At the bottom, the interest rate you get on a mortgage loan should reflect the risk you pose to the bank, according to Moa Langemark, consumer protection economist at the Financial Supervisory Authority.
Then it can be combined with different forms of temporary discounts to attract customers. This results in a form of total discount that is set at an individual level for a period.
The structure can look different depending on the bank. Some have a ladder-like model where the customer can see which level they are on. The major banks often have a model where the customer negotiates the mortgage interest rate. Various factors such as income level, loan-to-value ratio of the home, or whether you have savings or insurance with the bank influence this.
Provides different information
The Financial Supervisory Authority's new general guidelines, which apply from July 1, mean that banks should inform the consumer in writing and at least one month in advance that the discount on the mortgage interest rate is about to expire.
We have made a larger survey of the situation for bank customers. When it comes to information about interest rate discounts, the banks did it in slightly different ways. Some were skilled and informed their customers in good time that a discount would expire, while others may not have informed at all.
Without information, the customer cannot negotiate, and in the worst case, the mortgage interest rate ends up at the level of the list rate, Langemark means.
It may be more than one percentage point above the discount that you might otherwise get.
"Level the playing field"
But the guidelines are a recommendation - and not binding rules. The Financial Supervisory Authority will follow up on how the guidelines are complied with.
We have good experience of using general guidelines to get the effect we want. If we notice that this does not have the effect, we are not averse to moving on, says Langemark.
Many households have mortgages and many think it's hard to negotiate their mortgage interest rate, Langemark means.
We hope this will give mortgage customers a fair chance to negotiate their mortgage interest rate. Simply put, level the playing field a bit and move the mortgage customers' position forward.
The four major banks Swedbank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, and SEB state to TT that they will follow the new guidelines. Swedbank, Nordea, and SEB also add that they have already been doing this since before.
Hanna Rasmusson/TT
Facts: List rate, average rate, and interest discount
TT
The list rate for mortgages is the banks' regular mortgage interest rate and serves as a starting price.
Average rate is an average of the interest rate that customers actually got from the bank.
Interest discount means different forms of temporary discounts that are set at an individual level for a period. Income level, loan-to-value ratio of the home, or whether you have savings or insurance with the bank can be factors that play a role for the discount.
