Bonds and other securities  

When bonds and similar securities are issued at a discount, the buyer benefits in two ways. On the one hand, when buying, he can acquire the security for a price below the nominal value: If a bond with a nominal value of 500 euros is issued with a two percent discount, the buyer pays only 490 euros. Nevertheless, the nominal value remains the basis for the interest. This means that the effective interest rate is higher than the nominal interest rate due to the reduced purchase price.

In the case of shares, on the other hand, no discount is charged. Companies often issue shares with a premium, i.e. an issue surcharge. It is therefore often assumed that a discount is also possible here. However, this is not the case; the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) clearly prohibits a discount on new share issues.

Loans and credits  

In the case of a loan or credit, a discount means that not the entire loan amount is paid out to the borrower. The lender retains part of the loan amount as a kind of upfront interest. So if you take out a loan for 10,000 euros with a five percent disagio, the lender will only pay out 9,500 euros. Alternatively, this procedure is also represented by the so-called disbursement rate. In the above example, it would then be a 10,000-euro loan with a payout rate of 95 per cent. However, the full loan amount must be repaid.

For the borrower, therefore, the discount ultimately results in higher interest than the nominal interest rate indicated. This is usually the reason why banks offer loans with a discount: The nominal interest rate, which consumers like to use as a benchmark, can be kept relatively low without the bank having to forego interest gains. The effective interest rate of loans with a discount is calculated by iterations in a bindingly defined complex approximation procedure that is often not comprehensible to consumers. Therefore, in case of doubt, it is usually advantageous for borrowers to take out a conventional instalment loan without a discount, even if the nominal interest rate is higher.

Foreign exchange  

In trading with foreign currencies, the disagio occurs relatively frequently, although the term bid rate is usually used here. Credit institutions often buy foreign notes and coins below the official exchange rate of the central banks. This discount - the disagio - on the nominal value is usually between two and four percent.

Here is interesting point from trade-exness: "อัตราแลกเปลี่ยนอย่างเป็นทางการลบด้วยผล disagio ในอัตราการซื้อใน ตารางค่า swap Exness. ตัวอย่างเช่นผู้บริโภคที่ซื้อสกุลเงินต่างประเทศที่ธนาคารสําหรับการเดินทางวันหยุดของพวกเขาไม่ได้รับประโยชน์จากส่วนลดเพราะธนาคารออกสกุลเงินที่มีพรีเมี่ยมเช่น. มาร์กอัป. ราคาถามจะคํานวณจากมูลค่าเล็กน้อยบวกกับพรีเมี่ยม."
"The official exchange rate minus the disagio results in the buying rate. Consumers who, for example, buy foreign currencies at the bank for their holiday trip do not benefit from the discount, because the banks issue currencies with a premium, i.e. a mark-up. The ask price is calculated from the nominal value plus the premium."

Credit cards  

Here, the discount refers to a service fee that a merchant pays to the bank that processes his credit card sales. This fee usually amounts to one to four percent of the turnover. The merchant bank (also known as the acquirer or acquiring bank) directly collects the discount, which is often also called the merchant service fee in the credit card industry. However, according to an EU regulation, the discount for credit card transactions will be limited to 0.2 percent in the future. For the consumer who pays with his credit card, there is no direct contact with this discount, for example, it does not appear on his credit card statement. Indirectly, however, it can have consequences for them, as merchants usually pass on the fees to their customers. This can be in the form of an additional fee for payment by credit card, but also through the general price calculation.