Air Bank will reduce interest on its savings account from April 12. He then announces another drop on May 2, when he will end the current marketing campaign.
From April 12, the interest rate for deposits up to 250,000 will drop to a maximum of 4% from the previous 5% per year. For deposits over 250,000, it will drop to a maximum of 5% from the previous 6%.
The change concerns the campaign that Air Bank launched at the beginning of this year. These interests are available to clients who have activated the offer and at the same time meet the general condition for the bonus: they have paid at least five times with their card in the previous month (for new clients, this condition is not assessed in the first two months).
The event ends at the beginning of May
“We kept the special interest on the savings accounts as long as possible. Although the Czech National Bank has now reduced interest rates again, we will keep the interest rate up to 6% until April 11, 2024. After that, we will reduce the interest rate in the action by one percentage point,” says Jiří Suchý, Director of the Products and Innovations Division at Air Bank.
The promotion with a preferential interest rate will last until May 2, when Air Bank will end it. If he doesn’t come up with a new special offer then the savings account will return to standard interest. Last November, Air Bank linked it directly to the base rate of the CNB. Deposits of up to a quarter of a million will always bear interest two percentage points less than the CNB’s two-week repo rate. In the range from 250 to 500 thousand, it will be three percentage points less.
Changes in the interest rate of the Air Bank savings accountAnnual bonus interest rate when using the promotional offer | ||
| until April 11 | from April 12 to May 2 | |
| deposits up to 250 thousand crowns | 5% | 4% |
| from 250 thousand to 500 thousand crowns | 6% | 5% |
| from 500 thousand to a million crowns | 6% | 5% |
| over a million crowns | 6% | 5% |
| It concerns a savings account in crowns for non-entrepreneurial natural persons. | ||
The standard rate when the condition is met (five card payments) without a special promotion is currently 4.25% up to 250,000, 3.25% from 250 to 500,000 and 0.1% from 500,000 to a million. As of April 5, the standard rate will drop – according to the rule described in the previous paragraph – to 3.75% up to 250,000 and 2.75% from 250,000 to 500,000. If you make less than five card payments per month, the account does not earn interest.
New Investment in Air Bank. How does it work?
A new product called Investing in Air Bank is supposed to be a certain compensation for the falling interest on savings accounts, whose interest will continue to fall in the coming months. It promises a fixed annual interest of 6% for a deposit of at least 100,000 crowns and for a two-year commitment. This is significantly more than banks are currently offering on two-year or one-year term deposits.
“You will lend us money for a predetermined period of time, which we will use to meet legal requirements for so-called eligible liabilities, and we will send interest to your account every month. When the investment period expires, we will return all the invested money to you. It may happen that we return your investment a year earlier, i.e. after a year,” explains Air Bank.
Unlike a classic investment, the client earns 6% per year on a pre-given interest. With a regular mutual fund or stocks, you can earn more in a year, but you can also lose. On the other hand, with a classic investment, the money can be withdrawn at any time (with a maximum delay of a few days), while with the Air Bank Investment, it is locked for two years (with the promise that the bank may release it after a year).
“It’s good to know that you can’t withdraw or deal with the money until then. Therefore, always invest only as much as you can safely lose at all times,” emphasizes Air Bank.
Investments – i.e. not even the new Air Bank product – are not covered by statutory insurance. “Invested money is not covered by the insurance of receivables from deposits or investments with the Financial Market Guarantee System. If Air Bank were to get into serious financial trouble, your money could be completely written off. However, Air Bank is a stable company, which is supported by the PPF group,” the bank points out.
In practice, these are actually bonds, the bank borrows from clients. Even from the detailed conditions, it is not yet completely clear whether the commitment will last for two years or just one. In addition, the bank mentions that the investment “usually lasts two years or several years”.
And while the bank automatically deducts withholding tax from the income of the savings account and time deposit, the client has to take care of taxes himself after the end of the calendar year for investments. Except for exceptions, he should therefore state the income in his tax return. Details are described by Air Bank on its website.
Air Bank has previously offered classic investments in mutual funds (there are eight from Conseq and Generali to choose from) or in ETFs from Porto. On the other hand, the long-announced direct investment in 200 American stocks is getting further delayed, it last planned to launch it at the turn of last year and this year. “Currently, an intensive internal pilot is still ongoing to ensure that the final product is flawless. As soon as we launch the product for the public, we will let you know in time,” says spokesman Michal Kuzmiak.
Other banks also change interest rates
Starting today, Creditas is reducing the interest on the savings account to 5.2% up to half a million crowns (5.4% until now) and to 2.5% above half a million (up until now 2.9%).
Komerční banka will reduce interest rates from the beginning of April. When opening a savings account in the new KB+ application, it still offers 5% for deposits up to 200,000 crowns, from April it will be only 4.5%. Without the new application, the basic savings account rate remains at just 2%.
From April, Raiffeisenbank will reduce the interest on older Hit Plus savings to 4.5% up to 500,000. On the new Bonus savings account, the interest rate is still 5% for deposits of up to CZK 500,000 (Smart account) or up to one million (Active account) or up to 1.5 million (Exclusive and Premium account) with at least three card payments per month.
ČSOB will keep the maximum interest of 5% for deposits up to 250,000 until the end of April, but from April 6, it will slightly change the method of interest. This will bring a lower interest rate for deposits from 250,000 to a million (newly 2.8% instead of 3.3%) and also a lower rate than before if the conditions for active account use are not met (five card payments per month and logging into the ČSOB Smart mobile application at least once every quarter).
From June, Česká spořitelna will change the method of interest. It will significantly simplify the complicated conditions it introduced a few months ago. We described it in more detail in a separate article.
Who has the highest interest now?
The highest interest rate on a savings account is offered by Trinity Bank under the name Spring Great account. The rate for deposits up to 250 thousand is 6.31% pa, for the part from 250 thousand to ten million it is 6.08%. Any portion above ten million will earn 4.08% interest at Trinity.
The second place in the ranking belongs to a savings account from the new Partners Bank with a rate of 6.03% without a ceiling on the amount of deposits. It is part of the package together with the current account. For paid packages For two and For family interest is credited in full without further conditions. For the basic free package For one the interest is unlimited in the first four calendar months (including the month of opening the savings account), from the fifth month it is necessary to pay by card at least five times a month – if the condition is not met, the interest will be halved.
Max banka has the highest interest on a simple savings account without restrictions and other conditions: 5.7% per year.
Best savings accounts as of March 28, 2024 | |||
| Flask | Name | Maximum interest (pa) | Limitations |
| Trinity Bank | Spring Great account | 6.31% | For deposits up to CZK 250,000. Any part from 250,000 to 10 million bears interest at 6.08%. Above 10 million, interest is 4.08%. Interest may be lower for deposits made before March 6. |
| Partners Bank | Savings account | 6.03% | No ceiling on the amount of the deposit. A current account is required. This is free in the basic version (package for one person), but full interest is automatically credited only in the month of opening the savings account and in the following three calendar months. Then the full interest remains for at least five card payments per month, otherwise it drops to half. For higher packages (For two and For a family) there is full interest without a time limit, i.e. without card payments. |
| Air Bank | Bonus action | up to 6% | Interest is 5% for deposits up to CZK 250,000, and 6% is applied only to the part exceeding this limit. For example, for a balance of CZK 500,000, the resulting interest is 5.5%, for a million 5.75%, for five million 5.95%. The condition is at least five card payments in the previous month (with a discount for new clients) and activation of the bonus. From April 12, the interest will drop to 4% up to CZK 250,000 and to 5% for higher deposits. |
| VUB | Savings without limits | 5.8% | No conditions, but: It is a branch of a Slovak bank. If the client does not provide a tax domicile certificate from the tax office, the bank will deduct Slovak tax (basic rate of 19%). Whoever submits the certificate must solve the tax liability for the calendar year themselves (15% rate in the Czech Republic). Those who do not exceed the limits for taxable income do not need to file a return. |
| UniCredit Bank | Promotion for a new current account | 5.75% | Only for new clients who open a current account. Interest is paid on deposits up to two million. The condition is at least three card payments per month. By default, he gives only 2.5% up to a limit of half a million to previous clients. |
| Max bank | Savings account | 5.7% | Without conditions. |
| Fio Bank | Fio account | 5.5% | For deposits up to CZK 200,000. For the band from 200,000 to a million, the interest is 0.1%, from one to ten million 0.15%, above ten million 0.2%. The minimum balance is CZK 100, which is returned only when the account is cancelled. Another product called Fio savings account earns interest on the entire deposit without a ceiling, but has a rate of only 4% and can be withdrawn from it a maximum of four times a month. |
| mBank | mSavings | 5.5% | The condition is a (free) current account and the choice of one of the four variants of regular savings. This takes place in the form of goals, each of which can save a maximum of CZK 100,000. The limit can be increased up to CZK 800,000 thanks to the fact that it is possible to establish up to eight goals. In practice, it is not necessary to save regularly. The bank guarantees that it will not reduce the rate until the end of June. |
| Creditas Bank | Savings Account+ | 5.2% | For deposits up to CZK 500,000. For the part above this limit, the interest is 2.5%. |
| Money Bank coin | Savings H, G, F, E | 5.1% | For deposits up to a million crowns. The part of the deposit above one million bears interest of 0.5%. The bank guarantees that it will not reduce the rate until the beginning of May. |
| J&T Bank | Savings account | 5% | The initial deposit must be at least one million crowns. The condition does not apply to existing clients who already have or had deposits of at least one million or investments of at least CZK 100,000 in J&T Bank. The notice period is one day. |
| Raiffeisenbank | Bonus savings account | 5% | For deposits up to CZK 500,000 (Smart account) or up to a million (Active account) or up to 1.5 million (Exclusive and Premium account) with at least three card payments per month (if the condition is not met, the interest will drop to 0.1%). The part above the limit bears interest of only 0.01%. |
| ČSOB | Savings with a bonus | 5% | For deposits up to CZK 250,000, if you pay by card at least five times a month and log into the ČSOB Smart application at least once every three months. Until April 5: For the band from 250 thousand to a million, the interest is 3.3%, above a million only 0.15%. With fewer than five card payments per month, the base rate is 3.3%, without the app just 2.3%. From April 6: For the band from 250 thousand to a million, the interest is 2.8%, above a million 0.15%. If the conditions are not met, the basic rate is 1.5% up to CZK 250,000. |
| Air Bank | Savings account | 5% | For deposits up to CZK 250,000 with at least five card payments in the previous month. Any part above 250,000 bears interest at 6%, so the resulting interest gradually increases with a higher deposit. The condition is activation of the offer, otherwise the interest is a maximum of 4.25%. From April 12, the interest will drop to 4% up to 250,000 and to 5% above 250,000. |
| Commercial Bank | Dispute. KB+ account | 5%, from April 4.5% | For deposits up to CZK 200,000 upon establishment (and control) in the new KB+ application. Deposits above the limit are practically free of interest (0.01%). Without the new application, the basic savings account rate is just 2%. |
| The table only contains classic savings accounts that are available as standard for regular retail clients. Source: official bank documents, Peníze.cz | |||
Petr Kučera
Editor-in-Chief of the Peníze.cz website. It focuses on a wide range of personal finance and consumer topics. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, but he likes the media even more than paragraphs. He led the coverage of the Czech… More articles by the author.
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