2022 Personal and Car Loans Awards

2022 Personal and Car Loans Awards

Canstar has announced winners of our 2022 Personal and Car Loan Outstanding Value Awards, which includes – for the first time – the Green Personal Loan Award and Green Car Loan Awards.  

Outstanding Value – Car Loans

Outstanding Value – Personal Loans

Outstanding Value – Excellent Credit Personal Loans

Outstanding Value – Green Car Loans

Outstanding Value – Green Personal Loans

About Canstar’s 2022 Personal and Car Loan Awards

There are numerous lenders who offer car and personal loans on the Australian marketplace, so how do you find one who can offer you a good deal?

Canstar’s Personal and Car Loans Awards recognise the providers who offer outstanding value across the loan marketplace.

There are five individual category awards, the first of these being for Outstanding Value Personal Loans, Outstanding Value Car Loans and Outstanding Value Excellent Credit Personal Loans.

This year, in recognition of the fact that Aussie consumers are more environmentally-conscious than ever before, we have introduced two new awards: Outstanding Value Green Car Loan and Outstanding Value Green Personal Loan. These awards single out specific products offering outstanding value when it comes to green lending.

Released: 10 November, 2022

How did we decide on the winners?

How did we assess Canstar’s Personal and Car Loans Outstanding Value Awards?

Canstar’s Personal and Car Loans Star Ratings use a sophisticated rating methodology, unique to Canstar, which compares both price and features across personal loan products available to Australian consumers.

When assessing personal and car loan products, we consider four different categories, these being:

• New Car Loans: Loans must be available for the purchase of a motor vehicle, of at least $40,000 in value over loan terms up to 5 years.
• Used Car Loans: Loans must be available for the purchase of a motor vehicle, of at least $20,000 in value over loan terms up to 5 years.
• Unsecured Personal Loans: Loans must be available for either debt consolidation or holidays, of at least $15,000 in value over a 3-year term.
• Secured Personal Loans: Loans must be available for either debt consolidation or holidays, of at least $20,000 in value over a 5-year term.

The Star Ratings are updated monthly and appear on our comparison tables.

Canstar’s Awards for Personal Loans and Car Loans recognise the lenders that provide Outstanding Value to borrowers through their suite of personal and car loan products available to a range of Australian consumers, across the entire review period.

These awards leverage Canstar’s Personal and Car Loans Star Ratings methodology, combined with detailed pricing scenarios that are unique to Canstar.

These scenarios assess how lenders serve a range of customers by factoring in borrowing metrics such as the loan amount, loan purpose and general credit assessment criteria.

There are 3 individual awards that make up the Canstar Personal and Car Loan Awards:

• Outstanding Value – Personal Loans: awarded to Outstanding Value personal loan lenders across 6 unique scenarios
• Outstanding Value – Car Loans: awarded to Outstanding Value car loan lenders across 6 unique scenarios
• Outstanding Value – Excellent Credit Personal Loans: awarded to Outstanding Value lenders across 2 unique scenarios

How did we assess Canstar’s Green Personal and Car Loans Outstanding Value Awards?

Canstar’s Green Personal and Car Loan Awards leverage Canstar’s established Personal and Car Loan Star Ratings methodology, which compares both price and features across personal loan products available to Australian consumers.

The top-performing products then receive an Outstanding Value award.

To be considered in the Awards a product must meet certain criteria:

• Green Car Loan: Loans must be designed for the purchase of an electric, hybrid or reduced emissions motor vehicle, of at least $40,000 in value over a loan term of 5 years.
• Green Personal Loan: Loans must be designed for green/eco purposes, such as solar panels, of at least $15,000 in value over a 3-year term.

Each product is awarded points for its comparative pricing and for features attached to the product. To arrive at a total score for each product, price is weighted at 80% and features 20%.

To be awarded Canstar’s Outstanding Value Green Loan Award, products must be designed to fund the purchase of ‘green’ products. Canstar does not rate any ‘green’ or environmental claims made by the product provider, rather it rates the loan on its pricing and features as a financial product.

For more information about how the award results were determined, you can read the Personal And Car Loans Award methodology.

Does Canstar rate other products?

About Canstar

Canstar also has insights and information about financial products and services generally. You can find out about topics such as: interest rates, buy now pay later (BNPL), business products and tax. You may also be interested in discovering more about calculators and resources, such as our rate checker and free credit score tool, to help you with your financial decision-making.

About: Josh Sale, Ratings Manager

Bachelor of Commerce, Economics/Finance dual major, Griffith University. Master of Data Science, Strategy and Leadership, RMIT (ongoing studies)

Joshua Sale is responsible for developing the methodology and delivering Canstar’s flagship Star Ratings, as part of Canstar’s Research team. With tertiary qualifications in economics and finance, he enjoys helping Australians find more suitable financial products by transforming complex calculations into a consumer-friendly Star Rating that explains the values and benefits of different financial products.

As one of Canstar’s company spokespeople, Joshua has participated in print, radio and broadcast interviews with the likes of the Australian Financial Review, news.com.au and Money magazine, along with other leading media outlets, discussing topics such as home loan equity, banking incentive schemes, digital wallets and wider finance trends.

Joshua is known for his ability to simplify complex products and technical information, crunching the data into meaningful insights for consumers about finance. He has analysed several consumer markets across banking, insurance and wealth, and is keenly interested in various topics, ranging from how Australians interact with their superannuation funds, to the dynamic nature of the health insurance market, and collecting and redeeming credit card reward points.

Joshua believes that knowledge is the first step towards empowerment. Even while studying, he facilitated peer-assisted study sessions for economics, and represented his University’s Business School in an academic committee.

You can follow Josh on LinkedIn, and Canstar on Twitter and Facebook.