Range between cheapest and most expensive baskets of payment services remains very wide

Banka Slovenije’s annual analysis finds that the cost of the basket of payment services reflecting the payment habits of the typical customer over one year averaged EUR 74.12 in 2025, up slightly on the previous year. The range between the cheapest and the most expensive basket remains very wide, at EUR 47.40.

The finding with regard to the effective interest rates (EIRs) advertised by individual banks and savings banks is that they were down slightly on 2024. The average EIR advertised on consumer loans stood at 6.91%, while that on housing loans stood at 3.38%. The variation between banks remains relatively large. The gap between the highest and lowest EIRs on the average consumer loan is 3.60 percentage points, while the gap on the average housing loan is 0.72 percentage points.

To ensure the straightforward comparability of the services offered by banks and savings banks, the calculations for each bank are based on the same basket of payment services, which reflect the payment habits of the typical customer. Individual packages might include a wider range of services, but these could not be taken into account in the straightforward comparison provided by the basket of services, and the same goes for any qualitative differences in service (e.g. a wide ATM network). Banka Slovenije does provide an overview of the full package of services offered by all banks and savings banks on its website. The price comparison of the baskets of consumer payment services serves as an informative aid to choosing the most suitable banking package.

Table 1: Basket of payment services of the typical customer

Cost of basket of payment services: EUR 50.28 to EUR 97.68

The average annual cost of the basket of services for a typical customer for the cheapest package at an individual bank aimed at the majority of customers stood at EUR 74.12 last year. On this occasion the comparison includes packages available to new and/or existing customers. Last year’s annual figure would have stood at EUR 70.18 under the same methodology.

Table 2: Cost of basket of payment services for a typical user in 2025

^{* Package is available to new users only. The packages giving the cheapest basket of payment services that are also available to existing users at each bank are the START package at Banka Intesa Sanpaolo, where the
basket costs EUR 94.80, the STANDARD package personal account at Gorenjska banka, where the basket costs EUR 100.56, and the NLB basic package at Nova Ljubljanska banka, where the basket costs EUR 91.08.}

Source: Own calculations based on basket of services and reported fees applicable on 31 December 2025

Ranges in EIRs of 3.60 percentage points for consumer loans and 0.72 percentage points for housing loans

With the aim of providing an even more comprehensive look at the range of banking services for consumers, we have also drawn up a comparison of financing costs for retail customers. The comparison uses EIR as the most complete indicator of financing costs, as it includes the interest on the borrowed money and the cost of credit services.

The calculations were run through the banks’ own calculators for the average loan amounts in 2025 (EUR 16,000 for consumer loans and EUR 103,000 for housing loans), with tenors of four years for consumer loans and 17 years for housing loans. A fixed interest rate was chosen for each type of loan, as more than 99% of new consumer loans and more than 89% of new housing loans in 2025 carried a fixed rate. Where possible, the assumption was that the loan was taken by an existing customer of the bank or savings bank. Mortgages were taken to be the collateral for housing loans.

The average EIR on consumer loans stood at 6.91% (down from 7.58% in 2024 and 8.09% in 2023), with a range of 5.61% at the cheapest bank to 9.21% at the most expensive, equivalent to financing costs of approximately EUR 1,090 at the time of repayment. The average EIR on housing loans stood at 3.38% (down from 3.57% in 2024 and 4.20% in 2023), with a range of 2.95% at the cheapest bank to 3.67% at the most expensive, equivalent to financing costs of almost EUR 7,000 at the time of repayment.

Table 3: Advertised EIRs for consumer and housing loans as at 20 January 2026

^{* For customers in permanent employment; bank does not offer housing loans.
** No online calculator; rough offer obtained on 27 January 2026, combined interest rate for housing loan.
*** Consumer loan secured by mortgage.
**** No online calculator; rough offer obtained on 20 January 2026.
***** Consumer loan secured with insurer; longest repayment term for fixed-rate housing loan: 15 years.}

Sources: Websites of banks and savings banks