Netherlands savers looking for higher interest rates abroad

Netherlands residents increasingly put their money into foreign savings accounts for higher interest rates. Every week, at least 100 million euros go into savings accounts with foreign banks, AD reports.

“In May, 10 million euros of Dutch savings went to foreign banks every day via our platform,” Eelco Habets of the savings platform Raisin, which allows savers to put their savings into dozens of foreign banks, told AD. “Now it is already about 100 million euros a week. Compared to the beginning of the year, the weekly total amount of savings held with our partner banks through us has already almost tripled.”

According to Habets, that has everything to do with interest rates. The highest interest rate for an unconditional savings account at a Raisin partner is currently 2.6 percent. That is more than double the 1.25 percent interest rate offered by Rabobank, for example. Savers also increasingly opt for deposit savings, where the money is tied up for a certain period. “More than half our customers now have one or more term deposits. Those who tie up their money for a year can receive 4 percent interest.”

Foreign banks aren’t the only competition for ABN Amro, Rabobank, and ING. Online bank bunq, which offers 2.46 percent interest on savings, announced last week that the savings in its holding doubled in a few months to 4.5 billion euros.

According to Habets, the only reason the savings in foreign accounts aren’t even higher is due to some savers still hesitating over bad experiences in the past. He referred specifically to the debacle with the Icelandic bank Icesave and the bankruptcy of DSB Bank, prompting some savers to opt for the security of the major banks on their own soil.