Today, the banks are trying to make it unnecessarily complicated for households to understand why they are getting a certain interest rate, says Mikael Damberg, economic policy spokesperson for the Social Democrats.
This would put customers in a completely different negotiating situation, he says about the proposal.
The list rate is the interest rate that banks market, but in practice, it often lies far above what the average customer actually pays, since many negotiate a lower rate.
For the bank customer, it is often difficult to understand how the list rate is actually calculated and how good a discount they may have received. If banks instead work from average rates, it will be clearer for the customer, according to the Social Democrats.
Earlier this fall, the Swedish Consumers' Association and the Swedish Homeowners' Association also demanded that list rates be prohibited. Their argument was that the only purpose of list rates is to make customers believe they have received a good discount. They referred to the fact that constant sales are prohibited in retail and that the same should apply to banks.
The Social Democrats also want to make greater use of state-owned SBAB to put pressure on the banking market. For example, by giving the bank the opportunity to provide payroll accounts, which would increase competition on the banking market, believes the Social Democrats.
