Save on your mortgage with interest rate discounts
With certain tricks, you can get interest rate discounts for your mortgage. Comparis shares tips on how to get the best rate when negotiating.
07.10.2025
iStock/Liudmila Chernetska
1. Loan-to-value ratio: a bigger down payment isn’t always worth it
Mortgage lenders grant a low interest rate to people with good creditworthiness. This means that if you pay more than the minimum required down payment (20% of the property value), you may be rewarded with interest rate discounts.
However, according to HypoPlus, the mortgage partner of Comparis, mortgage lenders give almost no additional interest discounts if the loan-to-value ratio is just under 50%. The ideal loan-to-value ratio is no more than two-thirds of the property value.
First mortgage is key
The fact that a higher down payment does not necessarily mean a lower rate is due to the high collateral required for what are referred to as first mortgages. These are available up to a loan-to-value ratio of 65%. An even lower loan-to-value ratio provides mortgage lenders with little additional security, so borrowers receive hardly any additional discounts as a result.
Exception: pension funds and certain insurance companies sometimes handle risk assessment differently to traditional banks. This may allow you to receive interest discounts or special conditions up to a loan-to-value ratio of 50%.
Good to know: worse rates for loan-to-value ratios over 65%
As part of the “Basel III” reform package, stricter capital requirements have applied to mortgage lenders since the beginning of 2025. For example, banks must hold higher equity for mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of around 65%. This often results in worse rates for higher loan-to-value ratios.
2. Affordability has little influence on the mortgage rate
A residential property is considered affordable if the monthly costs do not exceed one third of the borrower’s household income. The lower this ratio of monthly costs to household income is, the greater the affordability and the lower the risk for the mortgage lender. The interest rate will then be better for you as a result. According to HypoPlus, however, affordability has only a minor impact on mortgage rates.
3. Assets: switching banks can pay off
It may be worthwhile transferring your current account and any other assets to the mortgage lender. If your assets amount to around 10% of the mortgage amount or more, this further increases your chances of getting the maximum interest rate discount.
Having additional assets signals to the mortgage lender that you have not borrowed up to your affordability limit. The credit risk for the mortgage lender is therefore lower.
4. Interest rates are negotiable
Never accept the very first rate offered to you by your bank. There are usually big differences between the benchmark rates and the best negotiated rates.
The following example shows the savings potential based on a current quote from HypoPlus, compared to the average benchmark rate:
| Benchmark rate (10 years) as of 2 October 2025 | 1.69% |
|---|---|
| Best rate negotiated by HypoPlus as of 2 October 2025 | 1.33% |
| Mortgage | CHF 750,000 |
| Rate difference per year | 0.36% |
| Saving per year | CHF 2,700 |
| Saving over the entire term | CHF 27,000 |
5. Check for any sustainability discounts
More and more mortgage lenders are offering “green mortgages” with lower interest rates if the building is energy-efficient (e.g. if it meets the Minergie standard or generates its own solar power). Contact your mortgage lender to find out about the current conditions.
6. Consider timing when taking out the mortgage
The rates on offer fluctuate throughout the year, depending on the market environment. If you negotiate early and compare quotes, you can secure favourable conditions. If interest rates are expected to rise, a forward mortgage may be worthwhile in order to lock in the current interest rates up to 24 months in advance. You can find our current mortgage rate forecast in this article.
This article was first published on 15.07.2021
