The search for refuge puts the attention on fixed income and deposits. While Treasury bills are one of the favorite alternatives, deposits have yet to pick up. The search for these rates among the most conservative leads to looking outside, where higher returns are achieved. But that data is not everything: security, cost and protection count after what has been seen these weeks, where more than one has feared losing their savings.
“Money is a rare commodity. If the banks want to capture it, it is normal that they remunerate it from savers”, says Luis Alberto Iglesias, from the Value School. On our borders, entities have a good liquidity cushion and are not so urgent. “It is essential to consider other options outside of traditional banks,” says Mónica Pina Alzugaray, head of the Raisin savings platform in Spain. Some offers are picking up, such as Renault Bank with a 3.03% APR for two years or Finantia with 2.90% for 25 months, but they are more of an exception and have minimum requirements. For sample, data: the average in Spain is 0.37% at one year or less, compared to 1.53% in the euro area, according to Eurostat.
Thus, for the saver who opts for profitability, it is time to look outside. “The highest is in products older than one year,” says Pina Alzugaray. It is offered by the French Younited (3.50% APR at 5 years), the Portuguese Haitong Bank (3.52%), the Italian Banca Progetto (3.52%) or the Latvian BluOr Bank (3.49%), through three years. Two years later, it reaches 3.49% in Haitong and Progetto. At one year the Italian Banca Sistema gives 3.35%. And at six months he quotes 2.80%, again in the Portuguese.
In the meantime, the collapse of banks in the US and the turmoil in Switzerland and Germany show the need for deposits to be protected. That is why the solvency of the country must be reviewed – its debt ratings are usually cited in comparators – and that the entities in question are under the umbrella of a national deposit guarantee fund, such as the one that operates in Spain. In general, in the EU, deposits of up to 100,000 euros per owner and entity are insured. Taking the limit into account, “the current situation illustrates the importance of diversification, of following the rule of not putting all your eggs in the same basket,” they say from Raisin. “Outside the EU, the amount and conditions may be different,” warns Iglesias. As in Norway, which protects in an equivalent in its currency.
It is also necessary to take into account “what the management of going to other countries will cost us: the price of the transfer of funds, the commissions and opening expenses, the maintenance of an account as a non-resident…”, indicates Iglesias. “They can make it not worth the cost of scratching a point”, almost matching offers. And there is a tax issue to watch. Having money or assets of more than 50,000 euros outside of Spain obliges you to submit form 720 to the Treasury. “More than one will be discouraged,” he believes.
In summary, there does not have to be more risk, but whether the excursion pays off will depend on factors such as costs, tax procedures and solvency and protection.
