Openbank slashes 11% short-term deposit rate, ending Spain's top spot

One-month deposits: Openbank's cut ends the top of the rankings

An 11% annual equivalent rate (AER) on a one-month deposit up to €100,000 was the ceiling of the short-term deposit rankings that Spanish banks put on the table in their fierce competition for liquidity. That ceiling no longer exists. Openbank has cut its welcome deposit rate from 11% to 10% AER and reduced the maximum amount from €100,000 to €50,000, meaning the best one-month product now belongs to other institutions. This sequence signals more than a commercial adjustment: it is a sign that a cycle of extreme generosity is coming to an end.

Which short-term deposits topped the rankings

The list of products was long and changed every few weeks. For one-month terms, the leaderboard included Openbank (11%, up to €100,000), Activobank (10% up to €25,000), Tubancaja (10% up to €100,000), Citibank (10% up to €40,000), and Barclays (10% up to €40,000). A step below were slightly longer terms:

• Three months: Barclays 7% up to €60,000; Activobank 7% up to €25,000; Citibank 6% up to €40,000.
• Six months: Uno-e 6.40% up to €100,000; Citibank 5% up to €40,000.
• Twelve months: Activobank 5% up to €100,000.

All shared the same structure: immediate availability, no penalty for early cancellation, and a linked current account with no fees. The requirement was always the same: being a new customer, although some institutions also allowed balance increases for existing clients.

How much do you get by investing €25,000 for one month?

About €200 gross, and that is why many people take the trouble. With amounts between €20,000 and €30,000, the return from a single month equals what a traditional current account would pay in six months. Someone who signs up for a 10% one-month deposit earns in four weeks what their usual bank would give them in six, and this comparison, more than the rate itself, is what drives people to move money from one institution to another.

The profile of those making these calculations is not that of a major investor. Some treat it as a matter of hours: two branch visits and a couple of online transactions in exchange for €100 or €200, which, depending on the salary, represent several days' work. The process is repeated with the next deposit and the next.

The one-month bait and the fine print upon maturity

This is where the cracks appear. The most common criticism is that the 10% one-month rate is not an offer, but an entry point. The month passes, the rate plummets, and the money stays where it is out of pure inertia. Let no one be deceived: these are bait. Some outright dismiss short-term products and only look at six-month to one-year products, arguing that setting up and closing accounts every four weeks is costly in time.

Actual conditions vary by branch and by who handles the account. The most illustrative case is the Suma deposit from Caja Madrid: 10% for the first month, which then becomes 4.5% for two more months, leaving an average of 6.1%. The contracts circulating suggest that money must be placed in the linked account and that the balance can be withdrawn once the term expires, although more than one person has left the office feeling they were told only half the story.

Fees: the only figure that breaks the tie

With identical rates, what decides is the cost of moving money. Of all the institutions compared, the only one that charges for transfers is Barclays. Banco Popular does not charge for transactions within its own network and applies a fee of 0.3 per thousand when the operation goes to another bank; Citibank operates with a flat fee of €1, regardless of the amount; Activobank, according to testimonials from those who have already closed a deposit there, does not apply maintenance or national transfer fees.

The linked account also adds up. In some cases, it requires a credit card costing around €12 annually, a cost that eats up much of the profitability if the balance is small. For €3,000, the advice circulating is to take a 10% welcome deposit and then jump to a remunerated account.

The end of the liquidity war

The most shared diagnosis is that the party is over. The competition for deposits that began in April is coming to an end because institutions have realized that savers constantly move money from one bank to another and do not profit from the capture. Bankinter withdrew its 10% one-month deposit for €30,000 with little fanfare. Openbank cut its flagship offer. And those that remain live, largely, on branch posters that do not appear on any website.

That is the other hidden gem of the map: limited offers, restricted by branch and quota, that are only discovered by asking. A 5% three-month deposit from a Galician savings bank maturing at year-end, an 8% Banesto deposit split between one month and one year, a 6.5% one-year deposit posted in some windows, or a 7% current account for the first three months. None are advertised online, and this opacity, which some see as a oversight, is also read as a way to ration the tap.

Money, meanwhile, continues to seek a destination. And here the analysis stalls: no one knows whether the next move by banks will be to reopen their hands or let balances sleep in accounts that pay nothing.