After more than a year of constant new interest rate increases from Norges Bank, there are more people who want lower interest rates. Some contact the banks to negotiate. Raimo Sørensen did so, but he did not receive an answer from his bank. So then he instead tried out the service Renteradar, a service that checks who has the lowest interest compared to the terms you have in your own bank. – It’s very simple and you don’t have to bother yourself, says Sørensen. You can therefore download the app, press a button, and wait for a response. He was able to negotiate down the interest rates to such an extent that he escaped the interest rate increase at that time. – If you can spend five minutes saving NOK 5,000 a year, it is money well spent and you will be well paid for those five minutes. Raimo Sørensen is the factory manager of a fish reception in Finnmark, and fortunately does not have very many loans, according to himself. Photo: Privat Twice as many in one year Renteradar therefore compares the interest rates on the market for you, and takes care of the negotiation with the bank. The number of users for this service has exploded as a result of the interest rate increases, according to Sindre Noss. – We have almost doubled the number of users since the New Year. Noss is marketing manager and owner of the service Heyon, which has Renteradar as its main service. They started up in 2020. Never before have they had so many customers. Sindre Noss in the company Heyon, which runs the Renteradar service. Photo: Renteradar.no They recently passed 140,000 users. 10,000 of them arrived in August, and an equal number are expected in September. He states that the service is free to use for consumers who have a bank that cooperates with Renteradar. If not, you can pay anything between NOK 199 to 599 to automatically negotiate with the bank. The picture illustrates some of the functions of Renteradar. Photo: Renteradar.no – Is it beneficial for the consumer that they view the banks with which they have an agreement better than other banks? – We always have to find a golden mean in order to create a service that is good for consumers and where we as a player manage to make money from it, says Noss. He says that they never show offers from partners if the customer cannot save money by switching to this bank. Critical of the practice Several IT experts have previously reacted to Renteradar’s method of extracting data. IT expert Jonny Rein Eriksen tells news that he is critical of the practice. – I would not advise doing that. He does this for two particular reasons: In practice, Renteradar gets full access to the users’ online bank. Users learn to provide their BankID to all possible actors, including fraudsters. IT expert Jonny Rein Eriksen works for Opera Software. He creates systems and works with network communication, analyzes and issues around security. Photo: Privat Renteradar insists that the service is both safe and legal. Raimo Sørensen cares little that he has to provide his BankID. – It is completely unproblematic. If one is careful and makes sure that things are as they should be, it will go well, is my experience. Cooperates with banks Sparebank 1 Nord-Noreg is one of several banks that have an agreement with Renteradar. Communications manager Morten Tønder Albertsen confirms this. – For this service, we pay Renteradar a fixed sum for each customer who asks us to contact them. He explains that when customers use Renteradar’s service, in some cases they receive offers from one or more other banks. Communications manager at Sparebank 1 Nord-Noreg, Morten Tønder Albertsen. Photo: Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge In these cases, the bank’s customers can let Renteradar know if they want to give the bank the opportunity to talk to them before switching banks. – The benefit for us is that we get to establish a good dialogue with customers who are considering switching banks. We see that as valuable, primarily because it ensures a good experience for our customers, says Tønder Albertsen. The Consumer Council: – A little salty and a little sweet The Consumer Council says it is not surprising if Renteradar achieves better terms than ordinary people. – There is significantly more consumer power in negotiating terms for many than for a single customer, says Jorge Jensen, professional director of the Consumer Council. – No one should therefore be surprised if Renteradar achieves better terms than what you can achieve on your own. Director of the Consumer Council, Jorge Jensen, believes that it is good for the market that more consumers shop around more in the banks’ offers with such services. Photo: John Trygve Tollefsen – Is this a good practice? – It’s a little salty and a little sweet. Kick-backs are generally unfortunate for customers, because it stimulates the broker or the purchasing community to promote the bank that pays the most in kick-backs, says the professional director. – It is not necessarily what provides the best solution for the customer. Nevertheless, he believes that there is a need for such services. – We assume that people are also willing to pay for it. Not everyone can or wants to negotiate with the banks. Jensen believes that the service means that you get a larger group of consumers who shop around. – This, in turn, is positive for competition in the market. – It’s just nonsense to pay more Raimo Sørensen in Bodø thinks the service is good for people who don’t pay much attention to interest rates and the like. – Especially when interest rates increase as much as they do. Some banks are known for charging a good fee, and it’s just nonsense to pay more if you can pay less. Sørensen would recommend tenesta to others. But he admits that it is a disadvantage that the service is not free today. – But it’s not a big disadvantage if you can spend NOK 400 to save NOK 5,000.
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Raimo got a lower interest rate at the bank with the service Renteradar – news Nordland
