Fixed deposit interest rates have exceeded the three percent mark – with terms of two years. If you want to commit to just one year, you hardly have to make any compromises, and German banks are now also offering attractive conditions.
The race for the highest fixed-term deposit interest rate is taking on absurd forms: in the term of 12 months (one year), places one to three in the fixed-term deposit comparison by FOCUS online are just 0.01 percentage points apart.
All three providers are banks from Lithuania. The leader is sme Bank with 2.97 percent, followed by PayRay with 2.96 percent and Siauliu Bankas with 2.95 percent. Up to 95,000 euros (PayRay) or 100,000 euros (sme and Siauliu) are accepted. This also corresponds to the deposit guarantee in Lithuania according to EU requirements. PayRay and Siauliu also expect a minimum deposit of 5000 euros, sme does not require a minimum deposit.
In the comparison of fixed deposits by FOCUS online over two years, PayRay is clearly ahead with currently 3.36 percent per year, followed by sme Bank with 3.14 percent and Inbank from Estonia with 3.12 percent.
For comparison: Bank11 offers the best one-year fixed deposit of a German bank with an interest rate of 2.3 percent. With a term of more than two years, the highest offer comes from pbb directly with three percent, followed by Bank11 with 2.85 percent.
On the other hand, even longer terms are hardly worthwhile: at 3.36 percent per annum, the frontrunner PayRay offers the same annual interest rate for a three-year fixed term as for two. Among the German banks, with 3.15 percent, pbb direct is still a little better at this term.
On the other hand, if you only want to park your money for six months, you will find the best conditions at the Portuguese institutes BAI and BNI with 2.3 percent each. However, these apply per annum as is customary in the industry, so with a six-month term, half of them are credited.
Would you rather remain flexible? Then you will find the current top offers for call money here. There, too, the current leader from Germany has interest rates of up to 2.1 percent.
Do you still have credit lying around in your savings book or even in your checking account with almost no interest? Then now is the time to switch. Start with a portion, then you can add more later if interest rates continue to rise.
Of course, the higher interest rates are still not enough to offset the rising inflation rate. But doing nothing is even more expensive: With a currently interest-free credit balance of 20,000 euros, you are giving away 600 euros in interest per year, which pbb, for example, would pay you directly on it.
Would you like to keep an eye on interest rates for a while longer? Then you should regularly follow the current conditions in the FOCUS fixed-term deposit comparison online.
Important: With fixed-term deposits, you determine at the beginning how long you will deposit the money. A premature disposal is usually not possible.
Tip: Since further interest rate increases are to be expected in the current competition, you should proceed in stages. With the so-called staircase strategy, you divide your savings into different pots. You invest your buffer for emergencies in the call deposit account, the other parts in fixed-term deposit accounts for, for example, six months, twelve months and 24 months. In this way, you always remain flexible, even if interest rates continue to rise, and you can already use the next higher offer after 6 months.
