Interest rates on Savings 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 2022. On a deposit of €50,000 that 0.05% would earn just €25 a year in interest – before tax.
The ECB started raising interest rates again in 2022 as inflation began to increase. Those ECB interest rate rises should eventually result in higher interest rates for savers – but the Irish banks don’t seem to be in a hurry to pass them on
If you have money sitting in a savings account paying just 0.05 % – you could get interest rates that are much bigger elsewhere.
On our page of the Best Savings Rates in Ireland – you will see that the best available instant-access interest rate on lump sums is 2% . This is available from Trade Republic (App based account.) (March 2023) .
Other examples – a rate of 3.45% is available at Raisin.ie (fixed for 2 years) . On €50,000 – that rate would earn €1725 a year before tax instead of just €25 .
You can also get 3.15% fixed for 1 year also with Raisin bank.
Trade Republic is a German investment firm . Currently, they pay interest of 2% on deposits up to €50,000. You can withdraw your money at any time.
All funds in the cash account are held in an escrow account at their partner banks. These currently are Citibank Europe plc and Deutsche Bank.
Citibank Europe plc is supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Deutsche Bank is subject to supervision by the Deutsche Bundesbank and the BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority Germany). . Funds are legally protected up to €100,000 per investor.
If you are willing to lock your money away for a few years you can get slightly better rates.
The best interest rate available over 5 years is 3.35% AER from the French bank Younited via Raisin.ie
If you fix for 3 Years you can get 3.49% at BluOr Bank via Raisin.ie
By comparison – over five years – the 5 year National Savings certificate pays 0.59% Tax-Free
Or you could go for the 10 year Solidarity Bond which pays 0.96% after taxes.
See more of our Money Saving Tips.
If you are interested in the possibility of investing some money in stocks and shares – take a look at our page comparing various online stockbrokers in Ireland.
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