People who work for banks and insurance companies are losing their mortgage discount as financial services companies trim staff perks, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Thursday.

In addition, there is government pressure for change on the mortgage and insurance discounts, and finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem is looking at how changes can be made in law, the paper says. The government has already put limits on banking bonuses.

Insurance company ASR will drop the mortgage discount – which can be up to 30% – from next year and Nationale Nederlanden has already done so.

Big banks

And while the four big banks – ABN Amro, ING, Rabobank and SNS – have not yet moved to cut the perk, unions fear it will not be long before they do, the FD says.

Rabobank staff have already been faced with a reduced list of perks, including a cut in the mortgage discount.

Bank staff now have to contribute towards their pensions and the amount long-serving staff are given for celebratory events or to organise a leaving party has been cut from €6,500 to €2,000, the FD says.

In total, the mortgage discount costs the banks some €115m a year, the paper estimates.