Loan money to get a conversion!

© auto-gas.netWith Bank of Valetta's new loan Malta's LPG stations could soon become much busier. Will they?

While bank loans allow you to buy certain goods without having to put money aside for years, on the downside you pay back more than you originally borrow. However, if you use the bank's money to get your car converted to run on autogas, the above is only partially true, because on the one hand you make downpayments with a markup, but on the other you cut your fuel bills significantly. In other words, the loan pays itself through the savings that you make.

Irrespective of how you look at the very idea of buying things for someone else's money, the thing is that Bank of Valetta has upgraded its BOV Eco Loan to allow financing of low-emission vehicles, including those running on LPG autogas. This way the bank acts to protect the environment in two ways – by adopting green technologies and practices itself and encouraging customers to do the same.

As from 2016, Bank of Valletta is accepting applications for the BOV Eco Loan relating to the purchase of new motor vehicles, given that their CO₂ emission levels are below 100 g/km, or 130 g/km where the applicant is concurrently scrapping another vehicle under the Government Car Scrappage scheme. The BOV Eco Loan can also be used to finance the purchase of electric or hybrid motor vehicles, as well as to convert motor vehicles to run on autogas.

Alan Micallef, Head Consumer Finance, Bank of Valletta

The loan ranges from 500 to 40 thousand euros and can be repayed over a period of up to 8 years. Given the savings LPG offers, 8 years are enough to pay back not only the conversion, but the entire car, so we'd say is a good deal. Additionally, the bank's interest margin is said to be very low and processing fees are waived altogether. If this doesn't motivate Maltese drivers to switch from petrol to autogas, we don't know what will.