What is MTIC, and why is it more important than the Spread?

What is the MTIC?

MTIC stands for «montante total imputado ao consumidor», the total amount payable by the consumer. It is the total you will pay over the whole loan.

It has two parts. The first is the amount you borrow. The second is the cost of the loan: interest, fees, expenses, taxes and the insurance the bank requires.

The bank must show you the MTIC of each offer, together with the nominal rate (TAN) and the APR (TAEG). They are in part A of the ESIS. The nominal rate shows only the cost of interest. The APR and the MTIC show the total cost.

Why is the spread not enough?

The spread is the bank's margin, added to Euribor. It does not show fees, insurance or taxes.

The bank may lower the spread if you take other products, such as cards. Those products may have costs too. So two offers with similar spreads can cost very different amounts.

Banco de Portugal advises comparing the APR and the MTIC, not only the spread. For the same amount and term, the offer with the lowest APR and MTIC wins.

An example with the sums

You borrow €150,000 over 30 years. You get two offers.

• Offer A: interest rate of 3%, insurance of €30 a month and €1,000 in fees.
• Offer B: interest rate of 2.9%, insurance of €45 a month and €1,500 in fees.

Offer B has the lower repayment: about €624 a month, against €632 for A. Now look at the total.

• Offer A: €150,000 borrowed and €77,666 in interest. Plus €10,800 in insurance, €1,000 in fees and €940 in stamp duty. MTIC: €240,406.
• Offer B: €150,000 borrowed and €74,764 in interest. Plus €16,200 in insurance, €1,500 in fees and €960 in stamp duty. MTIC: €243,424.

Offer B costs €3,018 more in total, despite the lower repayment.

Stamp duty is 0.6% of the amount borrowed, for terms over 5 years. On fees, it is 4%. These are example figures, with the interest rate and insurance unchanged for the whole term.

What the MTIC does not tell you

The MTIC is worked out with the information on the day of the offer. With a variable rate, Euribor changes over the life of the loan. The total you pay changes with it.

The term matters too. A longer term gives a lower repayment, but more interest in total. Ask the bank for simulations with different terms and compare the MTIC of each.

In the mortgage repayment calculator you can see how the interest rate and the term change your repayment.

Where FINOVA helps

We ask several banks for offers and put them side by side, for the same amount and term. We compare the APR and the MTIC of each with you. Our fee is paid by the bank.

See also the guides What is APR (TAEG), and how does it affect my decision? and What is the Spread, and how can I reduce it?

Sources

• Banco de Portugal — MTIC. A credit acronym worth remembering (in Portuguese)
• Banco de Portugal — Four tips for comparing home loan offers (in Portuguese)
• Banco de Portugal — Interest rates in home loans
• Banco de Portugal — How to enter into home loan agreements

Sources checked on 22 September 2026.