The decline in purchasing power has been felt in various sectors of society. Inflation continues to shoot up at 9% year-on-year, although it shows some moderation. In fact, in monthly terms, the prices of September compared to those of August, fell by 0.6%. However, in year-on-year terms, prices are 9% higher than those registered in the country a year ago. This according to the figures that the National Institute of Statistics (INE) has advanced.
With a scenario like the current one and with interest rates at 1.25%, it is normal for Spaniards to wonder what to do to prevent their money, and to be more specific their savings, from losing value. The truth is that after the rate hike by the European Central Bank —the last one by 75 basis points on September 8— savers expected the bank deposit market to announce competitive increases to deal with inflation that continues to run amok.
“The great banks of the country such as Banco Santander, BBVA, Caixabank, among others… still do not move. None have yet opted to reopen the fixed-term deposit market, much less improve the returns on accounts, at least at an interest rate that allows them to stop the loss of money value in its tracks”, acknowledge the experts at the financial comparator HelpMyCash.
While the Spanish bank moves timidly with products such as the Bankinter Payroll Account, which pays up to 5% APR during the first year and up to 2% APR during the second. Or the Sabadell Online Account that offers up to 1% APR the first year for the first 30,000 euros, some European entities have decided to take the lead and offer up to 2.40% APR for 24-month fixed-term deposits.
It is true that the European and Spanish markets are not yet aggressive in terms of the profitability of deposits. “It is also true that the interest rates they are offering are still well below inflation, but even so it is much better to keep the money in a product that at least pays something back and protects the savings a little, than to keep it quiet, without moving it”, they recognize from the comparator. "The worst enemy of savings is inflation because little by little it devours it", they underline from HelpMyCash.com
In this sense, from the comparator they have made a list with the most attractive offers in Europe. “The good thing about the following list of fixed-term deposits is that, being European, they are protected by the Deposit Guarantee Fund of each country —up to 100,000 euros per holder and bank—”, they explain.
Through the European deposit platform Raisin it is possible to obtain up to 2.40% APR for two years in the Italian Banca Progetto from 10,000 euros. The entity also rents 2.20% APR for one year. While the Latvian bank BlueOr offers 2.19% APR for two years and 1.96% APR for 12 months.
On the other hand, J.
France is not far behind and the entity Younited offers 2% APR for two years and 1.42% for one year from 2,000 euros.
