Reagerer på rentegrep: – De gir kundene fingeren

Norges Bank took a quarter of a percentage point hike in the policy rate in September, prompting other banks to follow suit and raise their own rates. Mortgages become more expensive, while at the same time, deposit rates are significantly higher when compared to mortgages offered by major banks. This means banks themselves earn more from customers than they pay out.

For some savings accounts and balance limits, the increase in interest rates is as little as 0.10 percentage points. In Norway's largest bank, DNB, they have chosen to raise the interest rate on deposits between 0.25 and 100,000 kroner to 0.1 percentage points for accounts with balances over 100,000 kroner. At Sparekonto Pluss, where only four free withdrawals can be made per year, the rate increase is just 0.1 percentage points for accounts with balances under two million kroner.

Deposits exceeding two million receive a 0.25 percentage point increase. The message was sent to customers on September 28th. Kristian Susnic, a DNB customer, reacted strongly to the bank's move and complained through customer service. "DNB is like the state," he said to E24. "And that they are doing that, they are just cheap. They hide behind procedures, but the reality is that Ryanair-level customer service."

Susnic believes he could get up to 0.5 percentage points better savings rates from other banks. He is now considering moving his savings elsewhere. "I am going to move the surplus somewhere else. Enough is enough with DNB and their mediocre excuses," he added. Ina Helen Østby, DNB's leader for external communications in the personal market, said the bank understands that higher prices and rates affect people's daily lives.

They are talking to thousands of customers every day about this. "Most of our customers have received a 0.25 percentage point increase in their savings account," she wrote in an email to E24. "We talk to hundreds of customers about this every day," she noted. Østby pointed out that "most" of the customers have received a 0.25 percentage point increase in their savings accounts, while 5 out of 9 deposit products have increased by 0.2 or 0.25 percentage points.

"When DNB adjusts rates, we consider a holistic view of multiple factors. That's why the increase in mortgages and deposits can be different," she said. Østby, who believes the bank has competitive rates compared to competitors, said the bank takes a holistic view of various factors when adjusting rates. This is not the first time deposits have lagged behind mortgages.

In the past, banks have raised deposit rates less than mortgage rates after rate hikes from Norges Bank. This has happened multiple times since the last rate hike in May. E24 has asked several of Norway's largest banks why deposit rates are increasing less than mortgage rates. They have been asked for interviews and to answer questions directly to those making the decision on rate adjustments in the personal market.

However, banks have chosen to respond in writing through their communications departments. They all point to market competition, without going into specifics about what it means. Nordea, another major bank, says, "the balance between markets and competition" is an important factor. Craig Russell Lundervik Bøthun, the communications manager at Sparebank 1 Sør-Norge, said, "The market position for margins is a strong factor, and we still need to be competitive in mortgages and deposits after the changes."

"How much do you earn by not raising deposits as much as mortgages?" Bøthun asked. "Deposit income contributes to the total funding and liquidity position of a bank, where we need to have a certain amount of deposits, equity, and foreign capital as the basis for lending and other obligations," Bøthun responded. "The profitability of a bank is a product of many factors, including margins between deposits and loans," Bøthun explained.

Sparebanken Norge states that the goal is always to offer competitive terms to customers while ensuring the bank's sustainable and responsible operations over time. "The deposit rate is not set automatically across all deposit accounts when Norges Bank changes the policy rate," Aarskog explained. "When assessing rate changes, we consider factors such as financing costs and the competitive environment."

Nordea responds that the bank adapts to the market and competition. "We adjust interest rates based on our own analyses and assessments of our products and financing costs," Hessen said. "We do not compromise on profitability for individual products. Overall earnings and results are reflected in our public accounts." DNB, Norway's largest bank, made a profit of 54 billion kroner before tax in 2025.

The bank paid out 26.6 billion kroner in dividends to shareholders. The Norwegian state is the largest shareholder in DNB, owning about a third of the company. Nordea, which operates in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland in addition to Norway, earned 6.3 billion euros in profit before tax, equivalent to around 70 billion kroner. Sparebanken Norge made an 8.1 billion kroner profit in 2025, while Sparebank 1 Sør-Norge's profit was 8.3 billion kroner.