Mortgage through an adviser, or straight to the bank: who sees what

What can each of them show you

A branch banker shows you one bank, an intermediary the ones their network has agreements with, and neither shows you the whole market. It's the most important difference, and also the one talked about the least.

The person at a branch will offer you their own bank's products. That's not a limit on their ability, it's the job description. An intermediary offers the banks their network has agreements with, and that list differs from network to network. HypoGO itself doesn't hold agreements with banks, the adviser does. The banks that come up most often in our network are named under comparing mortgages.

So the line "we compare the whole market" almost never holds literally, even for us. If you hear it somewhere, ask straight away for the list of banks. It's a question with a one-word answer, and how you get it tells you a lot about that person.

Some banks can only be reached directly

Air Bank only describes its own channels. You apply through its mobile app or internet banking, and its own mortgage expert then gets in touch. It doesn't list any other route on its website. Checked on 21 September 2026.

We won't claim on its behalf that intermediaries have no route to it at all; it never says so, and we can't back that up. What we can back up is this: if you already know you want a particular bank, ask it directly whether there's any route to it other than itself. It saves you a round trip.

We've written up what each bank offers even for the ones we don't arrange ourselves, right under the heading. For example Air Bank or Fio.

Who pays whom

Neither side is neutral, and it's worth knowing how. An intermediary gets a commission from the bank on the loan once it's drawn down, and returns it if you leave early. A branch banker has a target and a bonus for meeting it, you just don't see it itemised.

That's not a reason to distrust either one, it's a reason to ask for the reasoning. The same rule applies to both: a recommendation with no explanation of why the other options fell out isn't a recommendation. How an intermediary's commission actually works is covered on the Mortgage adviser page.

When each one makes sense

Go straight to the bank when

you have a standard employment income and are buying an ordinary flat or house,
you want a particular bank that doesn't go through intermediaries,
your own bank offers terms tied to how long you've been with it,
you're happy to visit several branches yourself and have the time for it.

Go through an intermediary when

you're self-employed, on a flat-rate tax scheme, or combine several sources of income; every bank calculates this differently, and the difference can run into hundreds of thousands,
the property has something non-standard, such as an easement or missing occupancy approval,
you're buying a cooperative flat, where the share can't be used as collateral,
you're not a Czech citizen and need to deal with a residence permit or income in a foreign currency,
you don't want to leave a trace in the register at five banks at once.

That last point gets overlooked, and it's a practical one. Every credit assessment is recorded in the register, and other banks can see it. So it pays to compare terms before you submit applications, not the other way round.

Can you do both?

You can, and it's a sensible approach. Ask for an offer from your own bank, where they know you, and have the market compared alongside it. Two figures side by side give you a stronger negotiating position than one.

Just watch the order: terms first, applications after. And if both routes lead to the same bank, tell both sides. A parallel application to one bank through two routes creates confusion and can slow the deal down.

Frequently asked questions

Will I get a better rate through an intermediary than at the bank?

That cannot be promised, and anyone who promises it has nothing to back it up with. What an intermediary brings is breadth: they put banks side by side that you would otherwise have to visit branch by branch. Whether that produces a better figure depends on your situation and on what your own bank offers.

Do I pay the intermediary anything extra?

You pay nothing, the bank pays them a commission out of the drawn-down loan. That does not mean the service has no cost as such; it is part of the loan's economics, which the bank factors in either way. The difference is that nobody bills it to you separately.

Which banks don't go through intermediaries?

Air Bank's website only describes its own channels: an application through its mobile app or internet banking, followed by its own mortgage expert. It never claims it has no route through intermediaries at all, so we don't claim that on its behalf. For other banks, the offer depends on which network has an agreement with them, and that changes. The fastest way to find out is to ask for the specific list of banks.

Will the bank see that I asked elsewhere too?

The enquiry about terms itself, no. What gets recorded in the register is the credit assessment, and other banks can see that. So it is worth comparing terms before you start submitting applications, whether you submit them yourself or through someone else.

Can an intermediary arrange a mortgage at a bank where I already have an account?

Yes, if their network has that bank on offer. Ask the bank directly for an offer for existing clients as well; banks sometimes tie these to how long you've been a client, and the intermediary may not have access to them. Then compare both.

Is a branch banker a worse expert?

No, they just have a different scope. They know their own bank in depth, including exceptions that aren't visible from outside. An intermediary knows less detail across more banks. Each suits a different situation, and when your situation isn't standard, breadth tends to matter more than depth.