RBC does have a loyalty rate

Heather and I had it all planned out as we headed to our dreaded mortgage meeting. She's had a lousy week so she was the bad cop. I'm rarely in a bad mood so I was the good cop. Our hope was that together we'd get what we wanted and if not, leave frustrated.

I have to be honest, our last mortgage meeting five years ago did not go well. We had to raise a fuss just to get our lender to match our old rate of 5.23 per cent. We weren't going to go through that again which was why we were more determined than ever walking into today's meeting. I'd gone to other banks, spoke to some people and had some numbers to throw at RBC if it came to that. If somebody had asked us where we were going I would have answered in my best William Wallace imitation, 'I'm going to peck a fight.'

So you could imagine my surprise when our lender, Kelly Cooper, opened up our file and told us she could do better than our current rate. Without missing a beat she gave us the best posted fixed rate RBC had today, 4.14 per cent. That was exactly the number the other banks had been offering to lure our business away from RBC. And this was without us saying a single word. I looked at Heather, she looked at me and we both started to relax.

During the subsequent conversation Kelly mentioned "good customers" and "loyalty" more than once which  got me thinking, "did she read my last blog?" Maybe she did, I don't know. What I do know though was that Heather didn't have to pull her bad cop routine to garner us a lower rate. We were getting that by just being silent. I couldn't believe it.

I'd heard from a few friends RBC wasn't the best bank for your average customer. A reader of this blog had mentioned the same thing in a comment. The bank seemed to be geared more to business, less to your average homeowner. But today's meeting proved to me RBC does want to help the little guy, at least this little guy.

Heather and I now have the lowest fixed rate we've ever had and that's going to help us pay off our mortgage earlier. I can't wait having that extra $1,200 a month for other things, like maybe myself!

I was convinced that today's meeting was going to turn out bad. I was wrong and let me tell you being wrong isn't always a bad thing. Today it was awesome.

Does RBC offer a loyalty mortgage rate?

This is a big year for Heather and I financially -- it's mortgage renewal time.

In October our current 5-year mortgage is up meaning we can renew or move our business elsewhere. We're in that 120 day period where we can renew if we stay with RBC and tomorrow we've got an appointment to see if the bank will make us an offer we can't refuse. Somehow I doubt we'll hear that offer.

I had an appointment with BMO the other week to see what that bank could offer us. I came out impressed as the rate they offered was 1.5 per cent lower than our current rate. That struck me funny as a recent message RBC left on our phone had an ominous tone, talking about the hikes in interest rates and about how it was important to lock in now. A hike in interest rates . . . is that bank code for we're going to screw you royally?

A colleague of mine recently told me she's never stayed at a bank for longer than one mortgage renewal period. She's always been able to get a better rate at another bank. If the same holds true for me I have but one question -- What happened to loyalty?

If a new customer can walk into RBC and get offered a rate of 4.1 per cent why can't a customer who has been with the bank for more than 10 years get offered the same rate? What about a 'loyal customer' rate? I can already hear the laughter emanating from the mortgage lenders as they read this blog.

Maybe I'm wrong. Tomorrow Heather and I could walk out of RBC with the lowest rate we've ever paid. Or not.

What's your experience with banks? Any suggestions? I'd like to know. I'll let you know how we do at RBC tomorrow.