The large Spanish banks are reluctant to remunerate the savings of private customers and that reluctance has reported 3,250 million euros to their latest annual accounts. This is clear from the calculation made by the Bank of Spain, which establishes that the main entities of the country saved that amount throughout 2022 by not responding in the same way as they did in previous cycles of rate hikes.

While families reorganize their finances to try to avoid the erosive impact of inflation on their savings, entities delay the moment to compensate them for their money in the face of the enormous liquidity accumulated in the years of expansionary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB). The Spanish supervisor adds the high concentration that exists in the market as another reason that is delaying competition for deposits.

In any case,the remuneration is neither there nor, for the moment, is it expected. On the contrary, this strategy of almost zero remuneration allowed the main banks to increase their interest margins. Specifically, the counterfactual analysis of the Bank of Spain with respect to other periods indicates that the divergence during 2022 was 525 million euros per month, which would have been reduced from net interest income if remuneration had followed historical patterns, as collected by Europa Press.

In any case, the remuneration is neither there nor, for the moment, is it expected. The scarcity of alternatives among traditional banks is causing a reorganization of family savings in Spain. Many customers are opting for smaller and digital entities, both national and European, to guard a part of their money in the face of more attractive returns. These entities have taken the lead in a strategy to attract new customers.

Other individuals are carrying out a transfer of their money from traditional deposits to more conservative investment products, such as funds, savings insurance or Treasury Bills, where fixed income has become the main protagonist. In the first three months of the year, Spaniards withdrew €21.500 billion from their deposit savings after reaching an all-time high above €2022 trillion for the first time in December 500; only April slightly broke that trend by registering 983 million euros more in accumulated savings in deposits, up to 300,<> million euros, according to figures from the Bank of Spain.

What plans do banks have?

Banks, however, do not feel challenged either by supervisors or by private demand. On the contrary, they insist that they put at their disposal investment alternatives with more interesting returns. Their remuneration proposals are limited to certain profiles. In the case of Banco Santander, this profile is fundamentally corporate, as confirmed to EL MUNDO from the entity itself, but no traditional style deposit enters into its most immediate plans.

In Bankinter they also transfer to this newspaper that "there is no remuneration offer based on deposits, but the bank does have a remunerated offer for individuals, or individuals, and based on a totally liquid product at any time, such as remunerated accounts".

At Banco Sabadell, its CEO, César González-Bueno, explained during the presentation of the accounts that the company is not in a hurry to enter a battle of liabilities for small customers. "There is no war of liabilities, but there is an adaptation of the prices of liabilities and that occurs to a greater extent in large corporations, in public entities and in large assets," he said. "The remuneration of the liability will reach everyone and will arrive progressively," he added.

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