This study investigates the association between the interbank network and the cost of credit in syndicated loans, emphasizing banks’ microscopic and macroscopic decision-making dynamics. Using syndicated loan data from 2000 to 2020, we construct monthly interbank networks based on each bank’s loan portfolio. Our findings reveal a positive correlation between bank degree and the realized volatility of the bank, particularly during global financial crises such as 2007-2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that interbank networks reflect exogenous shocks to the global financial system. Furthermore, we find a statistically significant positive correlation at the 1% level between a lender’s degree centrality and loan spreads, after controlling for bank characteristics and implementing lender country-, firm industry-, and year-fixed effects. This indicates that banks with higher network exposure tend to charge higher interest rates on loans, consistent with risk-return trade-offs. By elucidating these dynamics, this paper enriches our understanding of bank-firm matching mechanisms, bank quality assessments, and the complex network’s role as an informational channel.