How to weigh your bank’s mortgage offers — and why you get so many

Banks are blowing up their customers’ inboxes with mortgage offers, promising lower closing costs and reduced interest rates. With mortgage rates at their highest level in more than a year, any sort of savings can feel enticing. But many borrowers won’t be eligible for the banks’ best deals. And even if you qualify, the money you’re likely to save could be minor compared to the amount you’d have to tie up in the bank.

In perhaps the most eye-catching example, Chase will give you a full percentage point off your mortgage rate — if you borrow at least $500,000 and move at least $1.5 million in new deposits or investments into the bank. 

As the Chase offer suggests, big banks are using mortgage deals to pursue the most affluent consumers. “They’re being highly targeted, and of course going after the money,” says Ken Thomas, a longtime banking consultant and CEO of Community Development Fund Advisors in Miami.

The best course of action: Use your lender’s loan offer as a starting point, but be sure to shop around before you commit. Too few borrowers complete this step, a reality that results in a steep Hidden Homeownership Tax, according to the new research by Bankrate. In 2025, 87% of borrowers chose a more expensive mortgage than they needed to, costing the typical borrower an extra $3,343 annually and an extra $78,186 over the loan term.

How to weigh your bank’s mortgage deal

These promotions are motivated by a couple of realities. First, big banks want to gather as much money as possible in deposit and investment accounts. The more money they have in deposits, the more they can put to work as loans, and mortgage deals are a way to lure in money. And it’s more efficient for banks to market to existing customers than to persuade new ones to open accounts, Thomas says. Another factor: Fewer people are applying for mortgages in recent years, leading to more competition for a shrinking number of deals.

To dig into a bank’s offer, read the fine print. If you have enough assets to qualify, then you’ll want to consider how much the bank’s discount would save you compared to the mortgage rate you could get from another lender. Let’s use Chase’s discount as an example. If you took out a $500,000 loan at 6.625%, the going rate for 30-year mortgages in August, it would cost $3,202 per month in principal and interest. But knock that down to 5.625%, and the payment would be $2,878 per month. The $324 in monthly savings would be nice — but if you’ve got $1.5 million to move into Chase accounts, maybe $324 per month isn’t enough to seal the deal.

“Whenever I think about a promotional offer from a bank, I always encourage my clients to run the actual numbers,” says certified financial planner Anna N’Jie-Konte, CEO of Poder Wealth Advisors in Washington, D.C. “What is the mortgage interest rate that you’re going to get without the offer, or what’s the prevailing rate available? And then what is the cost savings going to be like over the course of the loan? And whenever we’re thinking about investment decisions, you always want to think about the opportunity cost of money.”

If the money in question is sitting in a high-yield savings account, the analysis is fairly straightforward.

“I actually walked through this exact situation with a client last year when she was buying,” N’Jie-Konte says. “She had her money in high-yield savings and was required to open a savings account at that bank and keep a certain minimum amount. In this case, it was not unfavorable because the bank had a relatively comparable rate to what she was getting on her high-yield savings.”

Yes, megabanks are notorious for offering microscopic rates on savings. But the big banks operate investment arms that pay competitive rates on cash deposits.

Your bank’s offer is just the beginning

Some rules of thumb as you consider mortgage offers:

Defuse the urgency. Marketing messages are designed to encourage you to act now. But taking out a mortgage, whether it’s a purchase loan or refinance, should happen on your timeline, not your lender’s. In other words, focus on whether you’re emotionally and financially ready to buy, not what your lender is offering.

Know that banks’ offers aren’t meant for everyone. As you can tell from the details of the big banks’ deals, these promotions are geared toward customers with plenty of money. At the opposite end of the spectrum, some banks are incentivizing lower- and middle-income borrowers. U.S. Bank’s Access Home Loans dangle grants of up to $12,500 for buyers in certain parts of Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Bank of America’s Community Homeownership Commitment offers up to $10,000 in down payment assistance and other incentives for eligible borrowers in certain areas, while TD Bank’s Right Step Mortgage waives mortgage insurance requirements for prospective borrowers buying in select neighborhoods. If you fit any of those descriptions, great. If not, the banks’ promotions become less compelling — and you might need to search for a better deal with a different lender.

Use special offers as a starting point for shopping around. Maybe you qualify for one of these offers, but your bank is willing to negotiate beyond its marketing message to keep you as a customer. Or perhaps another lender will even beat your bank’s deal. Hundreds of lenders are vying for your business, so make sure you apply for preapproval — which allows you to compare both the interest rate and fees — from at least three of them. Many borrowers skip this step because it can feel tedious, but it’s a costly mistake. The same borrower shopping on the same day can get quotes that vary, sometimes widely. 

The bottom line: In their mortgage offers, banks emphasize the biggest possible savings. And while these offers can indeed be worthwhile for some borrowers, shopping around — and negotiating — may help you find an even better deal than what your bank is advertising.