With the European Central Bank still worried about inflation and whether supply will be able to meet demand, both in goods and labour, interest rates may have finally stopped falling
One of the potential reasons? Across Europe, household deposits saw a net drop of more than €10 billion between July and August, according to the ECB. Possibly in response, banks kept most retail interest rates steady, and over the last few months the top offers in some of Europe’s largest markets even went up.
However, in Ireland, this isn’t cause for celebration. Interest rates were the lowest in the EU to begin with, and have only seen a fractional increase.
Irish savers have the choice of an average 0.037% interest rate on a one year term deposit, or 0.06% average on a three year term. That’s compared with our neighbours in the UK, who can access one year terms with interest rates around 1.4%, and three year terms offering almost 1.8%.
So, what’s a savvy Irish saver to do? How can you make sure you’re making the most of your hard-earned cash and set aside a savings pot you can rely on to earn a decent amount of interest?
Raisin Bank has tracked interest rates across Europe, and the continent is where to look. Irish savers can access more competitive savings accounts from places like Sweden, Norway, Italy and Poland.
The best interest rates on one-year fixed term deposits are above 1% in these countries. And if you’re willing to tie up some of your savings for three years, you can get rates near or even above 1.5%.
According to Monica Pina Alzugaray, Country Manager of Raisin DS in Ireland and Spain, things might get better in the future. She says: “Over the summer we saw Europeans tucking away less of their savings and spending more. This trend may continue as consumer confidence keeps growing thanks to an environment where there are more jobs than workers, and people are in a better position to negotiate their salary. Europeans prioritising spending over savings could encourage banks to increase rates to avoid a weakening liquidity position in the future, despite their funding being quite strong at the moment”
Raisin Bank’s reason for being is to help Irish savers access the more competitive interest rates to be had across Europe. Being part of the Eurozone means we can look outside of Ireland for the best interest rates, and our deposits will be protected under the EU-wide harmonized regulation on deposit guarantee schemes.
So, let’s sally forth and take advantage of the better rates on offer across Europe to get a solid return on our money.
To find out more and access competitive interest rates, visit Raisin Bank
