More and more entities reward the conservative saver. Consumer interest is growing and so is the offer, although the outlook is still better in Europe, where people pay more. In any case, before hiring a deposit you have to review the fine print, the details, to see what parking that money entails. For some it may not be ideal...
The Bank of Spain launched some key advice these days: “It is important to weigh your liquidity needs and read the contract in detail before signing it.” Profitability should not blind you. If you think the money will be needed for a large or unforeseen expense, putting it in a deposit requires you to review the contract. Andrea Morales, personal finance expert at the comparator HelpMyCash.com, insists on the idea. “The first thing is to carefully review the contract to make sure it allows for early cancellation. You should also investigate or ask if there is any type of penalty for canceling early. It is very likely that you have it,” she warns.
Although the contract varies from one entity to another, it is common that it affects profitability. “The penalty is limited to the interest generated until the cancellation date, so you can lose part or all of the interest accrued up to that moment,” details Mónica Pina Alzugaray, head of the Raisin savings platform in Spain.
The minimum amounts to invest –in some cases, high–, the links and conditions that increase profitability –they can double it but require contracting other products– and if they are only for new clients are other points to consider, since they can make the difference and make the operation not pay off.
Payment for savings has been advancing, with more offers, but “we are not yet going to see a war for deposits, the bank does not have liquidity tensions. Yes, there can be a dispute over commissions,” explains Antonio Castelo, iBroker analyst. Reviewing the scenario for deposits of one year or less, always taking the APR as a reference, in the high remuneration bracket Pibank stands out, with 3.34% on a one-year deposit; EBN, with 3.20%; OpenBank (Santander) that pays 3.07% in six months, meeting conditions and starting at 600 euros; the neobank MyInvestor, which offers 3% for six and twelve months, from 10,000 euros; and EVO (Bankinter), with 2.85% if conditions are met.
Among the large banks, CaixaBank offers 1% for one year, which reaches 2% with links, starting from 5,000 euros. All of them are protected by the Spanish deposit guarantee fund, which covers 100,000 euros per holder and entity. The rest of the main entities offer deposits according to the client's profile, not on a large scale, they combine them with funds or do not offer them at all, according to the financial sources consulted.
In addition, you can contract deposits from foreign banks with operations here, such as that of the Italian BFF (Facto) with 4.06% for one year and 4.32% for six months; the Portuguese BiG, with 3.75% for one year and 4.25% for six months; or the French Renault Bank, with a 3.85% deposit, but for 24 months. Through platforms such as Raisin, you can access from Spain 4.4% of the Italian Banca Sistema for one year, from 20,000 euros, or 4.3% of Banca Progetto, from 10,000 euros. The money is protected by your national guarantee funds.
Regarding what is coming in the future, the ECB's rate hike, which sets the tone for profitability, seems to reach its ceiling. But in previous cycles, "if we examine previous stages of interest rate increases, in 2008 and 2011, deposits continued to rise for months after the last increase and even reached maximums after the first cut," says Pina. Alzugaray.
"Although there still appears to be some room for improvement for demand deposits, with the exception of hook offers, and those that are short-term, maximum interest rates on deposits with longer maturities have been stagnant since early October ", go on. If there are fears that they will fall, he recommends long-term deposits to “benefit from the current high rates” for longer. Demand remains strong: at Raisin, time deposits rise 40% in the year.
Another safe option is paid accounts, where the money would always be available. In those that do not have conditions, such as keeping the payroll, Sabadell is the last to take steps: it pays 2% up to 20,000 euros. EBN gives 3% with a minimum of 3,000 euros and a maximum of 10,000 remunerations. EVO rewards 2.85% with a minimum of 4,000 euros and up to 30,000 remunerations. MyInvestor (2.5%) or Pibank (2.02%) also reach 2%. Unicaja and Bankinter pay 1%. With payroll things change: Openbank pays 5.12% the first year – up to 5,000 euros; Unicaja, 4% when hiring in offices –same limit–, and Abanca, 2% up to 15,000 euros.
It must be taken into account that the remunerations are for a specific period.
In European firms there are not as many differences as in deposits. Outside of the Spanish protection fund – that of other countries applies – the accounts in Italy of Banca Progetto (3.25%), in Sweden of Collector (3.05%), in France of Renault Bank (2.73%) stand out. or that of the German neobank N26 (2.26%).
Beyond deposits and accounts, Castelo suggests that there are safe alternatives in the market with attractive returns, such as Treasury bills. The last 12-month auction was placed with an interest rate of 3.86%. The same goes for corporate bonds or notes, he says. The analyst recommends not dedicating more than 10%-20% of the portfolio to paid liquidity.
