Finance
Private student loan interest rates rise for 5-year terms and dip for 10-year terms
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The latest private student loan interest rates from the Credible marketplace, updated weekly. (iStock)
During the week of Sept. 16, 2024, average private student loan rates spiked for borrowers with credit scores of 720 or higher who used the Credible marketplace to take out 5-year variable-rate loans and dropped for 10-year fixed-rate loans.
- 10-year fixed rate: 7.99%, down from 8.57% the week before, -0.58
- 5-year variable rate: 10.31%, up from 8.61% the week before, +1.70
Through Credible, you can compare private student loan rates from multiple lenders.
For 10-year fixed private student loans, interest rates dropped by 0.58 percentage points, while 5-year variable student loan interest increased by 1.70 percentage points.
Borrowers with good credit may find a lower rate with a private student loan than with some federal loans. For the 2024-25 academic school year, federal student loan rates will range from 6.53% to 9.08%. Private student loan rates for borrowers with good-to-excellent credit can be lower right now.
Because federal loans come with certain benefits, like access to income-driven repayment plans, you should always exhaust federal student loan options first before turning to private student loans to cover any funding gaps. Private lenders such as banks, credit unions, and online lenders provide private student loans. You can use private loans to pay for education costs and living expenses, which might not be covered by your federal education loans.
Interest rates and terms on private student loans can vary depending on your financial situation, credit history, and the lender you choose.
Private student loan rates (graduate and undergraduate)
Who sets federal and private interest rates?
Congress sets federal student loan interest rates each year. These fixed interest rates depend on the type of federal loan you take out, your dependency status and your year in school.
Private student loan interest rates can be fixed or variable and depend on your credit, repayment term and other factors. As a general rule, the better your credit score, the lower your interest rate is likely to be.
You can compare rates from multiple student loan lenders using Credible.
How does student loan interest work?
An interest rate is a percentage of the loan periodically tacked onto your balance — essentially the cost of borrowing money. Interest is one way lenders can make money from loans. Your monthly payment often pays interest first, with the rest going to the amount you initially borrowed (the principal).
Getting a low interest rate could help you save money over the life of the loan and pay off your debt faster.
What is a fixed- vs. variable-rate loan?
Here’s the difference between a fixed and variable rate:
- With a fixed rate, your monthly payment amount will stay the same over the course of your loan term.
- With a variable rate, your payments might rise or fall based on changing interest rates.
Comparison shopping for private student loan rates is easy when you use Credible.
Calculate your savings
Using a student loan interest calculator will help you estimate your monthly payments and the total amount you’ll owe over the life of your federal or private student loans.
Once you enter your information, you’ll be able to see what your estimated monthly payment will be, the total you’ll pay in interest over the life of the loan and the total amount you’ll pay back.
About Credible
Credible is a multi-lender marketplace that empowers consumers to discover financial products that are the best fit for their unique circumstances. Credible’s integrations with leading lenders and credit bureaus allow consumers to quickly compare accurate, personalized loan options – without putting their personal information at risk or affecting their credit score. The Credible marketplace provides an unrivaled customer experience, as reflected by over 7,700 positive Trustpilot reviews and a TrustScore of 4.8/5.
Tencent’s Honor of Kings mobile game drew a record 33,000 fans to watch a final competition in Beijing on Nov. 16, 2024.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng
BEIJING — Chinese gaming giant Tencent is betting on a rise in female players worldwide for its mobile game Honor of Kings, which rolled out to the U.S. and other countries in June.
Already a hit in China, the game drew a record 33,000 fans to a Beijing stadium on Saturday to watch two teams compete for a $3 million grand prize.
Surprisingly, many in the crowd were young women, reflecting how interest in mobile games has broadened out from the stereotypical male player in the days of console and PC gaming.
Launched in China in November 2015, the game’s appeal lies in its easy learning curve and relatively short sessions of around 15 minutes. Anyone with a smartphone can play for free in real time, on the go.
“Honor of Kings became an important way for me to socialize,” said Tianyun Gao, according to CNBC’s translation of her spoken Mandarin. She started playing the game in 2017 as a sophomore in college and became a professional commentator for the game’s competitions a year later.
Gao, an English major from Shanghai, has moderated Honor of Kings’ competitions in two languages, including an international event held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in August. She said her hope is to see esports become as mainstream as traditional sports, noting that one of her inspirations is a Chinese soccer commentator.
Tencent ramped up its global expansion plans for Honor of Kings this year, with its subsidiary, Level Infinite, in February announcing a $15 million investment in developing the game’s tournament worldwide.
An international version of the game has been available since 2016 under different names such as Arena of Valor, but the latest global push for Honor of Kings began in 2022. The game didn’t reach the Middle East until earlier this year and only launched in the key markets of North America, Europe and Japan in June.
Less than a month later, the game topped 50 million downloads outside China, according to the company.
Overwhelmingly mobile-focused
Growth in gaming among women stems largely from their preference in playing on their smartphones, without having to invest in consoles and other technology.
“Nearly half of female players play only on mobile platforms so we have a huge addressable audience,” said Jackie Huang, head of the Honor of Kings global esports division within Tencent Games’ TiMi L1 Studio. “Women make up a significant part of our player base but we want to see this continue growing.”
He said that 45% of gamers globally are women, and that the gender composition of Honor of Kings’ users is “relatively balanced. “We strive to provide users, no matter how they identify, with [a] high quality gaming experience,” Huang said.
Gaming is Tencent’s biggest revenue driver, with international games accounting for around 28% of the its overall gaming business in the third quarter.
The company also owns Riot Games, a developer whose PC-based League of Legends has become one of the most popular names in global esports with its own annual competition. Honor of Kings, which claims 100 million players a day, uses a similar format with two teams of five players each.
Such multiplayer games are the second-most popular category for female gamers, behind puzzles, said Xiaofeng Zeng, China-based vice president at gaming research firm Niko Partners. His analysis found that 95% of women prefer mobile games.
If Honor of Kings can hold first place in China, and achieve that position overseas, then Tencent can generate half its revenue from international markets, Zeng said. He said the game’s top overseas markets by revenue are the U.S., India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
And in the key market of Southeast Asia, Zeng said that due to a low base, female players are growing two to three times more quickly than male gamers. A newly branded Honor of Kings global championship was held last month in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, with Malaysian team Black Shrew Esports winning the $300,000 first prize.
Early stages
For now, no matter how popular Honor of Kings may be among women, the competitions remain dominated by men. The two teams competing in Beijing on Saturday consisted only of male players.
Huang pointed out that the global championship this year featured a female player from France’s Team Vitality, which is also managed and coached by women.
He attributed the Honor of King’s popularity among women to the game’s playable characters that are also female. Many of the figures, each with different powers, are based on Chinese historical or mythological figures.
In 2021, organizers of the Honor of Kings competition in China also launched a tournament for female players. This year’s womens finals are set to take place in December, with a prize of around $41,000 for the winning team.
“The pandemic was a large accelerator of females into the games space and we have continued to see increased engagement from female gamers,” said Chirag Ambwani, SVP, gaming and entertainment, at SensorTower, which focuses on mobile games.
Reasons include specialized and easy to access content, he said, adding that gaming participation grew overall.
As for Honor of Kings’ global expansion, Ambwani said SensorTower research showed “healthy growth,” with average revenue of more than $5 per user in the U.S. and Canada.
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