Bankinter's COINC account plummets from 4% to 1.1% TAE

COINC Plummets from 4% to 1.1% TAE: Banking Plays and Wins

How long does a 4% TAE last? Less time than it takes the average saver to learn the platform. Bankinter launched the COINC account at 4% TAE, with no fees, monthly interest settlement, and a maximum of €50,000. It was marketed as a tool to save and "achieve your goals." Over time, that same account paid 1.1% TAE. In between, a succession of letters announcing the rate cut and a trail of customers looking for a new home for their money.

From 4% to 1.1%: The Ladder of Cuts

The first drop was foreseeable from day one. Even those recommending it warned: the 4% won't last forever, it must be an initial promotion and then, "a letter and a reduction." Translate that: the rate fell in steps. From 4% to 3%, then to 2.25%, then to 1.75%. On July 15th, it stood at 1.4% TAE, and a customer summarized it with surgical precision: "from 1.75 to 1.4, a 20% drop." The final blow came with an email: "on March 12th, the interest rate on your COINC account will go from 1.40% TAE to 1.10% TAE (1.09% TIN)." The same letter announcing the cut promised a host of new antiestéticatures for that year. The first new antiestéticature, they sarcastically noted, was precisely the rate reduction.

The €50,000 Limit Trick

The account's cap was €50,000, and therein lay the crux of the matter. The most common plan: deposit €49,000-plus, let the interest accrue monthly, withdraw it, and re-deposit a balance just below the limit. The question was whether it would work. The answer, blunt: anything exceeding €50,000 earned 0%. "At a flat 0%," responded a participant. The workaround circulating was diversification: opening one account in your name and another in your partner's name to double the limit, up to €100,000. Quite a domestic engineering manual to eke out a few tenths of a percent.

No OTE Transfers, a Single Holder, and No Branch Support

The account was online-only, and that caused friction. According to forum discussions, OTE (interbank) transfers were not allowed by contract, which struck more than one person as a dangerous precedent: if one bank can prohibit them, what stops another from imposing the same clause? One user recommended the "reverse transfer," initiated from COINC itself. Other details were more irksome: a single holder per account, no authorized signatories, and branches that didn't even know the product existed. "It's a sub-section of Bankinter that even the branch staff don't know about," summarized a customer. If something went wrong, you dealt with call center agents. And the fine print made the usual clear: conditions could be changed, with two months' notice, but they could be changed.

How Much Does the Tax Agency Take from Interest?

Another recurring question: the taxation of an account was the same as for a deposit, the cut was identical. Savings income was subject to a 21% withholding tax, regardless of whether the product was called an account or a deposit. And the backing: all accounts and deposits were covered by the Deposit Guarantee Fund. There was a nuance here that was repeated several times: European coverage extends to €100,000 per holder, even though COINC limited deposits to €50,000. The umbrella was larger than the account itself.

Day One Promises and Interest That Didn't Arrive

The first few months were a trial-and-error period. Registration failed, email verification got stuck, and more than one person couldn't figure out how to deposit or withdraw money. Then came the issues with settlement: interest payments weren't made at the end of the month but on the date each customer peine their account. Some saw half the interest credited to each "meta"—the virtual baskets with which the product gamified savings—without the distribution being proportional to the contributions. And some received nothing at all. The product boasted of making saving simple. For some, the simplicity ended at the interface.

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With the rate at 1.1% and competitors offering temporary promotions, the question was no longer how much the account yielded, but how long it took to accept that the 4% on the sign wasn't permanent. Money moves, conditions change, and the bank, obviously, remains. And the saver, once again, with their folder under their arm, looking for the next promotion.