Netherlands residents have almost €481 billion in savings; More Dutch investing

In June, Netherlands residents have a total of almost 481 billion euros in savings accounts, averaging 26,000 euros per Dutch person. Netherlands residents aren’t very likely to change banks for higher savings interest, but more and more people are investing their savings because of the rising market and low savings interest rates at Dutch banks, NOS reports.

The total amount of savings increased by 33 billion euros compared to June 2023. The four large banks - ING, ABN Amro, Rabobank, and Volksbank - together control 90 percent of the savings. All four large banks reported in their half-year figures that customers were investing more.

Rabobank saw investment accounts grow by 6 billion euros in the first half of this year, an increase of 10 percent compared to the same period last year. “Of those 6 billion euros, 2 billion is new money from customers who come to Rabobank to invest,” financial director Bas Brouwers said. The bank simplified its organizational structure to make it easier for customers to buy products like investment accounts.

ING also reported a significant increase in investment accounts. “The largest growth is in Simple Investing. The number of accounts there increased by approximately 15 percent up to and including August of this year,” a spokesperson for ING Netherlands told NOS. Last year, the number of Simple Investing accounts grew by 19 percent. According to the bank, the growth comes from both new and existing customers.

ABN Amro saw the money in investing accounts grow by 36.6 billion euros to a total of 252.1 billion euros. The bank would not comment on whether this also came from new customers.

De Volksbank also reported an increase, especially after adding investing accounts to the offer of subsidiaries SNS and RegioBank. ASN has offered investment accounts for some time. Younger customers, in particular, are interested in this, a spokesperson told the broadcaster. “At ASN Bank, approximately 60 percent of new investment accounts are opened by people under the age of 35.”

Earlier this year, the Dutch Authority on Consumers and Markets (ACM) criticized the four large banks for making it too difficult for customers to switch to a different bank for a higher savings interest rate. For example, the four large banks require customers to open a current account if they want a savings account. That extra bureaucracy and costs have proven enough to keep customers at their bank and decrease the competition between the large banks, keeping their savings interest rates low.

“There is a group of consumers who want to save with the major banks but do not switch from one major bank to another for the savings account because they then have to take a payment account - with additional costs. They do not seem to trust other bans enough, which is why they stay with their bank. This is at the expense of competition,” the ACM told NOS.

ING, ABN Amro, and Rabobank also have that payment account obligation for opening an investment account. “The mandatory link between a payment and investment account creates additional costs and, therefore, a switching threshold,” the ACM spokesperson said.