Interest rates on Deposit Accounts in Ireland gradually fell lower and lower over the last few years. Many instant access deposit accounts were paying zero or a tiny 0.05% rate of interest in 2023.
In 2023 , the ECB started raising interest rates again as inflation increased. Those ECB interest rate rises eventaully resulted in higher deposit interest rates for savers but most Irish banks weren’t in a big hurry to pass them on. (Despite massive increases in profits.) ECB rates started to fall again in 2024 and further drops are expected as we go through 2025.
Most Irish personal savings (€142 billion approx.) are held in instant-access accounts. If you have money sitting in a bank account paying just 0.1 % – you could get interest rates that are much higher elsewhere.
Irish savers could be collectively missing out on potential interest of around €3 billion in 2025 because most instant-access deposit accounts in Ireland have very low interest rates.
AIB and Bank of Ireland reported profits of around €2 billion each in 2023 – largely because savers are reluctant to move funds out of accounts that pay little or nothing in interest.
Best Fixed Interest Deposit Rates
Fixed Interest rates of up to 3% are available at Raisin.ie . Fixed for 7 years. (June 2025)
By comparison – over five years – the 5-year State Savings Certificate (Issue 23) pays 1.74% a year Tax-Free. (Equivalent to 2.63% if DIRT was applied)
Visit our page comparing the Best Fixed Term Deposit Interest Rates in Ireland
Instant Access Deposit Rates
Check out the best instant access deposit accounts on our page of the Instant Access Interest Rates in Ireland Compared . Instant Access interest rates of up to 2.29% are available.
Trade Republic Bank is a digital investment platform . Any cash you hold in your account, which you haven’t invested, will earn you interest on any balance up to €50,000. The interest is currently 2% (variable).
Lightyear is an investment platform, not a bank , but it also pays interest on clients’ uninvested cash . The current rates are shown below. (Instant Access, no minimum or maximum deposit).
Lightyear Savings| Lightyear Interest Rates | |
|---|---|
| Currency | Interest Rate |
| Euro | 1% |
| GBP | 3.5% |
| USD | 3.5% |
| Correct as of June 11th 2025 | |
If you are interested in investing some money in stocks and shares, look at our page comparing the fees of various online stockbrokers in Ireland.
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