As of: February 21, 2024, 7:37 p.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
Comments
Press
Split
A broken Sparkasse logo can be seen on the facade of a building in the city center.
The savings banks are lagging behind when it comes to interest rates.
© Marijan Murat/dpa
It is worthwhile for savers to invest their money in the bank again - many institutions offer good interest rates.
The savings banks are comparatively lagging behind.
Frankfurt – Thanks to the high key interest rates in the euro area, saving is worthwhile again – anyone who has secured a good fixed-term deposit or overnight deposit can increase their money without much effort.
Many banks have improved their offerings in recent months - only the savings banks are an exception.
This is shown by an evaluation by Tagesgeldvergleich.net.
Interest on savings offers: Savings banks lag behind in comparison
This suggests that the savings banks' savings products generally have lower interest rates than offers from other providers, especially savings accounts and daily savings accounts.
Toni Merkel from Tagesgeldvergleich.net explains to IPPEN.MEDIA: “For example, the average maximum interest rate of all German savings banks is just 0.76 percent for savings accounts and 1.56 percent for daily deposits.”
Things aren't getting any better when it comes to fixed-term deposits either: of the 317 savings banks tested, just three institutions achieved a maximum interest rate of 3.50 percent, said Merkel.
“Others usually offer around two percent interest or don’t even break this mark.
This puts them at the bottom of the market compared to other offers, such as those from private banks.”
For comparison: As the comparison portal Verivox announced this week, overnight investments in banks active across the country currently yield an average of 1.72 percent.
Anyone who invests their money as a fixed-term deposit for two years currently receives an average of 2.99 percent interest from banks active across the country, but you can still get more out of top offers.
Verivox also notes that regional credit institutions pay significantly less interest on average.
Savings banks business model: “It’s about profitability and economic calculation”
But why is it like that?
According to financial expert Merkel, there are various reasons for this: “In the past, savings banks have repeatedly pointed out that their business model does not allow for rapid increases in interest rates for savings deposits.
On the one hand, because there are still numerous loans from times of very low interest rates in the savings banks' books, which limits the scope for interest on credit balances.
On the other hand, savings banks also like to argue that they kept the negative or punitive interest rates at that time away from customers for a long time.”
My news
Pension increase in summer 2024: Heil gives the first forecast for pensioners
Largest German heating manufacturer is abolishing gas heating systems: Will Habeck's law be a success? read
German family business files for bankruptcy - 150 employees affected read
The richest Germans in the ranking: New face moves to first placeread
Next real estate insolvency: Construction crisis is dragging more and more companies into the abyss
Russia threatens “logistics collapse”: China bank lets Putin run into the ground read
In short: “They sell their hesitant behavior to customers as a stability factor and rely on the loyalty of their customers,” concludes Merkel.
The truth also includes: “It's about profitability and economic calculation at the savings banks.
The longer interest rate adjustments were delayed without customers withdrawing large deposits, the better.
This saves costs, fills your own cash register and saves time.”
What savings bank customers willing to change should know
Merkel recommends: "If you want to save and get a good interest rate, you should look for an alternative bank - for example, direct banks currently offer between 3.00 and 4.00 percent interest on current money for new customers." He also advises savers to use the It is important to pay attention to existing customer interest rates and generally not to park more than three months' income in a current account.
With material from AFP