Not good news for savings account savers. The European Central Bank (ECB) lowered the policy interest rate again on Thursday by 0.25 to 3.25 percent. The savings conditions of our banks will follow soon. If you can, you should complete it quickly now.
To combat inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) has sharply increased its policy interest rate in recent years. This ensured a reasonable return on the savings accounts. This year, up to 4 percent per year was already available for a capital savings account with a term of three years (chart).
Inflation has now fallen significantly again and the ECB has announced an interest rate change halfway through the year. What makes housebuilders happy with variable loans is less good news for savings account savers.
As the name suggests, the credit institutions are based on the main interest rates (in particular the reference rate ‘Euribor’) and have therefore already adjusted a number of conditions. Fortunately, the situation is not completely lost yet.
“Some banks have not yet fully priced in the ECB’s cuts. This means that good conditions are now available that are above September inflation and can almost dampen the estimated annual inflation of 3.4 percent,” explains financial expert Andreas Ederer from the Durchblicker comparison portal.
Savings products with a term of one year are currently the most attractive. Up to 3.2 percent is still there. With a fixed interest rate of two years you get a maximum of 3.05 percent and with 36 months 3 percent (see graph). If you don’t want to tie up your money and prefer a daily account, you can even get up to 3.6 percent – but only for four months fixed and only for new customers.
So if you want to invest some money safely, you need to act quickly. Yesterday the ECB lowered the policy rate again by 0.25 to 3.25 percent. As a result, banking conditions for savers will soon deteriorate again. It therefore makes sense to “log in” now because of the still very good conditions.
Use comparison portals and find the best conditions
To find out where the best offers are available, it is worth taking a look at portals such as durchblicker.at or banksenrechner.at from the AK.
It’s important to only tie up money you don’t need. If you withdraw money early, you pay high interest on the advances, which often eats up your savings.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
