Best High Yield Euro Savings Accounts: Savings Accounts in Europe

It is very difficult to keep track of the best offers on the market for high-yield savings accounts in Europe; new offers are hitting the market almost daily. This is a far cry from where we were just twelve months ago. 

In this post, we will take a look at what is currently the best high-yield savings account across Europe. This will include not only banks but also e-Money Institutions and Investment brokerages, which also lead the way in offering high yields to their customers.

From our point of view, Lightyear is currently offering the best high-yield savings account in Euros in Europe, where you can earn an interest rate of up to 3.25%.

As of 20/09/2023.

Why not bookmark this page, so you can regularly come back and check on all the latest offers available to Europeans?

The prerequisite for our selection criteria is that the accounts selected are available for most European citizens. Depending on where you are resident, additional options may be available to you at equivalent or better rates.

Lightyear

Interest rate on offer: 3.25% on Euro balances.

How often interest is paid: Interest is accrued daily and paid on the 1st of every month.

Limitations: There are no restrictions or limits on the interest you can earn with Lightyear.

Safety: Not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme, but safeguarding is in place for customer funds.

While your funds are not covered by a conventional deposit guarantee scheme when you hold them with Lightyear, they do have to safeguard customer funds. Uninvested customer funds are stored separately from Lightyear’s business funds with regulated EU credit institutions and money market funds. The primary institutions where Lightyear holds uninvested customer funds are ABN AMRO Bank in the Netherlands and AS LHV Bank in Estonia, and in BlackRock money market funds rated AAA/mmf by Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch.

Co-founded by former Wise employees, Lightyear sets out to be a platform that allows you to invest your money globally without unnecessary barriers and with a simple, fair, and transparent pricing structure.

Lightyear is available in a large number of European countries, including; Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK.

Interactive Brokers

Interest rate on offer: The maximum interest rates on offer: IBRK Pro 3.136% on Euro balances. It may change without prior notice.

How often interest is paid: Accrued daily and paid monthly.

Limitations: No interest paid on balances less than €10k.

Safety: The level of protection you will receive for your money on deposit will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

The level of protection you will receive on your cash deposited with Interactive Brokers will vary a lot from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, this is something we covered in detail in a separate article if you are interested in learning more about your protections with IBRK and we also have a full review IBRK’s services if you want to dig a little deeper.

Interactive Brokers is a renowned online brokerage firm that offers individuals and institutions a wide range of investment and trading services.

One of the key features that sets Interactive Brokers apart is its advanced trading platform. Known as Trader Workstation (TWS), this platform offers a comprehensive suite of tools and analytics to assist traders in executing their strategies effectively.

In terms of the IBKR interest rates offering, IBRK offers different interest rates on each currency, from USD to ZAR.

The highest interest rate you can earn on a Euro Balance will depend on how much you have on deposit with Interactive Brokers.

Unfortunately, you won’t earn interest on your first €10k of your Euro cash balance with IBRK.

Accounts with a Net Asset Value (NAV) of USD 100,000 or more are paid interest at the full rate for which they are eligible. Accounts with NAV of less than USD 100,000 (or equivalent) receive interest at rates proportional to the size of the account.

This makes it more difficult to determine the interest rate you will receive. Still, Interactive brokers have a calculator you can use to try and estimate your interest earnings.

Wise

Interest rate on offer: 3.19% on Euro balances.

How often interest is paid: the beginning of the following month.

Limitations: There are no restrictions or limits on the interest you can earn with Wise.

Safety: Not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme, but safeguarding is in place for customer funds. As Wise declares on its website: “We are not a bank, which means we don’t lend out our customers’ money to people or businesses. This also means our payment services aren’t subject to the Belgian Deposit Guarantee Scheme.”

However, Wise does have some safeguards in place for customer funds on European accounts, which segregate customer funds into a mix of cash in leading commercial banks (JP Morgan Chase) and low-risk liquid assets (Money Market Funds with BlackRock and State Street).

These assets are held in segregated accounts separate from Wise’s funds. In addition to this protection, each customer is eligible for protection under the Estonian Guarantee Fund (GF) up to a value of €20,000 in Europe, in respect of assets that have been invested.

Launched in 2011, Wise is foremost an eMoney business that is aimed at people who want to reduce the cost of making international money transfers.

One of Wise’s features is the ability to hold your funds in Cash, Stocks, or Interest. Wise will select an appropriate index fund and invest on your behalf when you choose to hold your money in stocks.

If you switch your money to ‘interest,’ these funds will be invested in government-backed short-term loans and bank deposits. The interest earned is then passed on to you.

BUX Zero

Interest rate on offer: 2.75% on Euro balances.

How often interest is paid: Accrued daily and paid quarterly.

Limitations: Only balances up to €25,000 will be eligible for interest.

Safety: Your uninvested cash is held with ABN AMRO Clearing Bank, covered by a deposit guarantee scheme of up to €100k.

With over 700k users, BUX Zero is a popular mobile investing app, especially if you want to create monthly savings plans to automate your investing into stocks or ETFs.

The fees at BUX Zero have been creeping upwards of late, and they now charge you a monthly service fee of €2.99, which could eat into your interest if the sole purpose of opening a BUX Zero account was to save.

The interest rate is valid for all uninvested cash balances in BUX Zero up to €25,000. All cash accounts with BUX are held with ABN AMRO Clearing Bank and are protected up to €100,000 under the Dutch Central Bank’s Deposits Guarantee Scheme (DGS) conditions.

Check out our full review of BUX Zero here.

Scalable Capital

Interest rate on offer: 2.60% on Euro balances.

How often interest is paid: Interest is paid quarterly.

Limitations: Only balances up to €100,000 will be eligible for interest, and to earn interest, you must sign up for a PRIME+ account.

Safety: Not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme, but safeguarding is in place for customer funds

Scalable Capital was founded in 2014 and allows investors to independently trade stocks, ETFs, funds, cryptocurrencies, and derivatives.

To avail of the 2.60% interest offer, you must sign up for a PRIME+ account, which will cost you €4.99 monthly. You do get reduced trading and commission costs for this subscription fee, but depending on your overall level of deposits, the fees may outweigh the interest you earn.

From reading through Scalable Capital’s policies there is no reference to them being a member of a deposit guarantee scheme. They do mention that some of the banks that they choose to place your funds on deposit with to earn yield, which can then be returned to you, are members of a deposit guarantee scheme, but this will only offer limited protection to your funds in the event of a default.

Trade Republic

Interest rate on offer: 2.00% on Euro balances.

How often interest is paid: Paid monthly.

Limitations: Only balances up to €50,000 will be eligible for earning interest.

Safety: Your uninvested cash is held with either Solaris SE, Citibank Europe plc, Deutsche Bank AG, or J.P. Morgan SE, which are covered by a deposit guarantee scheme up to €100k.

Founded in 2015, Trade Republic is a discount broker based in Germany. It focuses on four types of financial assets: stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and derivatives.

While Trade Republic offers a slightly lower interest rate than some competitors, you could earn up to €1,000 interest per annum if you fully use Trade Republic’s €50k deposit balance limit for interest income.

Trade Republic remains one of the best brokers around, and you have the added benefit of being protected by a deposit guarantee scheme as your uninvested cash, which is held with either Solaris SE, Citibank Europe plc, Deutsche Bank AG, or  J.P. Morgan SE are covered by a deposit guarantee scheme up to €100k.

Interested in knowing more about Trade Republic? Read our Trade Republic Review.

Fixed-Term Deposits (via Raisin Bank)

So far, all of the offers we have mentioned have primarily focused on accounts that allow you to withdraw your funds immediately. Generally speaking, you can attain higher interest rates on fixed-term products, which banks typically offer.

The difficulty here is interest rates have risen at a different pace in many European countries, and you may be one of the unlucky ones to be residing in a country that still has little choice in terms of fixed-term interest-bearing products compared to neighbouring countries.

Raisin Bank will allow you to find the decent interest rates you are looking for. Raisin Bank is a savings marketplace that partners with banks all over Europe to offer high-yield savings products (that are covered by deposit guarantee schemes). Many of these products are only available through Raisin Bank.

For example, French users can now access a 3.80% interest rate on a 3-year fixed-term savings product offered by Swedish Bank Klarna. Ordinarily, Klarna only offers this product directly to Swedish and German customers, but Raisin Bank can facilitate this for French users in this case.

They act like a middleman; you create an account with Raisin Bank, select your preferred deposit account, and transfer the amount you want to deposit, and Raisin Bank will look after the rest.

While they operate across most of Europe, the best savings options listed in Raisin Bank are currently available to those in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Austria, France, and the UK.

Can you open a savings account in another EU Member State (as a Non-Resident)?

If you are a resident of an EU country, you will be entitled to open a basic current account that allows you to make deposits, withdraw funds, and receive and make payments. Even if this bank is not established in the same EU member state where you reside, you may need to provide a justification for opening such an account.

This same entitlement does not apply to other accounts such as loan and savings accounts.

This, therefore, makes it difficult to mobilise your savings to take advantage of the highest interest rates in other EU member states.

Are there any alternatives to savings accounts?

The yields on savings accounts are improving in Europe, but if the returns are still not meeting your needs, then here are some alternatives that you could research:

• Certificates of Deposit (CD)
• Money market funds
• Corporate Bonds
• Peer to Peer lending
• REITs
• ETFs
• Stocks

All of these investments offer varying degrees of risk and potential returns. The key is to evaluate your risk appetite and choose the best investment product.

Conclusion

The interest rate environment is evolving very fast in Europe, and competition is heating up among providers of all kinds.

Every individual will have completely different financial goals, and each of those goals will have different time horizons, which makes it important to choose the right savings account to meet your needs.

Some key considerations to mull over before making your decision are:

• Do you need to have quick access to your savings? Or can I lock them up for some time?
• Are there any hidden fees?
• Is a higher interest rate worth it if your funds are not protected by a deposit guarantee scheme?
• Don’t forget to calculate the taxes on interest earned to get a clear view of what net amount you will profit from your savings.

Feel free to leave comments and feedback below – we’re happy to help.