Cross-Selling in Bank Household Relationships: Implications for Deposit Pricing, Loan Pricing, and Monetary Policy

Abstract

Using administrative data on deposits and loans of every Norwegian resident with any Norwegian bank, we show that an existing deposit account makes a household more likely to hold deposits at the same bank later despite better alternatives and more likely to borrow there. Cross-selling potential varies by household and banks pay higher deposit rates to those more likely to become borrowers. Then they charge depositors higher risk-adjusted loan rates than new clients, suggesting that cross-selling is driven by demand rather than supply. Discounting future cross selling profits motivates lower deposit spreads in times of lower policy rates, transmitting monetary policy.