Belgians kept on depositing money in their savings accounts in 2019.
Total deposits placed in Belgian savings accounts continued to grow last year despite persistently low interest rates, according to a survey conducted by Belga.
The amount placed in savings accounts with BNP Paribas Fortis, the market leader in Belgium, increased to 63.5 billion euro, 3.47% more than the previous year.
Overall, 45.8 billion euro were placed in KBC and CBC savings accounts at the end of 2019, which represents a hike of 9.2% compared to the previous year.
At Belfius, the money placed in savings accounts rose by 7.5% to reach 41.3 billion euro at the end of 2019.
The bank puts this positive development - despite historically low interest rates - down to "confidence in the Belfius brand, the growing success of mobile apps and the fact that investors risk adverseness lead them to prefer a savings account as a financial reserve because of its ease of access, deposit guarantee and the exemption of up to 980 euro from withholding tax."
At ING, the increase was 3% with total deposits amounting to 39.3 billion euro.
Besides these four major financial players, Argenta saw savings deposits increase by 1.7 billion euro to reach 26 billion (+7%).
The Brussels Times
