Our ECB rate-hike article covered the policy move itself — the deposit facility rate rising to 2.50% on 16 September 2026 — with a quick snapshot table of savings rates. This article takes a closer, dedicated look: which providers have actually passed the hike on to savers, how flexible accounts compare with fixed-term deposits, and what the EUR 100,000 deposit guarantee does and doesn’t cover. All figures below come from each provider’s own rate page or an official announcement, re-checked on 3 November 2026 (see Sources). Update, 3 November 2026: the ECB left its three key rates unchanged on 29 October 2026, so the deposit facility rate is still 2.50%. We refreshed both tables and removed rows that we could not re-confirm on an official page (see “Not covered yet” below).
Watch the video summary
A 75-second summary: flexible vs fixed-term EUR savings and what the ECB 2.50% rate means.
Flexible (instant-access) EUR savings accounts
| Provider | Rate | Conditions | Source / date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scalable Capital | 2.60% p.a. | Overnight account, unlimited cash, no minimum deposit, interest calculated daily and paid monthly | Official product page, read 3 Nov 2026 |
| Trade Republic | 2.50% p.a. | Germany page: unlimited cash, free deposits and withdrawals, paid monthly. Other country pages show different rates | Official rate page, read 3 Nov 2026 |
| bunq | 1.51% base (above EUR 10,000, up to your threshold) / 1.61% on the first EUR 10,000 / 3.11% bonus above your personal threshold | Variable rate. Threshold is your highest savings balance of the previous half-year, recalculated on 1 Jan and 1 Jul. Bonus rate applies up to EUR 100,000. Paid weekly | bunq Help Center, rates effective 15 Oct 2026, read 3 Nov 2026 |
| Raisin Starter Account | 3.10% AER | Rate fixed for 3 months, new Raisin customers only, up to EUR 100,000, withdrawals allowed without penalty | Raisin.com (Ireland), page last updated 13 Aug 2026, read 3 Nov 2026 |
Three things stand out. First, Scalable Capital and Trade Republic sit on or just above the ECB deposit facility rate (2.50–2.60%), which is what you would expect from providers that pass the policy rate through with a thin margin. Second, bunq’s 3.11% headline is a bonus rate that applies only above a personal threshold; below it you earn 1.51–1.61%, so the rate you actually get depends on your own balance history. Third, a flexible rate is not guaranteed: all of these can change, and the Raisin Starter rate is a promotion for new customers that ends after three months.
Fixed-term EUR deposits
| Provider | Rate | Term | Source / date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raisin marketplace (Ireland page) | Up to 3.65% AER (best fixed rate listed); up to 3.20% for 1 year, 3.45% for 2 years, 3.38% for 3 years | 1 month to 10 years, varies by partner bank | Raisin.com (Ireland), “Last updated: November 2026”, read 3 Nov 2026 |
| Scalable Capital | 2.75% p.a. | New 6-month fixed-term account | Official product page, read 3 Nov 2026 |
Locking money away still earns a premium over flexible accounts: in this snapshot the fixed-term headlines run from 2.75% (Scalable Capital, 6 months) up to 3.65% (best Raisin term), against 2.50–2.60% for the flexible accounts at Scalable Capital and Trade Republic, roughly 0.15 to 1.15 percentage points more. Treat that as a rough guide, not a precise comparison: “up to” rates are the best case, and p.a. and AER are not the same measure. The trade-off is liquidity: a fixed term means the money is unavailable (or penalised) before maturity, so it only makes sense for cash you know you won’t need on short notice. Splitting savings across a few maturities instead of one long term, known as “laddering”, is a simple way to capture the higher fixed rate on part of your cash while keeping the rest accessible.
What the deposit guarantee actually covers
Under EU rules, the ECB explains, EUR 100,000 per depositor is guaranteed through national deposit guarantee schemes, and the European Commission confirms the EUR 100,000 level. Raisin states that its protection is “per person, per bank” and that your money is covered by the guarantee scheme of the partner bank’s country, not by Raisin itself, so check which bank actually holds the deposit. This guarantee is specific to bank deposits, a fundamentally different risk profile from P2P and crowdlending platforms, several of which have collapsed or run into serious trouble while advertising yields not far above what a fixed-term deposit pays today.
Where this leaves a saver in November 2026
For cash you might need at short notice, such as an emergency fund or money set aside for a near-term expense, a flexible account paying close to the current ECB rate (Scalable Capital or Trade Republic, from the table above) does its job. For cash you are confident you won’t touch for a while, a laddered set of fixed-term deposits captures a higher headline rate without giving up all liquidity at once. And for money with a genuinely long horizon, where you can tolerate volatility in exchange for higher expected returns, a low-cost ETF portfolio can do more for your money than any savings account. Cash and fixed-term deposits are for capital you need to protect, not to grow.
Not covered yet
We could not re-confirm the following on an official page, so they are left out of the tables: current N26 Instant Savings rates for this market (N26’s own French page shows 1.5% gross for Metal, valid for France only, and our earlier September row of 0.30–1.50% dated from November 2025), and Lidion Bank (Malta), which we had listed at up to 3.80% AER via the PickTheBank aggregator in September. We also do not cover tax on interest, accounts outside the euro, or the interest paid on investment-account cash balances outside the products above. The Raisin Starter Account moved from the fixed-term table to the flexible table, because Raisin lists it as a demand deposit with a 3-month rate.
Sources
- ECB, monetary policy decisions, 29 October 2026 (read 3 Nov 2026)
- ECB, monetary policy decisions, 10 September 2026 (read 3 Nov 2026)
- Scalable Capital, Overnight account (read 3 Nov 2026)
- Trade Republic, interest on cash (Germany) (read 3 Nov 2026)
- bunq Help Center, MassInterest rate (read 3 Nov 2026)
- Raisin, savings accounts (Ireland) (read 3 Nov 2026)
- Raisin, Starter Account (page last updated 13 Aug 2026, read 3 Nov 2026)
- ECB, what is a deposit guarantee scheme? (read 3 Nov 2026)
- European Commission, deposit guarantee schemes (read 3 Nov 2026)
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Rates and offers mentioned are indicative as of 3 November 2026 and can change at any time — always verify current terms directly with the provider before opening an account or moving money. Deposit protection covers bank insolvency, not investment risk; investing and holding cash both carry risk, including inflation risk. This article does not contain affiliate links.
