SBI vs Axis personal loan: which one prices you lower

Everything in this table comes from the two banks' own websites, read on 29 September 2026. SBI's pages now sit on sbi.bank.in; the older sbi.co.in addresses redirect there.

For SBI: the product page at https://sbi.bank.in/web/personal-banking/loans/personal-loans/sbi-personal-loan, as published on 29 September 2026, sets out eligibility, amount, tenure, processing fee, waivers and prepayment charges. The rate page at https://sbi.bank.in/web/interest-rates/interest-rates/loan-schemes-interest-rates/personal-loans-schemes, as published on the same date, gives the range as a spread of 1.25 to 6.25 percent over the 2-year MCLR of 8.75 percent, an effective 10.00 to 15.00 percent from 15 December 2025, and a mean rate of 11.54 percent for Q1 FY 2026-27. The FAQ at https://sbi.bank.in/web/faq-s/faq-personal-loan adds the minimum credit scores and says interest is computed on a daily reducing balance.

For Axis Bank: https://www.axis.bank.in/loans/personal-loan, as published on 29 September 2026, states rates starting at 9.99 percent a year and loans up to ₹50 lakh. The rates-and-charges page loads its table in the browser, and the fetch on that date returned only the starting rate, so this page states no Axis rate ceiling and no Axis processing fee. The loan agreement template on Axis Bank's site, https://www.axis.bank.in/docs/default-source/default-document-library/pl-loan-agreement.pdf (Agreement for Personal Power Loan, version dated January 2026), sets the part-payment, foreclosure and penal terms and describes the rate as 'No Reset', meaning fixed for the tenure.

SBI's product page lists three employer groups: government (central and state government, railways, police, public sector undertakings), defence (defence, the Indian Coast Guard, central armed police) and corporate. All must hold an SBI salary package account. The minimum monthly income is ₹20,000 for government and defence and ₹25,000 for corporate; minimum service is 6 months for government and defence and 12 for corporate; age 21 to 60. The FAQ sets a minimum credit score of 650 for defence and government and 670 for corporate.

Then the waivers. Defence employees and Platinum or Rhodium salary package customers get the processing fee waived in full. Government employees, and anyone with a score of 800 or more, get half off: 0.75 percent plus GST. On prepayment, defence loans closed after 6 months from sanction carry no charge, as do Platinum and Rhodium corporate salary loans; government and corporate loans are free after 3 years from sanction, or earlier if closed from a new loan under the same scheme after 6 months. Here is the same ₹5 lakh at SBI's mean rate.

The loan everyone on this page is priced on: ₹5,00,000 over 48 months, monthly reducing-balance EMI. SBI is shown at the floor of its published range, at its published mean (a better guide to a typical borrower than the arithmetic midpoint of 12.50 percent, which would cost ₹1,46,770 all-in) and at the ceiling, each with the standard 1.5 percent fee. Axis Bank is shown at its published floor of 9.99 percent. Because its fee could not be read from its pages, three fee levels are shown, labelled illustrative; the one that applies to you is on your offer.

Once you have an SBI quote, you can work out the Axis Bank rate that would cost exactly the same over 48 months, for each fee Axis might charge. Below it, Axis is cheaper; above it, SBI is. The table does it for the SBI floor, mean and ceiling and for the three SBI fee categories at the mean.

Find the row for your SBI quote and the column for the fee on your Axis offer. The general method across several lenders is on the compare personal loans page.

Take the case where both banks quote the same 11.54 percent, SBI charges its standard corporate fee and Axis charges an illustrative 1 percent. Held to term, Axis is ₹2,950 cheaper because its fee is lower. Now close the loan early. SBI charges 2 percent of the amount prepaid for a corporate or government borrower until 3 years from sanction, then nothing; its page does not say whether GST is added, so it is shown without. Axis charges 3 percent of principal outstanding up to 36 paid EMIs and 2 percent after, plus GST.

Stated generally, and with exceptions both ways: a public sector bank like SBI tends to lend on relationship. Its published scheme is built around the salary account it already holds, and the discounts are written into the schedule by employer category. A private bank like Axis tends to lend on profile, publishes less of its grid, and prices each applicant at the offer stage. So with SBI you can compute most of your cost before applying; with Axis you need the offer. How the relationship discount works across both kinds of bank is on the private vs public bank page.

SBI's published limits also let you check eligibility yourself. It caps the loan at 30 times net monthly income and total EMIs at up to 65 percent of it. Take a corporate employee with net monthly income of ₹30,000 who already pays ₹8,000 in EMIs.

The one that offers your profile the lower all-in cost for the months you will actually hold the loan. There is no answer independent of that, and a page that gives one is guessing your employer, your score and your plans.

The arithmetic does show which facts decide it. A defence or government employee with an SBI salary package account needs an Axis offer that beats SBI's rate by a margin, not just matches it; the break-even table gives the margin. A corporate borrower sanctioned near SBI's floor should look at the Axis fee: at 2 percent it cannot win over a full term. A bonus you expect to prepay in year two or three makes Axis's free 25 percent window worth real money. A loan you might close inside the first year favours SBI's 2 percent over Axis's 3 percent plus GST. For the same method applied to two private banks, see the HDFC vs ICICI comparison.

Two of the inputs this comparison needs are things people usually estimate: their credit score and the EMIs they already pay. Unyfy fills in both from real data before any bank sees an application.

The loan eligibility check pulls your Equifax credit report as a soft enquiry, which does not affect the score. You see the score and the accounts behind it, including any overdue, settled or written-off account, so you know whether you are near SBI's 650 or 670 minimum or at the 800 that halves its fee. Unyfy also reads your bank and card transaction emails and, on Android, transactional SMS, and computes a live FOIR from the EMIs it can see: the number to hold against SBI's 65 percent ratio before you apply. It then shows offers from 15+ banks and NBFCs for your profile; only the one lender you choose to apply with runs a hard enquiry.

Unyfy is not a lender; each bank sets the rate it quotes you. Run an offer you get directly from SBI or Axis Bank through the tables above. Install Unyfy on Android, or use the web app at app.unyfy.co.in on an iPhone.