Da Norges Bank in September raised the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, very many of the country’s mortgage customers received a letter from their bank shortly after informing them that the interest rate on their loan would be raised.
It must take six weeks from a bank announcing an increased interest rate until it can be raised for existing customers. These six weeks have now in many cases passed, and bank customers are currently experiencing a larger amount than normal being deducted from interest on the mortgage.
– Many are surprised by this. The interest rate warning is sent to the inbox in the online bank, and there are very many who do not get it or have seen it, says Sindre Noss, marketing manager and co-founder of Renteradar.no, to TV 2.
Hallgeir Kvadsheim, M.Sc.
– Yes, that is my clear impression, says Kvadsheim to TV 2.
– Check every 3 months
Interest rate radar is one of the services that compares interest rates in different banks. They cooperate with some banks, but compare the interest rates of all the banks in the country. Noss says that many of their users experience that the bank turns around and still does not raise the interest rate when they make contact and says that they can get better interest rates in another bank.
– Some are allowed to lower the interest rate, while others are informed that the bank is dropping the planned interest rate increase they intended to give. We have received a lot of feedback about this in recent months.
– FOLLOWS: Sindre Noss in Renteradar. Photo: Interest rates
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Noss believes that Norwegians can have a lot to gain from checking their mortgage interest rates regularly next year, because Norges Bank is expected to raise the interest rate by 0.25 percentage points in December, March and June.
– Therefore, people should go in and check their interest rates every three months.
Noss estimates that with a mortgage of three million you can save around 14,000 kroner a year by using the best interest rate offers in the market.
– People are often surprised that changing banks is easier than you think. You fill in an online loan application, and then the bank contacts you or sends you a loan offer. The hourly rate on this is extremely good.
Banks that have raised interest rates:
Below you will find an overview of a selection of Norwegian banks that have raised interest rates and from which date customers will start paying the new interest rate. Banks do not necessarily send out notices to all customers at the same time, so the dates below are from-dates:
- DNB 12 November
- Nordea 5. november
- Danske Bank 10 November
- Sparebanken Vest 10 November
- Sparebanken Sør 10 November
- Sparebank 1 Østlandet 17 November
- SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge 9 November
- SpareBank 1 SR-Bank 9 November
- Sparebank 1 Sørøst-Norge 12 November
- SpareBank 1 Østfold Akershus 10 November
- SpareBank 1 SMN 10 November
- Sparebanken Sør 10 November
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– Is just nonsense
Like Noss, Hallgeir Kvadsheim believes that many Norwegians can save thousands of kroner on one phone call.
– It’s quite clear. But I think some refuse to take that phone because they have a kind of misunderstood loyalty to the bank. Maybe they only got a loan when they got it, and then they feel a kind of obligation. It’s just nonsense. The banks are extremely keen to keep you as a customer, and therefore they have a lot to go on.
– MUCH TO SAVE: Hallgeir Kvadsheim has a master’s degree in economics and is a writer and lecturer in personal finance. Photo: Frode Sunde / TV 2
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Kvadsheim, on the other hand, reminds that one must be aware that not all loan customers are offered the same interest rate. Variables such as loan size, age, whether you have a green mortgage and whether you are a member of a trade union come into play.
– Those who get the very best interest rates are young people who are members of a trade union.
After the latest interest rate change, an attractive customer should not have much more than 1.60 in mortgage interest rates, Kvadsheim believes.
If you have more than two blank interest rates after this change, you can relatively easily get it down to 1.60. Then you save many thousands on one phone, and it is a very good hourly rate.
Kvadsheim now reminds Norwegians that interest rate hikes are expected again next month, and that there will probably be a new letter from the bank.
– It is in these interest rate change times that you have to take special care, and use the services that are available to see what you can get elsewhere.
Experiencing increased traffic
The financial portal is the Consumer Council’s service for comparing offers from all banks. Jorge Jensen, director of finance at the Consumer Council, says that with every interest rate increase, they experience increased traffic on the site.
– It is an indicator that people follow. And when we have asked people, 25 percent answer that they have been in dialogue with their bank to renegotiate the terms of their mortgage. And there are quite a few.
Jensen says their standard is that they ask people to contact the bank to hear what opportunities there are.
– I want to encourage people not to worry about that conversation. You do not have to put up with many kilos of argumentation, it is actually enough to use one of the portals to see what you could get from interest rates in other banks. The banks are generally interested in having a dialogue.
Jensen also points out that there can be quite large variations between the banks, and that the large banks were quick to raise their interest rates after the interest rate hike, while a number of smaller banks and challenger banks have promised not to touch interest rates this year. Therefore, he thinks it may be wise to use the interest rate portals to compare.
– DIRECTOR OF FINANCE: Jorge Jensen in the Consumer Council. Photo: Magnus Nøkland / TV 2
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