IRISH PEOPLE KEEPING their savings in traditional demand deposit accounts through Irish banks are losing out on interest that can be easily accessed through European bank accounts.

Raisin offers users a different way of saving, with interest rates that yield higher returns. Collectively, Irish people as a whole are keeping billions of euro in accounts that yield almost no interest. Because inflation is increasing while returns of savings are so low, Irish people are losing purchasing power — the average demand deposit saver has lost over 21% of their purchasing power over the past 10 years due to inflation.

One simple online account with Raisin can help these households unlock much greater returns by giving them access to a range of European banks with better AER (annual equivalent rates). 

The average interest rate offered on new term deposits is currently 1.85%. These term deposit rates had previously peaked above 2.50% during the 2023–2024 rate hikes. On the other hand, everyday demand deposits have remained virtually flat with a yield of just 0.14%. Despite this, for every euro held in a term deposit account, eight euros are sitting in demand deposits, earning far less.

As such, the kind of returns you can get through Raisin far outpace those you’re getting in your demand deposit account. Savers using term deposits are currently earning more than 13 times the interest of those keeping their cash in standard demand accounts.

The way Raisin works is very simple: users can register for free and instantly gain access to multiple European banks without the paperwork of opening multiple separate accounts.

By diversifying the accounts where they hold their money, savers can give themselves more flexibility while also taking advantage of more favourable interest rates than those offers by demand deposit accounts with Irish banks. 

What Raisin offers is access to a wide range of fixed-term deposit accounts, where you leave your money in the account for a pre-agreed period of time. Fixed-term deposits as a safe, highly predictable mechanism for cash buffers, and do much more to give you returns on your savings than a typical Irish deposit account. 

Some of the advantageous interest rates available to Raisin customers include:

• Avarda overnight at 2.72%
• Banca Profilo 2.62%
• BluOr Bank 12 Months FTD at 3.15%

Raisin also has a Starter Account offer at 3.10% for new customers.

Eoghan O’Hara, Country Head for Raisin Ireland, said: “There are plenty of savings options out there, the onus is on the individual saver to make their money work for them.

“Banks aren’t keeping your deposits hostage, but financial inaction has a very real cost when inflation is eroding your purchasing power. We want to shift the mindset from relying passively on rates and offers from a single bank to actively choosing between multiple competitive European banks, easily through one account.”