1) Benefits on home loans

Look for those special offers for women. For example, at some institutions home loans are cheaper for women, particularly the government owned institutions. LIC Housing for long has been running its LIC Housing Finance ‘Bhagya Lakshmi' home loan scheme - a women home loan scheme where the interest rate is cheaper than that for men. Ditto for many other banks, particularly the PSU banks. State Bank of India for example offers women home loans at 10.10 per cent, while for others it is costlier at 10.15 per cent per annum.

2) Cheaper car loans

Federal Bank recently launched a special car loan for women called the Federal Bank ‘She Car', which enables women borrowers to pay interest up to 80 basis points lower than the card rate.

A three-year loan under the scheme will give women borrowers a chance to borrow at just 10.5 per cent, while for others the charge is 11.3 per cent. That is certainly a steep discount. It makes sense for women to take a car loan, than a man.

3) Stamp duty in certain states for property is cheaper for women

In certain states the stamp duty is cheaper for a women, than for a man. It makes sense, to therefore purchase the property in the name of a woman, particularly if the saving on the property is rather high. For example, in the state of Orissa the state government recently announced a policy that seeks to lower the stamp duty for registration of a house or land in the name of a woman. There are many other states where the stamp duty is lower.

4) Education loans

Many education loans come with a discount for women. For example, Andhra Bank offers a discount of 0.50 per cent concession for Girl Students on interest rates. Ditto with banks like Indian Overseas Bank, which offer lower interest rates for women. It's possible that the discounts maybe extending across public sector banks, but, we are just citing two such examples.

4) Life insurance

The premiums on life insurance are lower in the case of women than for men. Premiums discount could range between 5-10 per cent, depending on the insurance company and the age of the individual among other factors.

5) Special schemes in housing projects

Tata Housing recently announced an offer of gold vouchers worth Rs 49,000 to buyers who purchased a flats in the name of women. The project is in Bhubaneswar.There are many such projects where benefits for women are available.

6) Special gold loans schemes

Bank of India has extended a special gold loan scheme for women, which provides loans against gold. This is again at a very competitive rate of interest.

Conclusion

It makes sense for women to take car loans, home loans etc., in their name, and approach the institution where the interest rates are lower. In the case of things like home loans, the savings can be huge, given the size of the loans.

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