In a bid to attract some of the €156 billion on deposit in Ireland at present, Dutch online bank Bunq has announced a big increase in its savings rate.
At the moment households in Ireland have a staggering €156 billion on deposit. A record high. However almost 90% of the money is still lying around in accounts that pay little to no interest.
Recent research we conducted shows that savers are reluctant to move their money into higher-yielding savings accounts for a variety of reasons. But one in four say they don’t want to lock their money away for a long period of time.
If this describes you, then the news that Bunq is hiking the rate on its instant-access savings account might be enough to get you moving your money!
New 3.36% interest rate
Bunq is increasing the rate of interest on its 'Easy Savings' account to 3.36% for new customers from 19th July.
This is a big increase from the 2.46% rate that was on offer previously and is one of the best savings rates currently available in Ireland.
Another big benefit is that interest is paid out weekly as opposed to quarterly or yearly, so you can benefit from compound interest and reach your savings goals even quicker!
You can top up your savings quickly and easily whenever you want within the Bunq app. And you have pretty much instant access to your money whenever you need it: you can make two instant withdrawals of any amount up to two times a month.
And as Bunq is a fully licensed bank in the Netherlands, all customer deposits are guaranteed up to €100,000 under the Dutch Deposit Guarantee Scheme.
You can open a savings account with Bunq today through bonkers.ie.
I’m an existing Bunq customer. Does this new rate apply to me?
If you’re an existing Bunq customer the news is a bit more mixed. And a bit more complicated!
The rate of interest that you’ll earn on your existing savings will actually fall slightly to 2.16%.
However if you make any additional deposits, then this money will earn the higher 3.36% rate of interest as long as you haven't withdrawn any of your savings recently. If you have made a recent withdrawal, the 3.36% rate will only apply once you surpass the previous highest balance in your account between January and June of this year.
How do I pay the tax on my savings?
If you save with an Irish bank then DIRT is deducted at source and paid to Revenue directly on your behalf.
But when saving with a non-Irish bank like Bunq it's a bit different.
Interest will be paid out gross of tax and you must self declare to Revenue. But this can easily be done online through Revenue's myAccount service. You'll just need to answer a few simple questions like:
- Bank account details (date of opening, type of account, IBAN, currency)
- Bunq’s name and address
- The amount of money you lodged to open the account
- Any person or company in Ireland that helped you in opening the account
- Interest earned
A changed savings landscape
For many years after the financial crash savings and deposit rates in Ireland were at rock-bottom levels.
But in the summer of 2022 the European Central Bank (ECB) started to hike interest rates aggressively to deal with high inflation and this gradually led to an improvement in the returns on offer to savers.
And in recent weeks, increasing competition in the savings space has led to some providers upping their rates further, despite the ECB having started to cut rates in June.
For example, Bank of Ireland recently increased the rate on two of its fixed-term deposit accounts. Its two-year fixed-term Advantage account now offers 3% a year.
And the online-only banks N26 and Revolut have both recently launched instant-access savings accounts offering competitive rates of interest.
Revolut now offers 2% for customers with a standard account and up to 3.49% for those with an 'Ultra' subscription. And N26 offers 2.80% for customers with a standard account and up to 4% for those with a top-tier 'Metal' subscription.
However the ECB is likely to cut rates for a second time this year in either September or October, meaning the higher savings rates on offer right now may not be around for much longer…
Review all your options
Don’t leave your money lying around where it’s earning nothing. Make sure it works as hard as you do!
You can easily find the best return for your money on bonkers.ie. Use our savings comparison tool to compare rates from the likes of AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB, Trade Republic, Raisin, Bunq, N26 and more in just minutes.
Alternatively check out this informative guide on some of the best options for your money.
