Popular savings account: 9.6 million holders, a record!

The popular savings account finally meets its audience. The governor of the Bank of France unveiled on Wednesday that 9.6 million French people held a popular savings account at the end of March. Against only 8.2 million in November 2022 and barely 7 million at the end of 2021. "This is very good news," says François Villeroy de Galhau even if, according to his estimates, between 18 and 19 million French people are eligible.

A take-off that is the result of an intense promotional campaign by the public authorities to the general public and, above all, banks, encouraged to highlight to their customers this anti-inflation investment par excellence. For incumbents, the LEP has an unbeatable rate now set at 6.1% while inflation over one year rose from 5.9% in April to 5.1% in May. You can deposit up to 7,700 euros, make withdrawals whenever you want and interest is exempt from income tax and social security contributions.

Towards a yield of 5.8% or less on August 1

The opening of this "super livret A" (limited to one per person and two per tax household) is subject to means testing. The bank directly questions the tax authorities based on the 2021 tax income entered on the 2022 tax notice. For example, this year a single person must not earn more than 21,393 euros per year and the income ceiling is 44,243 euros for a couple with two children.

There is no holding period but in the event that the saver's income exceeds these limits in a year, he can only keep his LEP if his income for the following year falls below the eligibility limit. Otherwise, it will be closed by its bank.

And, for those who continue to benefit, the rate of pay for LEP will decrease. Set at 6.1% since January (against 3% for the booklet A), it must be revised on August 1. Calculated as the average of inflation over the last six months (January to June), it will suffer from the slowdown in inflation to 5.1% in May. On this basis, we are moving towards a SARL rate of 5.8% on August 1. But it could be even lower if inflation slows further in June. Good news can hide bad news.