Banks continue their war for liabilities, now focusing their most aggressive competition on 12-month deposits. Currently, you can find up to seven banks that offer returns that exceed 4% APR at this term.
And, for the moment, it seems that this trend will continue to rise. Christina Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has stated at the meeting of the annual economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole that she will keep interest rates high - which now stand at 4.25% - "as long as it takes to achieve a timely return of inflation.
“This ECB measure to combat inflation has a direct impact both on Treasury Bills, which in their last auction have achieved a return of around 3.7% at 9 and 12 months, as well as on interest-bearing accounts and deposits to fixed term. The latter compete to attract savers by offering attractive remunerations that exceed interest rates”, explain the experts of the financial comparator HelpMyCash.
Interest-bearing accounts are a perfect option for those savers who want to get benefits from their savings without leaving their money blocked for a while, as occurs with deposits or Treasury Bills.
Two of the most attractive offers at the moment are the N26 Salary Account, with a return of 2.26% APR; and the EVO Welcome Smart Account, which pays similar interest, at 2.25% APR.
Both can be contracted without any requirement and have no commissions. The difference is that the EVO one remunerates up to 30,000 euros until November 30, 2024, while the N26 one has no amount or time limit.
Another bank strategy is to offer a cash gift. This is the case of Abanca's Clara Nómina Account, which offers an extra 300 euros plus a 2% return of up to 15,000 euros for direct deposit of payroll or other income during the first year.
“It is very important to diversify money in various products and terms to optimize our savings. For example, although the N26 account does not have a maximum remuneration, instead of putting all our capital there, we can leave a part there to have liquidity and another in a deposit that gives us greater benefits ”, they indicate from the comparator.
Regarding one-year deposits, up to seven banks compete for first place in the ranking prepared by HelpMyCash, offering returns that exceed 4% APR.
The Italian entity Banca Sistema leads the list of the best 12-month deposits, paying 4.40% APR. You can hire from 20,000 to 100,000 euros, so you can earn up to 4,400 euros of benefits in a year.
But if you do not have or do not want to retain so much money in a one-year deposit, the Latvian bank BluOr Bank allows you to contract it from just 1 euro, with a return of 4.21% APR.
For those who prefer a bank with a presence in Spain, BFF Bank has increased the profitability of its Cuenta Facto deposits at 6, 9 and 12 months to 4.06% APR. They are contractable from 5,000 euros and can be done over the Internet in a few simple steps.
For their part, Banca Progetto (4.20% APR), Haitong (4.10% APR), Coop (4.05% APR) and LHV (4.05% APR); They are the banks that complete the Top 7 with deposits that exceed 4% APR for one year.
Currently, the deposit market offer is so wide that one year can be contracted with a return of more than 4% APR from minimum amounts available for all pockets.
“At HelpMyCash we always recommend making our money profitable even if we don't have much savings. At a time when deposits offer such competitive remuneration and ask for such a low minimum amount, BluOr deposits starting at 1 euro or LHV, starting at 500 euros, are perfect for those who want to start getting benefits from their savings”, say the experts.
After the analysis carried out by HelpMyCash, it can be verified that most of the most interesting deposits are located outside of Spain.
However, that does not have to be an impediment to be able to contract them in a very simple way, online and without costs thanks to the Raisin platform.
"Although many people are reluctant when it comes to taking out a deposit in a European bank, the process is very simple," they begin by explaining from the comparator.
“You just have to open a completely online and free account at Raisin Bank, choose the deposit in which you want to put the savings and transfer the desired money to the account. From here, Raisin will take care of all the management with the bank to which the chosen deposit belongs and will move our money there so that we don't have to deal with anything”, they conclude.
All deposits available at Raisin are protected by the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD) of the country to which the bank belongs. As in Spain, the FGD in these countries covers up to 100,000 euros per owner and entity.
Therefore, in the event that that bank fails, both the capital and the interest generated would be fully protected up to that amount.
