Floating and Tiered Rates: Why Your Mortgage Payment Can Rise

Tim Moneysaurus · 2026-07-28

This month your KPR (home loan / mortgage) payment is Rp5 million, next year it suddenly becomes Rp5.8 million, even though you did not add any debt. How can that be? The answer is in the word "floating". A KPR payment can rise not because the bank is being petty, but because the rate is designed to follow market conditions. The good news is that this mechanism is now far more transparent, and you can prepare if you know how to read it.

The situation right now

A floating rate does move. OJK explains that a floating rate always changes following the market interest rate; if the market rate rises then the loan rate rises too, and vice versa (OJK Sikapi, 20 July 2026). The impact goes straight to your wallet. BTN states that the installment payment amount will change, and if there is a rise in the market interest rate then the installment amount the customer has to pay will increase (BTN, 20 July 2026). So if you are in the floating phase, a rising payment is not an anomaly, but part of the product's design.

SBDK, the benchmark figure that must be published

Where does the bank get the floating rate from? The starting point is the SBDK, namely the Suku Bunga Dasar Kredit (Prime Lending Rate / base lending rate). Since 2024, its disclosure has been governed by POJK Nomor 13 Tahun 2024 on the Transparency and Publication of the Prime Lending Rate for Conventional Commercial Banks (OJK, 20 July 2026). OJK defines SBDK as an indication of the lowest effective interest rate that reflects the Cost of Funds for Credit, overhead cost, and margin (OJK Press Release, 20 July 2026).

Two things matter for you here. First, in setting the SBDK a bank must take into account the benchmark rate from the competent authority and developments in economic conditions (OJK Press Release, 20 July 2026). This is why when the benchmark rate rises, SBDK tends to follow, and your floating payment can follow along. Second, because each bank's SBDK is published through OJK's channel (OJK, 20 July 2026), you can compare banks before choosing. Keep in mind, SBDK is the base reference before each borrower's added risk premium, so the rate you receive can be slightly above the published SBDK figure.

Tiered: it rises too, but on schedule

If floating goes up and down following the market, a tiered rate rises on a schedule you have known from the start. Bank Sinarmas gives an example, namely years 1 to 2 the rate is fixed at 5%, years 3 to 5 the rate is fixed at 7%, then from year 6 onward the rate follows the market, that is floating (Bank Sinarmas, 20 July 2026). In real products, the tiered structure can be longer. As an illustration, as of July 2026 the Fix n Cap scheme on the BTN Platinum KPR was recorded as 6.50% in years 1 to 3, 9.25% in years 4 to 6, 12.00% in years 7 to 10, and 12.99% in years 11 to 18, only then floating (BTN KPR Platinum, 20 July 2026). These numbers are promotional and can change, so treat them as an illustration.

The advantage of tiered, says Bank Sinarmas, is that it gives payment certainty at the start of the loan with increases that are already planned, while floating fluctuates following market conditions and Bank Indonesia's benchmark rate policy (Bank Sinarmas, 20 July 2026).

Build a buffer and test at a higher rate

Because the payment can rise, do not measure your capacity by the first-year payment. Take a higher-rate scenario, then ask yourself whether you can still manage. This is where OJK's benchmark helps. OJK recommends that the installment be no more than 30% of total income, precisely to mitigate the risk of a rate increase that raises the monthly payment (OJK Sikapi, 20 July 2026). So calculate that 30% not from the promo payment, but from the estimated payment once the rate has risen.

This 30% benchmark is part of the budget framework OJK recommends, namely roughly 10% for social funds, 20% for investment and savings, 30% for installments and debt, and 40% for daily needs (OJK Sikapi, 20 July 2026). If the KPR payment already eats up almost the entire 30% portion, you have almost no room for other debt, and a rate increase will immediately erode your needs budget.

In practice, set aside the difference between your current payment and the high-scenario payment into a dedicated savings account. When the rate really does rise, you simply draw on that buffer without panicking. To keep track, you can record your payment every month and check whether it is still below 30% of your income via WhatsApp to Moneysaurus, so if the portion starts getting tight you know early.

The one thing to take home

A rising KPR payment is not a surprise, it is a consequence of the floating and tiered rate structure that is designed to move. What you can control is your preparation, namely understand that the rate follows SBDK and the benchmark rate, compare banks through the SBDK published by OJK, test your capacity in a higher-rate scenario, and keep the payment below 30% of your income. Judge a KPR by its structure and total cost, not by the cheapest payment in the first year.

Data sources: OJK Sikapi (types of rates and payment tips), OJK Press Release and POJK 13/2024 (SBDK), BTN, and Bank Sinarmas (tiered example).