A licensed money lender in Singapore can charge you no more than 4% interest a month, an admin fee of up to 10% of the amount you borrow, and a late fee capped at $60 a month. The total of all charges can never exceed the sum you borrowed. Those are not marketing promises. They are hard limits written into the Moneylenders Act and enforced by the Ministry of Law's Registry of Moneylenders. Anyone quoting you something different, or contacting you by SMS or WhatsApp with a loan offer, is breaking the law. This guide walks through the exact numbers as of June 2026, how much you can actually borrow on your income, what a fair deal looks like, and the checks that separate a real lender from a loan shark.
The first thing worth knowing is that almost every cost is capped by law. Since 1 October 2015 the Registry of Moneylenders has fixed the ceilings, and they have not moved since. So the headline question is not really "what does this lender charge" but "is this lender staying inside the legal ceiling, and how far below it are they willing to go."
Here is what the Moneylenders Act allows a lender to charge, and nothing on top of these is permitted.
| Charge | Legal maximum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Interest | 4% per month | On the outstanding balance after each repayment, not the original sum |
| Late interest | 4% per month | Charged only on the amount you actually missed, not the whole loan |
| Admin / processing fee | 10% of principal | One-time, charged only when the loan is granted |
| Late payment fee | $60 per month | A flat ceiling regardless of loan size; not $60 per instalment |
| Total of all charges | 100% of principal | Interest, fees and late charges combined cannot exceed what you borrowed |
The single most important line in that table is the last one. If you borrow $3,000, every charge added together over the life of the loan, interest, the admin fee, late interest and late fees, can never push you past $3,000 in charges. Worst case, you repay $6,000 in total and not a cent more. That ceiling is what stops a small loan spiralling the way debts to a loan shark do.
The 4% monthly figure is computed on your reducing balance, so the real cost depends heavily on how fast you repay. A common comparison point is a bank: with effective interest rate (EIR) published in the 2% to 12% per annum range in 2026, a bank loan is far cheaper if you qualify. A money lender's 4% a month works out to roughly 48% a year on a flat basis, which is why it should be a short-term tool, not a standing arrangement.
Money lenders do not lend you whatever you ask for. The Registry of Moneylenders sets the maximum based on your annual income and residency, and that limit applies across every licensed lender combined, not per lender. Borrowing $3,000 from one lender means you have hit your cap and a second licensed lender should turn you away.
These brackets are the official MinLaw limits for unsecured loans in force as of June 2026.
| Annual income | Singapore citizens / PRs | Foreigners residing in SG |
|---|---|---|
| Below $10,000 | $3,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 to $19,999 | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| $20,000 and above | 6x monthly income | 6x monthly income |
If you pledge collateral, a property, a vehicle, the income brackets above no longer apply and the lender can extend a larger amount. Most people walking into a money lender are after small unsecured cash, so the table above is what usually matters. Before you borrow anything, it is worth running the repayment through a personal budget calculator to confirm the instalment fits, because a missed payment is where the late interest and $60 fee start eating into you.
These three get lumped together in conversation, but they are different in cost, regulation and risk. A licensed money lender is legal and regulated by the Ministry of Law. A bank is legal and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. A loan shark, also called an Ah Long, is illegal, unregulated, and the source of the harassment stories you read about.
If your credit is clean and you can wait a day or two, a bank almost always wins on price. A money lender earns its place when you need a small sum fast and a bank has declined you. The table below frames the trade-off.
| Feature | Licensed money lender | Bank personal loan | Loan shark (illegal) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulator | Ministry of Law | MAS | None |
| Typical cost | Up to 4% per month | ~2% to 12% p.a. EIR | No limit, often abusive |
| Max amount | Income-based, small | Up to 4x to 12x monthly income | Whatever traps you |
| Approval speed | Often same day | Minutes to a few days | Instant, no checks |
| Contract given | Required by law | Required | None |
| Collection | Legally restricted | Legally restricted | Threats, vandalism, violence |
Bank personal loan rates hit a multi-year low in 2026, with some lenders advertising from around 1% per annum (EIR from roughly 1.9% per annum) for well-qualified borrowers, per provider pages as of June 2026. That is a fraction of money lender pricing. If a bank will take you, take the bank. If you are weighing a bigger restructuring of what you already owe, our guide to the best debt consolidation plan covers the bank route in detail.
Because the ceilings are identical for everyone, no licensed lender is meaningfully cheaper at the legal maximum. The lenders worth your time are the ones that price below the cap and are upfront about the total you will repay. Several well-reviewed licensed lenders advertise monthly rates well under the 4% ceiling, sometimes quoted from 1% to 3.9% a month depending on your profile, per their own sites as of June 2026.
Rather than chase one name, judge any lender against the checklist below. The figures providers advertise change often, so confirm the exact rate, fee and total repayment on the Note of Contract before you sign anything.
To make the numbers concrete, take a $1,000 loan over 12 months. A lender pricing below the cap might land the total cost of borrowing somewhere around $100 to $120 over the year, going by advertised illustrative figures from licensed lenders as of June 2026. The same $1,000 at the full 4% monthly ceiling would cost far more. The gap is the whole reason to compare. To see how interest behaves over time on any balance, the compound interest calculator is a quick sanity check.
Verification takes two minutes and is the most important step in the whole process. The Ministry of Law publishes the full, current list of every licensed money lender. If a name is not on it, walk away, no matter how legitimate the office looks.
Licensed lenders also operate under strict conduct rules. Knowing what they are NOT allowed to do is how you catch an illegal operator dressed up as a real one.
Report unlicensed lending or loan shark harassment to the Police's X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5664, or call 999 if there is a threat to safety. Complaints about a licensed lender's conduct go to the Registry of Moneylenders. Building an emergency buffer is the long-term fix so you never have to borrow under pressure again; our look at how an credit score in Singapore works explains how borrowing behaviour follows you, which is one more reason to keep loans short and clean.
A licensed money lender can charge a maximum of 4% interest per month, calculated on the outstanding balance after each repayment. This cap, set by the Ministry of Law, applies to every borrower regardless of income, loan size or credit profile, and has been unchanged since October 2015.
If you are a Singapore citizen or PR earning $20,000 or more a year, you can borrow up to six times your monthly income across all licensed lenders combined. Earning under $20,000, the cap is $3,000. Foreigners earning under $10,000 are limited to $500. Secured loans sit outside these limits.
Search the lender's name against the official Registry of Moneylenders list at rom.mlaw.gov.sg before you borrow. A genuine licensed lender grants the loan in person at its approved office, gives you a written Note of Contract, and never contacts you first by SMS, WhatsApp or cold call.
Almost always, if you qualify. Bank personal loans in 2026 advertise effective interest rates roughly in the 2% to 12% per annum range, while a money lender's 4% a month works out to around 48% a year on a flat basis. Try a bank first; use a money lender only for small, urgent sums when a bank declines you.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.