Guide

TIN vs APR (TAE): the difference that decides how much you pay for your mortgage

Updated: July 12, 2026

Two mortgage offers: one at “1.90% TIN” and another at “2.10% TIN”. Is the first one better? Impossible to know without looking at the APR. This is the difference between the two concepts and why it can cost (or save) you thousands of euros.

The TIN: the “list” price

The Tipo de Interés Nominal (nominal interest rate) is the percentage the bank applies to the capital lent. It is the number that stars in the advertising, and it is used to calculate your monthly payment. But it includes nothing else: no fees, no insurance, none of the other conditions that come with the loan.

In a variable-rate mortgage, the TIN is the sum of Euribor + spread and changes at every review (you can see where the Euribor stands today); in a fixed-rate mortgage, it is agreed at signing and does not move.

The APR: the real price

The APR — Tasa Anual Equivalente in Spanish — answers the right question: how much does this loan really cost me each year? On top of the TIN, it includes:

  • The arrangement fee, if there is one.
  • The cost of the linked products that the rate is conditional on: home insurance, life insurance, an alarm, a pension plan…
  • Other costs borne by the borrower, such as the valuation.
  • The effect of payment frequency (monthly compound interest).

That is why the APR is always ≥ the TIN, and the gap between the two tells you how much hidden “toll” the offer carries. A 1.90% TIN with three insurance policies and an arrangement fee can have an APR of 3%; a clean 2.10% TIN can stay at an APR of 2.25%. The second is cheaper, even though its advertising looks worse.

Where to look: the FEIN and the FIPRE

Banks are required to give you the FIPRE (general pre-contractual information) and, when the offer gets serious, the FEIN (Ficha Europea de Información Normalizada, the European Standardised Information Sheet), which contains the official APR for your specific transaction, with all the linked products. It is the document to compare offers with — and the one we use as a source in our mortgage comparison.

Three practical rules

  1. Compare APR with APR, always on the same amount and term.
  2. Ask for the APR without linked products. Sometimes the “discounted” rate is not worth it: add up what the bank’s insurance policies cost compared with taking them out on your own.
  3. On variable-rate mortgages, use the APR only to compare. Your real cost will depend on the future Euribor; simulate scenarios with our calculator, which automatically converts the APR into a TIN and shows you the payment under different index scenarios.
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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the TIN and the APR? ▼

The TIN is the pure interest rate the bank applies to the money lent. The APR adds to the TIN the fees and the cost of linked products, expressed as an annual percentage. That is why the APR is always equal to or higher than the TIN, and it is the right figure for comparing offers.

Why can two mortgages with the same TIN cost different amounts? ▼

Because the fees and linked products differ: life and home insurance, pension plans, arrangement fees... None of that shows up in the TIN, but it does make the loan more expensive, and the APR reflects it.

Which is better, a low TIN or a low APR? ▼

A low APR. A very attractive TIN loaded with linked products can end up more expensive than a higher TIN with no strings attached. Always compare the APR calculated on the same amount and term.

Is the APR of a variable-rate mortgage reliable? ▼

It is indicative: it is calculated with the Euribor at that moment (variable APR), so it will change at every review. It is useful for comparing offers against each other, not for knowing what you will pay in five years' time.