The first half of 2023 has concluded with the profitability of bank deposits rising. A trend that continues in July, where remunerations of 4% APR can be found as of the year.
Since the beginning of the year, coinciding with the repeated increases in interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB) to combat inflation, online and European banks have opted to pay good interest on their deposits in order to capture the money from new customers.
Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, declared on June 27 at the forum in Sintra (Portugal) that interest rates will continue to rise in July and warned that it is still too early to see a brake in this regard.
“Therefore, it is more than likely that these entities will continue competing to offer the best profitability, especially in the short and medium term,” predict the experts from the financial comparator HelpMyCash, and add: “It is a good time to put part of our savings in short-term deposits to observe how the situation evolves and be able to take advantage of possible better remunerations in the coming months”.
Currently, there is a wide variety of bank deposits on the market that pay good interest, even in the short term. In HelpMyCash they have done an analysis and these are the most profitable at the moment:
The Portuguese bank BAI Europa offers a return of 3.65% APR at six months, taking the lead in this term within those that can be found in the European Union.
BFF Bank pays a similar remuneration with your Cuenta Facto deposit in the same term: 3.55% APR.
As an advantage, the minimum amount to contract a Cuenta Facto deposit is only 5,000 euros, while BAI Europe asks for 10,000 euros. So the one from BFF Bank is perfect for those people who do not have as many savings or do not want to invest so much money in the same deposit.
Within a year, things change. While the 12-month Cuenta Facto deposit pays interest of 3.55% APR, other banks already offer more than 4% APR.
This is the case of Banca Sistema, which has recently raised the yield on its 12-month deposit to 4.15% APR. It is closely followed by another Italian bank, Banca Progetto, paying interest of 4% APR in the same term.
In this case, something similar happens again as with the six-month deposits of BAI Europe and BFF Bank. Although Banca Sistema asks for a minimum of 20,000 euros to open your deposit, Banca Progetto, despite the fact that it has a somewhat lower profitability, allows you to contract it from 10,000 euros.
Deposits from BAI Europa, Banca Sistema and Banca Progetto can be opened from Spain online and free of charge through the German platform Raisin.
On the other hand, all deposits are backed by the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD) of the country to which the bank belongs, which cover up to 100,000 euros per bank and holder. In the case of BAI Europa by the Portuguese FGD, and those of Cuenta Facto, Banca Sistema and Banca Progetto by the Italian FGD.
Another characteristic that they have in common is that they are not cancelable, so once the term is chosen, that money will not be available until it ends.
When you are going to contract a fixed-term deposit, you not only have to be guided by the bank that pays the best interest. There are other aspects to take into account to make a good decision.
“The term, the minimum amount and knowing if they have early cancellation are, along with profitability, the key points for choosing one deposit or another. Before launching ourselves for a good remuneration, we must think about how long we are willing to have that money blocked and if we are not going to need it before ”, the experts explain.
“In addition, from HelpMyCash we always recommend diversifying our savings in various products and terms and more at a time when the deposit market does not stop changing. And of course, having an emergency mattress so as not to scare us in the event of unforeseen events”, they conclude from the comparator.
