ABN Amro joins ING in lowering savings account interest rate

ABN Amro is the latest bank to lower its interest rate on savings accounts. From next month, savers will only receive 1.25 percent interest on savings balances of up to 500,000 euros. This is a decrease on the current figure, which is 1.5 percent. The lowering of the interest rates will apply to price and business saving accounts. The interest rate on children’s savings accounts will drop by a quarter of a percentage point.

ING also lowered their interest rates earlier this month, also to 1.25 percent. It was the first time since autumn 2023 that the bank had done so.

Major banks have been criticized in the past for only raising their interest rates on savings accounts to a limited extent after the European Central Bank (ECB) had raised its interest rates rapidly. The ECB has now started to reduced their interest rates, which has led to the banks doing the same.

Rabobank announced in February that they would be lowering the interest rates on various saving products. Savers will still have receive 1.7 percent on the first 20,000 euros. This rate has dropped to 1.4 percent for fees up to 100,000 euros.

It was reported recently that Dutch people are opening more and more savings accounts in foreign countries, where the savings interest rates are often higher. This is often the case for accounts in Estonia and Italy, but a lot of money is also being put into accounts in Germany and Belgium.

“Dutch banks offering lower savings interest rates is due to a lack of competition, according to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets. The interest rates are higher in the rest of Europe,” said the financial comparison website Spaarrente.nl