Spain: Conservative saver targets €25k interest via four deposits

Four €100,000 deposits per bank to bypass traditional banking risks

Throughout 2023, as interest rates rose from historic lows, a portion of Spain's conservative savings shifted. The thesis was simple and unheroic: with equities expensive and deposits finally paying, collecting a guaranteed coupon beat enduring stock market volatility. This idea built a portfolio splitting four €100,000 deposits among Pibank, EBN, Facto and Openbank, adding a €15,000 remunerated account at Renault Bank yielding 1%, and maintaining €20,000 in periodic contributions to Indexa Capital. The forecast for 2024 was earning €25,000 in interest. All this, according to the author, before "the theft by the traditional mafia." A double layer: deposit and safekeeping.

Four €100,000 deposits, one per institution

The structure is a grid. Pibank, EBN, Facto and Openbank each hold €100,000; Renault Bank contributes a remunerated account with €15,000 at 1%, and Openbank also holds a daily-use account with €5,000. On the variable side remain 3,000 Iberdrola shares for flexible dividends and the Indexa plan. Little glamour, much fine print.

The list changed several times during the year: entities entered and exited, accounts were added at Big and Haitong via Raisin, and Openbank reappeared offering 2.75%. The stated goal, repeated like a mantra, is never leaving more than €100,000 in the same house.

Why €100,000 and not more per bank?

Because the Deposit Guarantee Fund covers up to €100,000 per depositor and institution. The rule, stated bluntly, is never exceeding that figure in one bank "just in case." Coverage extends to European entities adhering to their national fund, and there are structural tricks: a subsidiary with a Spanish IBAN and foreign parent does not require filing Form 720, similar to other non-Spanish banks operating locally.

The underlying doubt remains. After the bank failures in early 2023, some argue in forum threads that no authority would let an average depositor fall: the money printer, they claim, would eventually cover the hole. It is a reasonable intuition and, simultaneously, the kind of certainty only tested on the day it is needed.

Deposit, remunerated account or Treasury Bill?

It depends on the term and how much liquidity you want to keep handy. Those unwilling to immobilize funds use remunerated accounts: Renault pays 1%, MyInvestor reaches 2% for new clients up to €50,000, and Openbank moved up to 2.75%. Those accepting locked money have Facto at six months yielding 2.27% or Pibank deposits, with an early cancellation penalty of 2% worth reading before signing.

The public alternative is Treasury Bills (Letras del Tesoro), with a ladder of rates rising with the term:

• 3 months: 1.369%
• 6 months: 2.003%
• 9 months: 2.363%
• 12 months: 2.537%

With these numbers, the comparison with a one-year deposit appears naturally: a user asked if buying bills had been better than contracting a deposit. The calculation decides the allocation.

Czechia, Poland and Lithuania: interest in exchange for currency risk

Outside the eurozone, rates are tighter. Deposits yield 5-6% in Czech Republic and up to 7% in Poland, albeit in korunas and zlotys. A Lithuanian bank offers 3.06% and a French entity 3.05%. The problem is not the coupon, but the currency: the Czech koruna moves referenced to the euro with occasional fluctuations, and the zloty or dollar can erase through exchange rate losses what interest added. Extra yield comes with FX risk, which no guarantee fund covers.

Bank portability: closing the old account without visiting the branch

Changing banks has its own bureaucracy. The old reverse transfer, the cash transfer order, is obsolete; instead, as explained by a user, bank portability works—a mechanism similar to telecoms processed by the new entity: it requests closure of the old one, transfers the balance, and forwards incoming transfers to the old account for a time. That physical branches still insist on personal presence for cancellation is, at least, a hard-to-kill habit.

The plan has a horizon. It stays in fixed income for a year and, when stocks bottom out, enters fully with all capital. That "lump sum investment" is the missing piece. Opportunity cost has been discussed without acrimony: those who put money in stocks during 2023 saw portfolios rise while deposits paid coupons. No one knows when the bottom hits, nor if the floor is where believed, and that is exactly where analysis runs out of answers.