Banco Sabadell and Bankinter are intensifying the balance remuneration war between the big banks by offering bonuses starting at 2% at a time when interest rates are on the rise and customers are going to start demanding the return on their money. Until now, small banks encouraged by the rise in interest rates had taken steps forward in remuneration, but since this summer Sabadell has launched its new campaign to attract customers for the recently launched Online Account with a bonus for above the industry average. Until then, Bankinter was the only entity that remunerated the balances with a collection offer for the payroll account of 5% APR the first year and 2% APR, the second. Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank and Unicaja, the other four banks that belong to the large banking group, remain unpaid. for now
Banco Sabadell’s goal is to attract at least 200,000 customers a year for its new Online Account. With this goal of making the account more attractive, the entity gives a return of 1% APR for the first year to customers without the need for any type of connection and with a maximum balance to be subsidized of 30,000 euros. However, if the client is linked through a payroll equal to or greater than 700 euros or by direct debiting three receipts, he receives a 2% APR remuneration, also with a limit of up to 30,000 euros. With this offer, the client would achieve a maximum remuneration of 600 euros in the year, to which should be added the 50 euros that the bank gives away for opening the account. In total, 650 euros per year. This would be the offer with the largest amount given now by an entity in customer acquisition.
Until now, Bankinter and Abanca led the best cash collection gifts. Bankinter has been offering 5% APR for years for a maximum of 5,000 euros to new payroll account customers and 2% APR for the second year. In total, 350 euros. For its part, Abanca currently offers 300 euros to customers who direct payroll. Bankinter is one of the entities that has increased the profitability of its deposits the most in recent months. The bank, on the other hand, has two dollar deposits on display, one for six months and the other for 12 months, in which it paid 0.2% APR just three months ago. Now the bank offers 2% APR for a 12-month deposit from 15,000 dollars (about 15,000 euros, at the current exchange rate) and 1.8% APR for six months. However, it should be clarified that these foreign currency deposits are another type of product, aimed at another type of client and for another type of task, which have nothing to do with the traditional deposit since it is a product with higher risk.
Little ones offer
However, the war for deposits came from the hand of smaller entities such as EBN, Deutsche Bank or Pibank that began to raise remunerations this spring in advance of the ECB rate hike. Pibank, precisely, yesterday launched a new offer both to remunerate the balances of the current account and the deposit. The bank, from the Pichincha group, one of the largest financial groups in Ecuador, offers in our country a remuneration of 0.6% APR in the current account (before it was 0.20% APR) and in the 12-month deposit a bonus of 1.2% with no limit on the balance to be paid. As an example, a balance of 20,000 euros would be remunerated with 240 euros per year.
Renault Bank, which has also increased the bonus in recent months. The bank has raised the remuneration of the current account from 0.34% APR to 0.70% APR from this spring to this summer and with regard to the deposit, it has a 24-month product at 1.40% APR (before was at 0.70% APR). The maximum amount to be remunerated is between 500 euros and one million euros. Another bank that has also improved its offer in just three months is EBN. The entity, with six deposits with different terms, offers from 10,000 euros a 1.5% APR on the deposit with the longest term, 36 months, for which it previously offered half, 0.7% APR.