The key interest rate, which was recently raised again, also ensures higher interest rates for overnight and fixed-term deposits. But the still large difference to the inflation rate causes further real losses in purchasing power.
Savings products that have been unattractive for a long time, such as call money and fixed-term deposits, are becoming increasingly attractive again thanks to rising interest rates. The magazine “Finanztest” has examined where the best conditions are currently available (issue 3/2023).
The call money account is particularly interesting for those savers who want to have access to their savings at any time. At the end of January, Trade Republic had interest rates of up to 2.02 percent per year, followed by the French My Money Bank (up to 1.87 percent) and the German C24 Bank (up to 1.76 percent). For comparison: At the end of November, interest rates were at most 1.3 percent.
Daily money accounts in comparison
If you can spare your money for a certain period of time, fixed-term deposits are an option. According to a comparison, one-year fixed-term deposits yielded up to 3.0 percent interest per year at the end of January (Banco do Brasil and BGFI Bank Europe).
From a term of two years, there is an interest rate of up to 3.3 percent. For this, the French Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance requires an investment of at least 1000 euros.
More than 3.5 percent interest is not possible even with a term of four years or more (Grenke Bank, minimum investment 1000 euros, four years term or Ziraat Bank, minimum investment 2500 euros, five years term). At the end of November, the best conditions for one-year (2.7 percent), three-year (3.25 percent) and five-year (3.55 percent) time deposits tended to be slightly worse.
Fixed deposit accounts in comparison
However, the positive development should not hide one thing: With an inflation rate of 8.7 percent, which the Federal Statistical Office provisionally determined for January, the real interest rate remains clearly negative.
The magazine “Finanztest” only compared nationally active credit institutions in Germany and abroad without account management fees. The magazine did not take into account offers that are linked to certain conditions, such as a monthly minimum payment. In addition, only those institutes were taken into account whose state deposit insurance the testers consider stable.
