Best Savings Accounts in the Netherlands (2023)

Saving money can help investors grow their funds and is considered an important step in managing finances, especially with rising interest rates in the Netherlands due to the European Central Bank’s actions.

Whether you are an ambitious saver who prefers higher yields by locking his money for a certain period or a cautious one who prefers easy access to his money but with lower returns, you can find various savings accounts offered by banks and financial institutions in the Netherlands.

In this article, we will talk about the best savings accounts in the Netherlands, comparing regular savings accounts (flexible) with the time-deposit saving accounts. We will discuss their interest rates, management fees, investment amounts and other conditions. 

Finally, we will answer how to open a Dutch savings account by providing the requirements.

Best regular (flexible) saving accounts in The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the “Regular Savings Account” is a basic savings account allowing you to deposit and withdraw money anytime. This type of account typically offers lower interest rates but provides easy access to your funds. The interest rate on these flexible saving accounts is variable and depends on market conditions.

Best Fixed-Term Savings Accounts in The Netherlands

As their name implies, a fixed-term deposit is a savings account that locks your money for a certain period and grants you a relatively high-interest rate. In the Netherlands, this type of account is the most popular. Here is a comparison of the best term-deposit saving accounts regarding interest rates.

Flexible saving accounts in The Netherlands Reviewed

OpenBank Flexible savings account

Openbank is a digital bank that offers various financial products and services, including savings accounts. It is a subsidiary of the Spanish bank Grupo Santander. In the Netherlands, OpenBank offers different types of saving accounts, including the flexible saving account called the “Spaarrekening account”.

BigBank Flexible savings account

Bigbank is an Estonian-based bank primarily operating in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, and Spain. More recently, BigBank expanded its operation and entered the Dutch market. It provides many financial products and services, including saving accounts. BigBank’s flexible savings account is called the “flexibel-sparen” account.

Wise Flexible Saving Account

Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, is a foreign exchange financial technology company based in the UK. It primarily targets people looking to send and receive money internationally cost-effectively. With Wise, you can hold your money in cash, stocks or interest. By choosing the interest form, your funds will be invested in government-backed short-term loans and bank deposits, and the interest earned will be passed to you.

YapiKredi Flexible saving account

YapiKredi is a prominent Turkish bank that primarily operates in Turkey, providing banking services to customers in the country. The bank does not have any physical branch in the Netherlands. However, it offers many financial products on the Dutch market, including savings accounts.YapiKredi flexible saving account is called “Euro Plus Savings Account”.

Bunq Flexible Saving Account

Bunq is a digital online bank based in the Netherlands that provides various banking services, including payments, debit cards, loans and savings accounts. One of the key features of Bunq’s saving accounts is that they can be customised for each client. Customers can create multiple bank accounts within a single Bunq account. 

Fixed-term savings accounts in The Netherlands Reviewed

Klarna Fixed-term saving account

Klarna AB, the Sweden-based bank, recently launched new savings products in the Dutch market. The freely withdrawable and the fixed-term deposits are available through the Raisin savings platform.

Orange Bank Fixed-term saving account.

Orange Bank is a wholly-owned French telecom “Orange Group” subsidiary. The bank offers a wide range of financial services and products in Europe, including consumer loans, insurance and savings accounts. Orange Bank offers term deposits in the Netherlands on the platform Raisin through its Spanish branch in Madrid.

BigBank Fixed-term saving account.

The Estonian-based bank BigBank offers the Dutch market fixed-term saving options with attractive interest rates. Big bank’s fixed-term deposit is called “deposito contracten”.

OpenBank Fixed-Term Saving Account

This 100% digital bank offers fixed-term savings account options from 3 to 24 months. OpenBank can offer a “Welcome Savings Deposit” if you are a new customer. The latter pays a 3.00% interest rate on your money placed for 12 months without maximum investment. However, after the “Welcome” period, your account becomes a normal “Open Savings Deposit “ bearing a relatively low-interest rate on the Dutch market.

Opening a Savings account in The Netherlands is easy and can generally be done with a few steps:

1 – Choose your bank or Provider:

In the Netherlands, you can find many well-known banks like ABN Amro, Rabobank, and ING and foreign banks without offices there. These digital banks operate mainly online, offering more attractive interest rates than traditional banks. It is then important to research which bank will best suit your needs.

2 – Gather your Identification Documents:

Before opening your account, make sure all the following documents are ready. This will make the account opening process faster and easier. The documents needed to open a saving account in the Netherlands are as follows:

a) Proof of ID: Passport or Identification Card

b) Proof of address: Utility bill, Tenancy agreement

c) Citizen Service Number (BSN): (“burgerservicenummer”) if you are a Dutch Citizen

d) Dutch Residence Permit or Registration with the Foreign Police: (”Vreemdelingenpolitie”) if you are a foreigner residing in the Netherlands.

3 – Open your account:

Some banks offer to open your account online, while others require your physical presence. If you choose a traditional bank, book an appointment beforehand (if in person) or simply open an account online.

4 – Bank confirmation:

After completing the account opening application, receiving your bank account details may take some time (Normally, ten working days). Once received, your account is ready.

In 2022, the European Central Bank started raising interest rates, encouraging Dutch banks also to increase their interest rates on saving accounts.

To maximise your income, choose your bank carefully, knowing it’s also worth looking for digital banking platforms’ offerings. Online banks are becoming more popular in Europe, offering higher interest rates than traditional banks.

Thank you for reading this article. We hope that the comparison we did and the information we provided will help you with your research in finding the best savings accounts in the Netherlands.