Times are good for savers, even if the interest rate rally is over. Savers benefit if they invest their money as overnight or fixed-term deposits. But which bank offers the best interest rate and under what conditions? FOCUS online provides an overview.
If you want to invest your money in current or fixed-term deposit accounts, you should hurry up. According to an exclusive analysis by Verivox, interest rates are still at a high level, but compared to last autumn, the market’s highest fixed-term deposit interest rates have currently fallen by one percentage point. Nevertheless: “Saving is more lucrative than it has been for a long time,” says Oliver Maier, managing director of Verivox Finanzvergleich in an interview with FOCUS online.
Inflation has fallen again compared to last autumn. Unlike back then, there is more real purchasing power left over from interest rates, says Maier.
If you want to get more out of your money, you should pay attention to appropriate interest rate offers. There are lucrative conditions for new customers. However, the situation requires careful market monitoring in order to be able to react quickly to interest rate changes.
The comparisons are based on the current daily and fixed-term deposit interest rates from around 800 banks and savings banks. The interest rates were evaluated for an investment amount of 10,000 euros.
Anyone who invests their money for two years will currently receive the highest interest rate in the market at 3.65 percent. Providers are the Haltong Bank from Portugal and the SME Bank in Lithuania. With these conditions, 10,000 euros will earn a total of 743 euros in interest over the full term.
German financial institutions pay a top interest rate of 3.45 percent for fixed-term deposits with a term of two years. Among the providers is Cronbank. This is followed by MMV Bank and PEAC Bank with 3.35 percent each. Anyone who invests 10,000 euros can look forward to a profit of 702 euros at the end of the term.
Households that want to invest their money for a shorter period of time can opt for a one-year term. The Italian Banca Progetto, the Estonian Bigbank and the Portuguese Haltong Bank offer the highest interest rates at 3.6 percent. This means that 10,000 euros bring a return of 360 euros at the end of the term.
With an interest rate of four percent, Trade Republic continues to offer the highest interest rate for daily savings accounts, which is valid for an unlimited period and for new and existing customers alike. This is not a classic call money account, but rather a clearing account for the free securities account.
Offers are also particularly attractive for people who want to save and who are prepared to change their bank details and benefit from the high initial interest rates. However, the duration of the promotion and the subsequent regular interest rate must always be taken into account.
At the Dutch neo-bank “bunq”, savers can still earn slightly higher daily interest rates for some time. The bank currently offers new customers 4.01 percent interest and guarantees this interest rate for four months. After that, the regular conditions apply for existing customers (currently 1.56 percent).
BigBank from Estonia offers a promotional interest rate of 3.85 percent for six months. After that there is 2.7 percent. Openbank and Suresse Direktbank, both from Spain, offer an interest rate of 3.8 percent for the same period. After that, customers receive 2.8 percent.
German financial institutions pay a top interest rate of 3.15 percent for overnight money (Creditplus Bank). However, customers there also have to open a checking account when taking out the contract. Without opening an account there is 3.05 percent at Akbank. This is followed by the Allgemeine Officials Bank, the BMW Bank, the GEFA Bank, the Merkur Privatbank and the UmweltBank with three percent each.
Of course, savers can also invest their money in an interest account at a bank outside the euro area – for example in Great Britain or Sweden.
However, they have to keep various risks in mind: It is possible that deposit protection in the event of a bank failure abroad is lower than in Germany. In this country, deposits of up to 100,000 euros per account are legally protected.
A second major danger is possible currency risks. For example, if the saver invests his money in dollars, his return depends on the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar. If the value of the dollar falls during the investment period, the saver will ultimately receive less euros than he originally invested. And this despite the accrued interest.
Stock market investments have historically been the most lucrative forms of investment, despite all the price turbulences that have occurred in the meantime.
Cautious investors use ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). They cause very little cost and spread the capital into a variety of different individual investments. This reduces investment risks.
ETFs based on the All Countries World Index (ACWI) are particularly interesting. It includes stocks from around 2,900 different companies from almost 50 countries. An example of such ETFs is the iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF (Acc) with ISIN IE00B6R52259.