The outlook still continues to favor Treasury bills, with interest rates above 3%. But deposits are gradually regaining prominence among savers with a more conservative profile, although it is true that those from large banks are still generally reluctant to offer returns that beat inflation, which in August was 2.6 %. However, some entities are beginning to make moves.
This is the case of CaixaBank, which recently launched a one-year deposit with a fixed return of 1% APR from an investment of 5,000 euros and an additional interest rate that rewards customer loyalty with up to 1%. Another notable proposal to make savings profitable in the medium term is that of Santander’s digital subsidiary, Openbank: a 6-month deposit with a profitability of 3.07% annual APR, with the condition of domiciliating the payroll, the unemployment benefit or the pension, or with a monthly income of 600 euros. Otherwise or if nothing is direct debited, the APR drops to 2.01%.
ATMs in the city of Barcelona
For now, the most attractive proposals are found in corporate banks, neobanks, entities of foreign origin and online banking, where returns above 3% can be achieved, as is the case of the deposits offered by EBN Banco, My Investor, Banco Finantia, WiZink and Renault Bank. For its part, the Dutch bank ING has launched a new deposit at 2.75% APR for 4 months for both its clients and for new clients who make new deposits from September 6 to 30.
In addition to CaixaBank, other listed entities have begun to remunerate savings. This is the case of Bankinter, which offers up to 5% APR the first year to new clients who direct their payroll – profitability that drops to 2% the second year – and with a maximum balance to be paid of 10,000 euros. While Banco Sabadell has an online account for new customers with an interest rate of 2.5%, up to 30,000 euros.
Large banks recognize that the excess liquidity they have allows them not to have to remunerate deposits in a generalized way, which contrasts with the fact that better offers can be found in other European countries. In this sense, the Association of Financial Users (Asufin) considers it striking that Spanish entities, such as Santander and BBVA, have launched 5% deposits in the United Kingdom and Italy and, on the other hand, in Spain the movements in this regard are so modest.
Likewise, it denounces that in most cases the deposits of the main Spanish entities are offered in combination with investment products such as monetary funds and fixed income. The association also regrets that the increase in the reference interest rate to 4.25% by the European Central Bank (ECB) is not yet reflected in the supply of long-term deposits.
The big banks are using the offer of their deposits above all “as a mechanism to attract and hook their clients,” says Juan Carlos Higueras. The doctor in Economics and professor at EAE Business School compares the situation of these financial products in Spain with that of other countries in the European Union (EU), where deposits above 3% abound. In this sense, he predicts that the main financial entities will begin to transfer the official interest rate to their offer on deposits when they perceive the risk of capital flight to other banks with deposits with more advantageous conditions. In any case, he attributes the current situation to the lack of competition within the sector as a result of the various bank mergers that have occurred after the 2008 financial crisis.
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The issue is also in the focus of the Spanish Government, which at the beginning of the summer commissioned the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) to investigate what factors explain why the remuneration of deposits does not rise as it is doing in the rest of Europe.
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