Bankoa's Tookam launched with 2.1% APR, ended at 0.5%

Tookam launches with 2.1% APR, ends up offering only 0.5%

How long does a 2.1% APR last on display? At Tookam, it lasts as long as it takes a newly arrived bank to realize it doesn't need to pay that much. Bankoa—a small Basque entity that ended up in the orbit of the French giant Crédit Agricole—introduced its online banking with a three-month welcome deposit at 2.1% APR, with no end date for marketing, and a marketing hook: tookets, points the entity converts into money for social causes. On paper, the offer surpassed what ING or Openbank were paying at the time. In practice, the clock had already started ticking.

The 2.1% APR for three months and its fine print

The first trap wasn't a trap: it was a term. The 2.1% APR applied to a three-month deposit and an amount that was locked until maturity. Withdrawing money before time not only canceled pending profitability: it meant losing the interest already generated. Those who expected a flexible product—to enter and withdraw whenever needed—found a classic deposit disguised as a modern account. The money, still. Three months are not geological eras, true, but the deposit market was moving so fast that any blockage weighed double.

Tookam's fees that no one can find

The pre-contractual brochure, the fee schedule, and currency exchange commissions became the black spot. Those who tried to consult the cost of a transfer, an ATM withdrawal, or a purchase in dollars in advance encountered a very polished website but without the key documents in sight. Contracts arrived on paper, not by email. Little for a bank that markets itself as digital. A purchase in dollars ended with a surcharge that a customer estimated at 2% above the official exchange rate, without finding the clause justifying it. And in the customer area, logins still asked for the password even after validating the electronic ID.

From 2.1% to 0.5%: the cut that scared customers

The welcome deposit did not last its term with the rate intact. In March 2016, the rate dropped to 1.95% APR, and shortly after, the product disappeared from the market altogether: Tookam eliminated the welcome deposit, leaving the Verde deposit at 0.5% APR as the only option. The floor was reached so quickly that some were left out by just one day. The reaction was predictable: collect the money, close the account, and look for the next lure. Several entities were offering higher rates then, and the more mobile savers already had their bags packed.

France pays 4%: why does Spain pay half?

The comparison with the French parent company was the most repeated reproach. The Spanish subsidiary offered 2.1% while the equivalent product across the Pyrenees was advertised, according to those who trinc it, at 4%. The most cynical interpretation—they pay half here because they can—clashes with the theory that circulated at the time: that the Bank of Spain would have aligned the banks to avoid driving up liability remuneration. If that coordination existed, Tookam didn't need to raise the rate. Simply surpassing the rest was enough. Implicit conclusion: the margin is not shared, it is kept.

Consumer power is limited to packing their bags and seeking better shores. In the end, the best joke is told by the calendar itself: the newcomer who promised to pay more than anyone else took less time to match the usual ones than to earn a loyal customer.