this: 3 to 8 per cent of applicants get the advertised "from" rate. The median quoted rate is 600 to 900 basis points above the headline. The 25th percentile gets a rate 1000 to 1300 basis points above the headline.
The named lenders and the actual rate ranges
Based on publicly disclosed range data, target market determinations, and the lenders' own annual reports as at mid-2026:
- Plenti: advertised "from 6.49% p.a." personal loan, actual rate range 6.49 to 17.99 per cent. Median rate offered to applicants approximately 11 to 13 per cent.
- MoneyMe: advertised "from 5.95% p.a." personal loan, actual range 5.95 to 21.99 per cent. Median offered rate approximately 12 to 14 per cent.
- Now Finance: advertised "from 6.95% p.a." personal loan, actual range 6.95 to 23.95 per cent. Median offered rate approximately 13 to 15 per cent.
- Latitude Financial: advertised "from 8.69% p.a." personal loan, actual range 8.69 to 24.99 per cent. Median offered rate approximately 14 to 17 per cent.
- Harmoney: advertised "from 5.76% p.a." personal loan, actual range 5.76 to 24.99 per cent. Median offered rate approximately 13 to 16 per cent.
- CBA, Westpac, NAB, ANZ personal loans: advertised "from 9.99% p.a." or similar headline, actual range typically 9.99 to 15.99 per cent. Median offered rate approximately 11 to 13 per cent.
The Big 4 banks have a narrower range and a higher headline. The non-bank specialists have a wider range and a sharper headline. The result is that for a clean-credit borrower, the non-bank advertised "from" rate looks much sharper than the Big 4 advertised rate, but for a median-credit applicant, the Big 4 quoted rate frequently comes in lower than the non-bank quoted rate.
A clean-credit borrower shopping on advertised "from" rates will reasonably expect the non-bank to win on rate. The non-bank often does. A median-credit borrower shopping the same advertised rates will expect the same and frequently does not get it. The cost of the wrong expectation is a credit enquiry on the file plus a quoted rate that is higher than the borrower planned around.
Why the regulator allows this
ASIC regulates personal loan advertising under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act and the ASIC Act consumer protection provisions. The relevant rule is that advertised rates must be the lowest rate available to a borrower, with a comparison rate disclosed alongside that incorporates most fees.
This rule looks consumer-friendly on paper. In practice it produces the trap. Because the regulator requires the lowest available rate to be the advertised rate, every lender advertises the rate they offer to the cleanest 3 per cent of files. The advertising rule prohibits them from advertising the median rate (which would be more useful to consumers) because that would not be the lowest available rate.
The comparison rate disclosure was supposed to fix this by giving consumers a single benchmark they could compare across lenders. It partially works. The comparison rate includes most fees but it is still calculated against the advertised rate, not the actual quoted rate. So the comparison rate on a "from 5.99% p.a." product is calculated against 5.99 per cent plus fees, not against the 13 per cent the median applicant will actually be quoted.
What you can actually do about it
Three moves for borrowers shopping personal loans in 2026:
- Treat the advertised "from" rate as the floor of the lender's range, not the rate you will be offered. Mentally adjust upward by 400 to 800 basis points for median-credit borrowers, 800 to 1300 for borrowers with any adverse credit history. Use this adjusted rate for cross-lender comparison.
- Get personalised quotes from 2 to 3 lenders, accepting that each personalised quote logs a credit enquiry on your file. The enquiry cost is real but small; the cost of comparing on the wrong number is larger.
- Use a broker who can lodge a single application against multiple lenders without burning multiple enquiries. For personal loans specifically, several brokers run this model for prime and near-prime borrowers. The fee model is usually paid by the lender that writes the loan, not the borrower.
The advertised "from" rate game is not going to be regulated out of existence. The economic incentive for lenders to advertise the sharpest rate is built into the marketing rules. The consumer move is to stop comparing on the advertised rate and start comparing on personalised quotes against the comparison rate.
Disclosure: Your Finance Guide partners with Australian Lending and Investment Centre (ALG) ACL 505575. ALG receives commissions from personal loan lenders. The rate ranges named for specific lenders are taken from their public target market determinations and annual reports; readers can verify each range directly with the lender or via the relevant disclosure documents.