This paper assesses the effects of cross-selling strategies on the mortgage loan conditions offered by banks that also sell insurance products. Specifically, it examines whether banks that use cross-selling strategies apply particularly favourable conditions to residential mortgages in order to attract new customers who may then be sold additional products (such as insurance savings products) which have greater value added.
The analysis of households' mortgage rates published by a sample of banks on the 'MutuiOnline' platform during the period 2018-21 suggests that banks tend to offer lower rates as the fees obtained from the selling of insurance policies increase. However, this relationship is only statistically significant in the case of banks with an insurance subsidiary, which generally derive greater benefits from providing insurance products.
