7 banks that could lower your home loan interest rate or fees

If you’re home shopping in a housing market marked by high interest rates and startling home prices, like the one right now, you’re likely comparing mortgage rates and lender fees, and hunting for any opportunity to stretch your budget and maximize interest savings. And over the past few years reviewing mortgage lenders, I’ve noticed various banks offering mortgage relationship discounts that can do exactly that. Depending on the program, these perks can help lower your rate, trim closing costs or reduce lender fees.

If you’re already planning to get a mortgage through your bank — or considering opening an account at a new one — a relationship discount could shave thousands of dollars off your borrowing costs over the life of your loan.

While requirements vary by financial institution, a mortgage relationship discount generally requires borrowers to take out a loan with a bank while also maintaining a qualifying bank or investment account there. Some lenders reserve these discounts for existing customers, while others use them as an incentive for new customers to move assets over.

Banks often require a minimum deposit to qualify for mortgage relationship benefits, though, and that threshold can be as low as $25 or climb into the tens — or even hundreds — of thousands of dollars. Many banks also use tiered programs, with customers who maintain larger balances qualifying for deeper discounts, along with additional banking perks.

At some banks, you may be able to qualify for up to a quarter of a percent interest rate discount or more. While a quarter of a percent may not sound dramatic, the savings can add up significantly over time.

Using CNN’s mortgage calculator can help you understand loan rates and how even this small rate reduction could potentially lower your monthly mortgage payments and long-term interest costs.

Let’s look at an example and see what happens if a mortgage rate drops from 6.75% to 6.50% on a $500,000 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (with no taxes or insurance included in the calculation).

At 6.75%, the monthly mortgage payment would land at $3,243 with total loan interest cost of $667,477.

At 6.50%, the monthly mortgage payment would drop to $3,160 and the total loan interest cost would be $637,722.

While the difference may not initially seem like much given the monthly mortgage payment lowers by less than $100 ($83, to be exact), the savings on your total loan interest cost comes in at an impressive $29,755.

Now that you can see what this kind of discount can accomplish, even a small one, you’ll want to do your research to find the best option for your specific circumstances. Below is an overview of major banks where you could get mortgage rate discounts, reduced lender fees, closing cost credits and other perks as an existing customer with a qualifying bank or investment account.

If you’re an existing Chase customer — or planning to become one — and in the market to buy or refinance a home, the Chase Relationship Pricing Program could be good fit.

There are three ways to qualify for a rate discount at Chase:

Bringing in new money at the program’s minimum threshold of $75,000 earns a 0.05% rate discount, with deeper discounts scaling up from there. Mortgage clients who bank with Chase can qualify for a 0.125% mortgage rate discount with a minimum existing balance of $150,000 in eligible deposits and investments. An existing balance of $1 million or more qualifies for a 0.25% discount. Mortgage rate discounts then top out at a 1% discount for balances of $1.5 million or more.

Beyond its relationship program, Chase sometimes offers rate “sale” promotions. In some cases, Chase has allowed rate sale promotions to be combined with relationship pricing for even greater mortgage rate savings.

Bank of America’s BofA Rewards program — a new, expanded loyalty program that replaces Preferred Rewards® — offers a range of perks, including discounts on mortgage origination fees (one-time fee required to process, underwrite and fund a loan) and, for members at the program’s highest tier, interest‑rate reductions on many purchase and refinance loans. Eligibility for the program is based on your combined balances across Bank of America and Merrill accounts.

You also must manually enroll in the rewards program itself to qualify. To join, you simply need a qualifying Bank of America personal checking account or a Merrill investing balance. There’s no minimum balance or fee requirement.

A standout feature is the first 30-day enrollment window: If your combined balances qualify you for a higher tier for at least three business days during that period, you’ll keep that status until your next anniversary date, even if your balances dip later. After the initial 30 days, tier upgrades are based on a monthly review using your three-month average combined balance.

Here are the minimum combined average balance requirements for each rewards tier:

The mortgage origination fee discounts or rate benefits are as follows:

Beyond mortgage savings, Bank of America also offers HELOC rate discounts for eligible tiers starting at 0.25% for Preferred Plus members, rising to 0.375% for Preferred Honors and topping out at 0.625% for Premier members.

Eligible members also receive other benefits, such as fraud and identity monitoring as well as bonus credit card rewards.

If you’re already a U.S. Bank customer — or willing to become one — and have a home loan with the bank, you may be eligible for special mortgage and home equity perks. All you need to get started is $25 to open a personal checking account. To avoid the $12 monthly maintenance fee, you’ll want to maintain an average daily balance of at least $1,500 or set up $1,500 or more in combined monthly direct deposits.

U.S. Bank’s home lending benefits can translate into meaningful savings. The bank offers a credit equal to 0.25% of your loan amount, up to $1,000, which is applied directly toward your mortgage closing costs. If you’re already a homeowner and looking to tap your equity for renovations or repairs, you could also qualify for a 0.50% rate discount on a U.S. Bank home equity loan when you enroll in autopay from a U.S. Bank account.

When you open a checking account, you’re automatically enrolled in U.S. Bank’s tiered Smart Rewards program. Even customers in the lowest Bronze tier, which requires a combined qualifying balance of less than $5,000, may still be eligible for both the mortgage closing cost credit and home equity loan benefits.

CitizensPlus®, Citizens’ loyalty program, includes mortgage and home equity discounts and other banking perks. Customers with a Citizens checking account are automatically enrolled, with no minimum deposit required, though a $25 monthly fee applies if combined balances fall below $5,000.

For Citizens mortgage borrowers, loyalty can translate to real savings. If you have a checking account and take out a Citizens mortgage, you may qualify for $250 off closing costs and a 0.125% interest rate discount when you enroll in autopay and e-statements.

What’s more, homeowners who tap their equity with a Citizens HELOC can have the $50 annual fee waived and receive a 0.25% rate discount by enrolling in auto‑pay from a Citizens checking account. Customers who upgrade to a Private Client Checking account unlock richer benefits, including $500 off mortgage closing costs and potentially deeper rate discounts. Private Client HELOC borrowers receive the annual fee waiver, the standard 0.25% auto‑pay discount, plus an additional 0.25% rate reduction.

KeyBank offers mortgage benefits for customers who take out a new KeyBank home loan and enroll in auto‑pay from a KeyBank checking account. This includes the Key Smart Checking account, which has no maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. You only need to make a minimum deposit of $10 to open the account.

Qualified borrowers with an eligible KeyBank relationship account can receive a 0.25% interest‑rate reduction on mortgages. The bank offers the same discount on new HELOCs.

To qualify for the interest rate reduction, customers must either have a KeyBank checking account and complete at least five qualifying transactions in a calendar month or set up automatic payments from a KeyBank account.

Truist offers mortgage rate discounts to bank customers based on the combined total of eligible deposits and investment balances. Qualifying accounts include Truist personal checking, savings, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, investment accounts and individual retirement accounts. Investment accounts held with Truist affiliates also count toward eligibility.

Like other banks, larger balances unlock deeper discounts, with mortgage rate discounts reserved for the bank’s Premier level clients.

You need at least $100,000 in qualifying assets to qualify for the entry‑level 0.25% rate discount at Truist. Balances of $250,000 earn a 0.375% discount, $500,000 qualifies for a 0.50% discount, $2 million earns a 0.625% discount and customers with $3 million or more can receive a 0.75% rate reduction.

To qualify, the account you use to earn the discount must hold the required minimum balance — excluding funds earmarked for a down payment and closing costs — for at least seven business days before closing.

If you’re an existing Wells Fargo customer with eligible assets, you may qualify for a mortgage rate discount or a closing cost credit.

To receive a $250 closing cost credit, you’ll need $20,000 across qualifying accounts. Credits increase with higher balances: $100,000 or more qualifies for a $500 credit, while $200,000 or more earns $1,000 toward closing costs.

Rate discounts begin at higher balance levels. If you have at least $250,000 in eligible assets with Wells Fargo, you’ll receive a 0.125% rate discount, while balances of $500,000 or more qualify for a 0.25% reduction. You can receive even deeper discounts at higher balance tiers.

While the siren song of a rate discount that could save you thousands in interest is understandably enticing, it’s important to consider the trade-offs that may come with moving your money.

Tyler End, a certified financial planner and CEO and cofounder of Retirable, said it’s especially important to weigh potential mortgage rate savings against what you might give up by moving your money to a different bank.

“If you are sacrificing a significant amount of annual interest only for a small mortgage discount, the math might not work out in your favor,” he said. End also said to avoid liquidating or moving long-term investments for a lower mortgage rate. “The potential savings on a mortgage payment may not outweigh the long-term value of keeping those investments intact,” he said.

Even with those caveats in mind, End said committing funds to a bank for a mortgage rate discount can be a smart strategy if it leads to meaningful mortgage interest savings. “In general, a mortgage relationship discount can be a great idea when you can get a comparable interest rate on your savings and similar service at a new bank with funds that you don’t need to spend soon,” he said.

How we evaluate mortgage lenders and rates

According to CNN Underscored’s mortgages and loans methodology, we evaluate mortgage lenders based on an internal 100-point scoring system. Then, according to their scores in each category, we rank lenders as follows in weighted tiers:

A low interest rate is important, but the lowest advertised rates are typically reserved for borrowers with the strongest financial profiles. That’s why we dig into not only how competitive lenders rates appear on the surface, but also how accessible their loan products are for a broad range of borrowers.

We consider the accessibility of lenders’ customer support channels, the quality of the digital experience they offer and how quickly a borrower can expect to typically close on a loan. We also evaluate whether lenders provide reasonably attainable rate or fee discounts that can help reduce borrower costs.

For this article, we consulted the following expert to gain their professional insights:

CNN Underscored’s Money team is guided by a transparent methodology, independent editorial judgment and a commitment to helping readers understand which home loan products genuinely deserve their consideration. Our mortgage rate and lending coverage is grounded in analysis of mortgage rate trends, lender offerings and borrower priorities, with the goal of helping readers navigate an often complex borrowing landscape with clear, practical guidance.

For this article, CNN Underscored money writer Robin Rothstein drew on her experience covering the housing market and home lending to identify mortgage relationship discounts that can help make borrowing more affordable and optimize your mortgage rate and overall loan costs. She closely tracks lender offerings, housing market developments and changes affecting homebuyers and borrowers. Her coverage draws on close monitoring of lender offerings, housing market trends and changes shaping the borrowing experience.