ING, Rabobank to increase savings account interest rates

People with savings accounts at ING will soon receive a higher interest rate for money they have deposited at the bank. Starting in March, the interest rate will double for many private savings accounts at the financial group. Rabobank previously announced that it will also raise savings interest rates.

As of March 1, individuals who are clients at ING will receive 0.5 percent interest on the first 10,000 euros in savings, an increase from 0.25 percent. Above that amount, the savings interest will be 0.4 percent, where it is currently 0.15 percent. The bank will not yet pay interest above 1 million euros.

Business savings accounts will see interest rates more than double on holdings up to 10 million euros. There will not be any interest given on savings account holdings above that threshold.

Last month, Rabobank announced that savings account clients will receive a higher interest rate. Starting on Thursday, the the rate there will double to half a percent. This new interest rate will apply to both small and larger bank accounts, the bank said on its website.

At the end of last year, Rabobank was also the first major bank to announce an increase in savings interest. This went from 0.01 to 0.25 percent for smaller accounts starting on December 1.

De Volksbank, ABN Amro and ING also increased their savings interest rates on December 1. Neither De Volksbank nor ABN Amro, both majority owned by the Dutch State since the credit crisis, have announced new rate hikes.

For a long time, savings account holders in the Netherlands were unable to achieve any returns on the money they had deposited with banks due to the low interest rates on the capital markets. The largest account holders even had to pay the bank to cover negative interest rates. This started to change when central banks last year decided to raise interest rates in their fight against high inflation.