Norwegian retail banks are generating an estimated two billion extra kroner annually by raising mortgage rates more than deposit rates following a May policy rate adjustment, according to an analysis of over 300,000 customers in the user base of financial comparison service Renteradar.
The Two Billion Krone Margin Gap
While most mortgage holders have felt the last rate hike from May fully, everyday savers are left behind. Households have almost 2,000 billion kroner standing in the banks. According to Renteradar data, deposit customers miss out on an average of 0.1 percentage points.
Sindre Noss, market manager and co-founder at Renteradar, points out that while individuals might not notice it so much, it becomes a lot of money in total. Bank margins had a gradual increase as the policy rate shifted from 0 to 4.25 percent from the end of 2021 to 2023. Although competitive pressures in the mortgage market and two interest rate cuts in 2025 saw margins slide down from record levels in 2024 and 2025, institutions are attempting to increase profits again after slightly weaker, but still good, quarters in 2026.
“If you sit down and calculate what is currently driving strong bank earnings, it is essentially deposit customers who are funding the entire super-profit,” Noss notes.
How Major Institutions Structure Rate Adjustments
Julia Stelzer Norberg, press spokesperson at DNB, explains that setting rates involves a holistic evaluation where Norges Bank’s policy rate serves as one of several factors. DNB recorded increases of 0.20 or 0.25 percentage points across six out of nine deposit products following the May hike.
“Lending and deposits are distinct products, and those assessments and pricing models matter significantly for us as a bank operating in fierce competition with others,” Norberg states.
Similarly, Anita Svanes at SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge highlights that pricing accounts for a total assessment of market conditions, financing needs, and the competitive situation. SpareBank 1 Sør-Øst Norge adjusted products like Sparekonto Pluss, LOfavør Sparekonto Pluss, and all children’s savings accounts upward by 0.25 percentage points after the May adjustment. The institution also streamlined its price architecture by removing the interest tier for deposits over 500,000 kroner, increasing the rate fully on lower deposit levels.
“This means customers holding larger deposits in ordinary savings accounts received a somewhat lower rate increase than 0.25 percentage points on that specific account type,” the bank explains.
Macro-Market Dynamics and Surplus Liquidity
Cathrine Graff, press chief at Nordea, notes that savings products are adjusted based on how customers move savings and on competition in the market, though her firm declines to comment on the magnitude of the various rate changes.
Tom Staavi, communications director at Finans Norge, points to an underlying factor driving institutional restraint on deposit yields: high savings.
“Savings in Norway are also high, and that volume outpaces lending growth. That is likely part of the explanation,” Staavi observes.
With aggregate household savings sitting near the two-thousand-billion-krone mark, banks maintain domestic funding reserves.
