Has anyone thought of this yet?

In 2004, Kaupthing brought the first mortgages by a commercial bank to the Icelandic market. Glitnir and Landsbanki soon followed, as did the Savings&Loans and some smaller financial institutions.

In the first couple of weeks after Kaupthing’s announcement, Glitnir and Landsbankinn were practically in shock. A customer calling his commercial bank Glitnir to ask whether they too would offer mortgages got the reply, “I don’t know, have you tried calling Kaupthing?” and referring him to the competition.

A major difference between the Kaupthing loans and a large chunks of the other loans, the Kaupthing interest rates were fixed for the remainder of the loan while a large chunk of the others’ would see the interests re-examined every five years. Customers were told this would be quite alright, the economy might even be in a better state in five years time so they might benefit from lower rates.

So this fall is the time when the first loans meet that five year benchmark. Did you forget or are you prepared?

Related posts:

1. State Owned Banks Gearing Up For Competition
2. Children Borrowing Money From Glitnir
3. Re-Re-branding Glitnir
4. Who Got The Calls From The Invisible Hand?
5. Glitnir – one middle finger firmly stuck in the air