European Banks Aren't Helping Your Savings
For the first time in a generation, Europeans can now earn a return on their savings -- if they overcome their inertia.
Photographer: Jason Marz/Moment RF via Getty Images
European banks are rightly being criticized for failing to pass on interest-rate increases to customers. But is it any wonder they’re so unafraid of losing business? Compared to their US counterparts, European financial institutions often face less competition from alternative cash-like investments.
Years of negative interest rates in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis resigned Europeans to not enjoying a return on their savings, and they’re only slowly waking up to better opportunities for their more than €9 trillion ($9.8 trillion) of consumer deposits. The average interest rate on easily accessible household money is just 0.23%.