For eight years, savers have faced a strange economic situation made up of negative interest rates. Their money no longer brought them anything. On the contrary.
In question, the 2008 crisis, which pushes central banks to lower their interest rates to revive the economy. In Switzerland, the franc is strengthening to such an extent that there are fears for the export industry. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) then adopts the negative rate. The goal is to encourage people and businesses to spend rather than save.
The current context of inflation reverses the situation. Since 2022, the American and European central banks have raised their rates, and the SNB does the same in September.
Shy rates
Since the beginning of 2023, the banks have followed the path and decided in turn to remunerate the savings accounts of their customers. Nothing to be ecstatic regarding, the time of the record rates of the 70s, which climbed up to 5%, is over.
Today, we are talking regarding timid rates. For example, UBS pays 0.1% interest up to a balance of 500,000 francs, Raiffeisen and Migros Bank pay between 0.25 and 0.5% up to 100,000 francs on accounts of saving. At Postfinance, it’s 0.4% up to 25,000 francs.
At Credit Suisse, it’s 0.25% up to 50,000 francs: “Indeed, this is not a very significant increase, there will not be a big difference at the end of the quarter on your statement of Nevertheless, it is a very positive sign to get out of negative rates, to be able to remunerate accounts once more, “says Steve Fragnière, Credit Suisse’s manager for French-speaking Switzerland, in RTS 7:30 p.m.
Under these conditions, the banks do not expect a massive influx of customers to open savings accounts. “But it makes sense, when you have money in the bank, that you have a small salary,” he said.
Faster neobanks
Neobanks and online banks looking for new customers reacted much faster by offering better rates. Like Yuh who was, in September, the first financial services provider to introduce remuneration on savings accounts:
“If we see something somewhere that might be very attractive to customers, where there is a need, then we want to react to it quickly. I wouldn’t say we are the quick followers, but we are the first to act. . Because then we can also be attractive”, says Markus Schwab, its managing director.
Next hike soon
It is difficult to predict the future of these savings interest rates. According to the official at Credit Suisse, there will probably be an increase in interest rates in March and June. “In a competitive market like banking, banks are expected to adapt interest conditions once more. Mainly for private customers.”
According to Christian Bovet, professor of banking law at the University of Geneva, interest rates have fluctuated in history: “These variations can be relatively strong. We do not necessarily have great stability. But in my opinion, this period of negative interest is behind us. I think we are out of it for quite a while,” he predicted.
Especially since the negative rates would have relatively little affected the level of savings over time, because “people were concerned regarding protecting themselves once morest a whole series of crises or uncertainties which occurred in parallel”, specifies the Geneva professor.
Delphine Gianora/fme
