All the best savings rates

Highest Regular Savings Rates:

A number of banks offer some excellent rates on regular savings at the moment so it's worth your while shopping around.

1. EBS Building Society 4.00% family saving account. Maximum saving of €1,000 per month.

2. Ulster Bank 4.00% up to 15k. Minimum saving of €1 per month to a maximum of €1,000 per month.

3. Permanent TSB are offering 3.75%. This is subject to a maximum saving of €1,000 per month.

4. Bank of Ireland dual savings account 3.50% on balances up to 5k. This is subject to a minimum lodgement of €100 per month and a maximum of €500 per month

TIP

You should always shop around to make sure you are getting the best deal on your savings. Most banks have an excellent rate for the first year and after that the rate reduces. The key to making sure you are getting the best rate for your savings is to for example open a savings account with Irish Nationwide for a year then shop around again to see what all the other banks or building Societies are offering.

*AER – Annual Equivalent Rate is the interest rate you get if it is paid to you each year (eg. instead of every month).

Highest Demand Account Savings Rates

1. Irish Nationwide 3.25% on balances up to €20,000

2. Anglo Irish Bank 3.20% on balances up to €100,000

3. Nationwide UK pays 3.15% on a minimum balance of €2,000 up to €200,000

Highest Fixed Term Deposit Rates

1. Anglo Irish Bank offers 3.50% p.a gross on a minimum balance of €1

2. Irish Nationwide 3.50% minimum deposit €1,000.

Irish Nationwide offers the highest rate for a 2 year fixed deposit account.

1. Nationwide UK offer 3.25% gross, minimum balance 3k.

An Post offer the highest rate for a 3 and 5 year fixed deposit account

An Post Savings bonds
3 Years 3.23% (A normal deposit account would need to be paying 4.30% to match this rate because this product is not subject to DIRT at 25%) €120,000 maximum. Early withdraw is possible but is subject to interest penalties.

An Post Saving Certificate
5.5 Years 3.53% (A normal deposit account would need to be paying 4.70% to match this rate because this product is not subject to DIRT at 25%) €120,000 maximum. Early withdraw is possible but is subject to interest penalties. Interest is not accrued on a daily basis, it is accrued each six months from date of purchase. You can withdraw at any time during the term but you will loose any non accrued interest.

Regular savers

A regular savings account allows you to lodge small sums of money on a regular basis, as opposed to lodging a one-off lump sum. Some banks allow you to open an account with as little as €10.

The minimum and maximum amounts you can lodge per month depends on the bank, for example a minimum of €20 rising to a maximum of €1,000, but some accounts have no minimum or maximum amounts at all.

Interest rates are usually pegged at a certain level above the ECB rate, for example, the ECB rate +2%. So if the ECB rate is 2%, you will be guaranteed a savings interest rate of 4%.

Some accounts offer higher interest rates than others.

Others offer a higher introductory or temporary interest for a limited period when you open the account, eg 12 months from the time you open the account. Thereafter, it reduces to a lower, permanent rate.

A Demand account is where you have immediate access to your money.

It's important in these challenging times that if you do have savings that you are getting the best rate available as there are huge variations on what the Financial Institutions are offering for demand accounts.

Your savings up to €100,000 are guaranteed by the Government for all financial institutions in Ireland including the credit unions and all your savings are guaranteed by the Government in the following seven Banks and Building Societies:

Bank of Ireland

Allied Irish Bank

Anglo Irish Bank

Permanent TSB

EBS Building Society

Irish Nationwide

An Post Bank

Lump sum deposits

If you want to invest a lump sum into a deposit account, the interest rate you get will depend on how much access you want to your money and how long you can keep it there.

Demand

If you want access to your money at short notice, you should choose a demand account, which offers a variable rate of interest and allows you to withdraw your money at any time.

Notice

If you want access to your money but can give at least a few days or weeks notice, you should choose a notice account.

BEST RATE: For a lump sum of €10,000, An Post currently has the highest interest rate at 3% AER on a 1-month notice account.

Fixed term

If you can leave your lump sum in an account for a set period of 12 or 24 months, you can get a better rate of interest than for a demand or notice account. If you need to withdraw your money before the end of the fixed term, the bank will usually cut your interest rate.

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Information correct as of 2nd September 2010

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