Which major bank offers the lowest interest rate on savings? And what can you do to double your returns? | money

As a starting point, we identified savings accounts with the lowest total interest (base interest + fidelity premium) at the four largest Belgian banks: Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING Belgium and KBC.

It quickly becomes noticeable that you are getting the lowest overall interest on the “regular” savings accounts of the major banks. If we reverse our ranking of savings accounts, from lowest to highest total interest, we are the first major bank to take on BNP Paribas Fortis. This bank’s regular savings account offers a total interest of just 0.50 percent. At ING, your savings earn the lowest return if they are in a green savings account: a total interest of 0.70 percent. At KBC you get the lowest total interest on a KBC savings account: 0.90 percent. Finally, at Belfius, the Classic Savings Account earns a total interest of 1.10 percent.

Do you prefer to keep your savings for the long term? These new government bonds will arrive very quickly.

Non-major banks
This is possible, especially if you switch to a competitor. Take Santander Consumer Bank, MeDirect and Keytrade Bank, for example. You can find an overview of the toughest competitors via our handy comparison tool.

Increases in major banks
But even if you stay with the big banks, you can increase your returns nicely. Some of them will soon increase the interest on their traditional savings accounts. On December 1, 2023, the total interest on the ING Savings Account will increase from 1.50% to 2.25%. On the same day of December 1, a regular BNP Paribas Fortis savings account earns a total interest of 0.75%, instead of 0.50%. Since November 1, 2023, the Belfius Classic Savings Account has earned a total interest of 1.10 percent, as mentioned above.

Alternative accounts at major banks
Please note: Other savings accounts from major banks may yield greater returns, and the overall interest rates there will also rise. For example, on December 1, 2023, KBC will increase the total interest on Start2Save and Start2Save4 from 1.50 percent to 2.55 percent. BNP Paribas Fortis will increase the total interest on its Plus Savings Account to 1.75 percent effective December 1. As of December 1, ING Tempo Sparen no longer yields even 2.25%, but – as the first among major banks – the total interest is 3%. Belfius has been offering a total interest rate of 2 percent for its Fidelity account since November 1.

An important note is that you cannot simply save in non-traditional savings accounts from major banks without conditions. For example, you can deposit a maximum of €500 per month into Start2Save, Start2Save4 and ING Tempo Sparen. You can save up to a maximum of €100,000 in the BNP Paribas Fortis Plus Savings Account.

How safe is your money in the bank? A deposit guarantee of €100,000 can also guarantee €600,000.

But your money can certainly generate a greater return, even at the big banks. You can switch to another account in the same main bank without losing the fidelity bonus and interest period. This is the case as long as you transfer at least €500 to an account with the same name, a maximum of three times a year.

Take care! Big banks don’t always notify their customers if their old savings accounts are earning a lower return. So the conclusion is simple: do the comparison yourself regularly, for example via the free Spaargids.be tool below.

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