2023-08-22 10:25:00
Revolut expands its offer in France. The British fintech star offers, from this Tuesday, August 22, a savings product. Called “Flexible Account”, this investment product relies on monetary funds, via the fund manager Fidelity International, we explain in a press release. As a reminder, money market funds are invested in short-term debt securities issued by States, banks and companies.
The neobank Revolut still struggles with its banking license in the United Kingdom
Revolut allows you to invest in three different currencies (euro, US dollar and pound sterling). It promises a variable annual interest rate of up to 5.32% gross – or 3.72% net, on investments in dollars – and up to 3.73% gross (2.61% net) in euros . Attractive at first sight, it nevertheless involves a share of risk, since the capital is not guaranteed. The neobank, however, highlights the ” low volatility “funds, these being very “ diversified ».
The Livret A rate is frozen
The Briton does not hide it: he wants to compete directly with the Livret A, in order to inflate his client portfolio – more than 2.5 million claimed in France – and to capture the savings accumulated in recent months, due to the galloping inflation.
« Funds can be withdrawn at any time, and interest is paid daily, while the Livret A account only allows annual payments and a ceiling of 22,950 euros “, Boasts Revolut in its press release.
In the first half of 2023, the Livret A had a historic inflow of 25.84 billion euros. ” The previous record dated from 2009 (21.36 billion euros) “, recalled in July Philippe Crevel, Director of the Circle of Savings, in a press release. This phenomenon is partly explained by inflation, which has thus greatly benefited regulated savings.
Livret A: the government finally gives up raising its rate on August 1, despite inflation
Nevertheless, the monthly collection tends to decline. A trend that should be confirmed by the end of the year. Indeed, this period is generally more conducive to spending: back to school, end of year celebrations… As a result, households’ savings capacities are reduced. In addition, the Livret A rate has now been frozen at 3% since August 1, until 2025. A higher rate would have increased “ the cost of credit for SMEs, which need to invest “, as well as ” that of the credit for social housing ” either ” tens of thousands of social housing units less, had justified the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, in mid-July.
A future escalation?
Finally, the number of regulated savings accounts topped up sharply. ” 5.3 million booklets A held by individuals exceed the regulatory ceiling of 22,950 euros, i.e. 9.6% of holders (1 million more booklets than in 2021, following an increase of 400,000 in 2020 and 380,000 in 2021) “, indicates the Banque de France in the report of the Observatory of Regulated Savings, published last month. In the absence of being able to refer to the other members of the household – and to open another Livret A or an LDDS -, households should, in factlook for other alternatives.
And Revolut is not the only actor to want to take advantage of it. Super-passbooks and term accounts (savings accounts that offer a high interest rate provided that the sums deposited are blocked for a certain period of time) also hope to do well. In the context of rising interest rates, term accounts are becoming attractive once more (+19.4 billion in 2022 following +1.1 billion in 2021) “, has also noted the Observatory of Regulated Savings. The movement should continue this year. And for good reason, the gross yields of term accounts of two years or less exceed 3%. As a reminder, they reached 0.09% on average last year.
Sign that market players are determined to surf on this context, Distingo Bank (ex-PSA Banque) announced at the end of July to raise the rates of its term accounts up to 3.2% over a three-year horizon on August 1 . In June, it was the Crédit Municipal de Paris which had argued for a further increase in its rates, reaching 2.75% gross for the solidarity term account over twenty-four months. What predict a war of booklets in the months to come.
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