Today’s consumer is used to online shopping. The ability to see options from different companies — and their associated pricing — puts the power in their hands. Savvy shoppers spend time evaluating their choices so they can select what’s best for them and their budget. 

If that’s true for somewhat costly items like a new couch or TV, you better believe it’s also true for the single biggest purchase most people make. In 2025, when folks plan to buy a house, they often start their search online. 

That might mean using real estate listing sites like Zillow or Redfin. As they think about how they’ll pay for the property, it also usually means looking at mortgage lending options. Everyone from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Freddie Mac counsel prospective borrowers to shop around. 

Here, consumers expect the same ability to explore options and compare prices. That’s why mortgage rate table advertising is a huge 

How rate table advertising works

To give yourself the clearest idea of this advertising opportunity, it helps to look at some mortgage rate tables. NerdWallet and Bankrate are leading options, so their rate tables are great places to start. (Note: For Bankrate, you need to click the blue button that says “See today’s mortgage rates” to close the pop-up and see the rate table.) 

Usually, the advertiser’s site lets potential homebuyers input their personal information to tailor the displayed rates. By adding details about the home price, their down payment size, and their credit score, for example, they can get rate snapshots personalized to them. 

For those prospective borrowers, the mortgage rate table provides a valuable and easy way to compare options at a glance. And for the featured lenders, that rate table advertising gives them the potential to turn that rate shopper into a lead.

On the rate table, you’ll usually see a button the individual can click to take next steps. NerdWallet labels it “Get a quote,” while Bankrate simply has a “Next” button. Whatever form it takes, that click invites the homebuyer to get more information.

Usually, that walks the person through a lead workflow. This asks them questions, allowing them to provide information to get a personalized rate quote. The lead workflow usually captures information about their zip code, purchase price, credit score range, etc. The advertiser then packages that up and sends it to your team.

Sometimes, you’re the only one receiving that lead’s info. Other times, the leads coming in are non-exclusive. That means your team needs to act fast to beat out your competition. 

How to get started with mortgage rate table advertising

Mortgage rate table advertising gives your lending institution a powerful tool to get in front of thousands more potential leads. And it gives you a way to serve up the information they’re wanting in a format they like.

You shouldn’t dive in head-first, though. To make the most of any advertising budget you allocate here, there are a few key areas to consider:

The right advertiser

You have a range of options here. We’ll dive into Bankrate and NerdWallet since we’ve already touched on them, plus a few others. 

• Bankrate: Bankrate gets millions of monthly visits to its mortgage pages and converts some of those visits into leads for lenders. We hear from lending institutions that they’re high-quality leads, but they do cost a fair amount per lead. Still, because it’s relatively easy to get started with Bankrate’s rate table advertising and many teams see high conversions with the resulting pipeline, this site is a solid option to consider.  
• NerdWallet: NerdWallet’s doing the work to try and become a household name, and you’ve probably seen one of the company’s ads yourself. The trouble with this rate table advertising channel is that getting started isn’t clear-cut. It’s helpful if you have a peer who’s already in the NerdWallet partner network and can recommend you.  
• LendingTree: If you’re looking for a lower cost per lead, LendingTree can deliver. You and your team should know, though, that when a lead comes in through this site, they get matched with multiple lenders. Because that lead isn’t exclusive to your team, you need to act fast and be highly responsive to beat out the competition. These leads usually work best if you have loan officers with bandwidth and other tools like AI texting to help you get in front of those leads quickly. 
• Free Rate Update: A lot of leading lenders tap this option to get their rates out there and generate leads. This rate advertising channel offers fairly flexible contracts so it can be a good fit if you’re just starting out and want to try different things. 
• Mortgage Research Center: ICanBuy operates under the Mortgage Research Center (MRC) umbrella. This gives you a way to get your rates on more than 60 publisher partner sites. Our webinar with the MRC team gives you more info. 

The right rate table

If you offer loans nationally, you might want to get on the advertiser’s main rate table. If you’re only licensed in certain states, the best way to generate leads you can actually serve is to choose the rate table that advertiser offers for the applicable state(s). 

You might want to explore your options here further. Location-based lead segmenting is useful, certainly, but it’s not your only option. If you’re an FHA or VA lender, for example, that advertiser probably offers an FHA or VA rate table for your state. 

The more granular you get, the more you weed out the competition. More niche loan products get offered by fewer lenders, and that means there are fewer competing rates you have to vie against on the table. 

What happens if the lead reaches your site

If you decide to pursue mortgage rate table advertising, the likelihood’s high that it will help you get more traffic to your own website. That means you need to think beyond how you appear on the advertiser’s table.

Having features like your own rate tables, calculators, and loan officer pages can help you turn your site into its own lead generation tool. 

We can help with all of the above. If you want to explore featuring your rates on an advertiser’s site and/or getting your own website set up to convert, book a demo with our team.