Is investing not right for you? Do you not have another destination for your savings yet? Then you can consider transferring some of your savings to another bank. They sometimes give more interest than ING.
You wouldn’t expect it, but the above message is on the ING website . Due to the persistent low and negative interest rates in the market, savers are an increasing burden for banks. The Dutch banks jointly transferred more than €1 billion to the ECB. ING has therefore already lowered the limit for negative interest on savings and the bank is now actively advising savers to put their ‘savings’ elsewhere.
“There are comparison sites where you can see an overview of your options. For example, Independer, geld.nl or Spaarrente.nl. Do you still need help making a choice? The Consumers’ Association gives tips that you should take into account. Because you want to keep saving safely,” the message continues. According to an ING spokesperson, the communiqué is purely informative and should be seen as something positive.
It is not entirely clear to what extent ING’s advice has an effect, but the Volksbank has recently seen an influx of wealthier savers. “We noticed that there is shopping and storage. Large savers are looking for ways to avoid negative interest rates,” a spokesperson for the bank told the ASN Bank, the balance on savings and current accounts increased by 15.2% last year to €14.4 billion.
From saving to investing
Although ING is currently the only bank that actively informs its customers to make a switch, other banks are also saying goodbye to their savings customers. Last year, for example, the curtain fell for ABN AMRO subsidiary Moneyou and Rabobank recently ceased its savings activities in Germany and Belgium. Lowering the threshold for a negative savings rate is also a popular trend . Rabobank, ING, Triodos and de Volksbank have indicated that they will lower the bar for negative interest to €100,000 as of 1 July. ABN AMRO only charges negative interest from €150,000.
Incidentally, more and more people are investing in response to the zero or negative interest on their savings account. This trend is doubly beneficial for banks: on the one hand, they do not have to deposit their savings at the ECB at a negative rate of 0.5%, and on the other hand, the bank earns commission if it is invested through the bank.
