At the end of 2024, a Swiss bank had an unsatisfactory lending margin compared to the regional benchmark. This margin is an important indicator in the mortgage business, which accounts for a large proportion of the bank’s balance sheet. Therefore, it can be concluded that the bank is heavily reliant on this traditional area of business. A comparison with the regional benchmark revealed potential for optimisation.

The main results were based on actual mortgage transactions of clients within the Swiss bank. A gap analysis was carried out for the period from 2022 to 2024 to identify deviations from the regional benchmark. This was supplemented by a case study involving a sample of extreme or deviant cases to identify causes during the period under review. For the case study, the informations were gathered from the relevant banking system down to the client level to identify the causes. A minimum sample size of 10% of all newly concluded margins for each month was used, providing a solid foundation.

The analysis successfully identified several causes. Four practical recommendations were created using SWOT and TOWS analyses. Firstly, a monthly list of expiring mortgages should be produced. This list will serve as a basis for client advisors to prepare for negotiations, enabling them to recognise severely below-average margins at an early stage. Secondly, a monthly report presenting the lending margin compared to the regional benchmark must be produced. This would enable segment managers to discuss recently closed margins with their client advisors and obtain further information about the pricing. Another recommendation arising from this thesis is to avoid forward mortgage promotions in the future, especially during periods of low or negative interest rates. Finally, this thesis examined the lending margin in the context of the “revenue per client”, revealing a new perspective that requires further analysis. Therefore, the next project should include a comprehensive analysis of the key figure “revenue per client”, which has shown a similar but not exactly positive development as the lending margin of the bank compared to the regional benchmark since mid-2023.