Earn 3.11% on Your Savings, Paid Out Every Week with bunq
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Look at your savings account. More than likely, your money isn’t growing at all. While some banks were raising rates, they’ve been slow to give back the benefits.
bunq is different. You can earn 3.11% a year which is one of the best savings interest rates in the Netherlands. New to bunq? You earn 3.11% on everything from day one. Existing users earn it on savings above their personal threshold, and savings below that threshold earn 1.61% on the first €10,000 and 1.51% on anything above it. Where other banks pay interest at the end of the year, bunq pays interest every week. It can’t be stressed enough how much of a difference that makes.
Why does it matter that bunq pays weekly versus yearly?
The majority of banks pay interest yearly. bunq pays interest weekly thanks to a system called MassInterest. Why is that better? Compound interest.
Letting interest compound means that you earn interest on interest. The sooner your earned interest shows up in your account, the faster the interest can start to earn interest. With bunq’s weekly payouts, you don’t have to wait a year for the interest to start compounding.
The snowball effect is a great way to visualize how each week your balance grows a little, and the following week that larger balance also grows a little. The savings weekly interest payouts from bunq ensure that smaller deposits over the year add up to much more than a payout that could happen once a year.
Open an account, add money, and the interest comes in every week. That’s all there is to it.
Save without a worry
bunq accounts are equipped with helpful tools that allow a user to automate their savings so they can save effortlessly.
Auto Round Up
bunq makes saving quick and easy! The difference when rounding to the nearest euro gets deposited straight from your Current Account to your Savings Account. Buying coffee for €3.40? You just added €0.60 to your savings account. It may seem like a small amount, but every cent counts!
Auto Round Up also works with Foreign Currency Savings Accounts in all 8 savings currencies. The round-ups go straight into the matching Foreign Currency Savings Account, and you can use Auto Round Up for one Savings Account per currency.
Custom rules for incoming money
When it comes to your salary, bunq allows you to set automated rules to move a specified percentage of each incoming payment to a specific Savings Account. Want to send 10% of your incoming salary to your holiday fund? Easy!
Savings Calculator
An exciting feature of bunq is the Savings Calculator. It allows you to set a savings goal, and track your progress towards earning that amount.
Save in foreign currencies
bunq offers Foreign Currency Savings Accounts in 8 currencies, and each one earns its own flat annual rate. On a personal account, USD and GBP now pay 3.51% per year, while the Turkish Lira pays 30.01% per year! Interest builds up daily and is paid out weekly, in the same currency as the account. The rates change over time, so check the app for the latest figures. These are the current personal rates, as listed on bunq’s help page.
- AED (United Arab Emirates dirham) at 2.02%
- AUD (Australian dollar) at 3.56%
- GBP (British pound) at 3.51%
- NOK (Norwegian krone) at 3.32%
- PLN (Polish złoty) at 4.01%
- TRY (Turkish lira) at 30.01%
- USD (US dollar) at 3.51%
- ZAR (South African rand) at 4.03%
Business accounts earn lower rates in every currency.
Interest is paid on the first €100,000 you hold in each currency, converted at the Mastercard exchange rate. The limit applies per currency, so a USD account and a GBP account each earn interest up to their own €100,000 equivalent.
Foreign currency balances are covered by the Dutch Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) up to €100,000, the same protection your euro accounts receive. Because the balance sits in a foreign currency, the cover applies to its euro equivalent, and that figure moves with the exchange rate.
Currency movements are the risk to keep in mind. Your interest is paid in the foreign currency, but the euro amount you would get back changes with the exchange rate, so a balance that grows in dollars can still be worth less in euros than what you started with. The Turkish Lira pays the highest rate on the list and also carries the highest volatility, so its euro value can move sharply in either direction. Only open a Foreign Currency Savings Account if you are comfortable with the euro value of your savings moving.
There are no fees for these accounts. If you need to convert euros into the currency inside the app, bunq applies a 0.5% markup to the most recent rate when markets are open. Each Foreign Currency Savings Account also counts toward your plan’s bank account limit. Free allows 3 bank accounts in total, Core allows 5, and Pro and Elite allow 25.
Lock in a fixed rate
Term Deposits are a great way to lock in a fixed interest rate for a set period of time. Rates go up to 2.11% per year.
It will remain the same for the duration of your agreement. Check the app for currently available options before selecting one. Options will be variable.
It can be beneficial to always reserve some funds for your everyday expenditures, while the rest can earn you a fixed interest.
Saving Together
You can simplify your savings by using a Joint Savings Account for easy digital access. Save together, earn together.
You earn the same rate of up to 3.11% a year with legal ownership of the account.
Accessing Funds
bunq gives you access to your funds with:
- Two free withdrawals per calendar month, any amount.
- A third free withdrawal each month, once you have saved for a full year.
- Transfers to your other Savings Accounts are free.
- Transfers to normal bank accounts, automated transfers and withdrawals from your Joint Account count toward the withdrawal limit.
You can complete an early withdrawal for a low fee. Savings Accounts may also be closed at your convenience.
Foreign Currency Savings Accounts have their own limit of two withdrawals per month for each currency you hold. A USD account and a TRY account therefore get two withdrawals each, and the count resets on the 1st of every month.
Making Deposits
There are many convenient methods to make deposits to your Savings Account:
- Digital bank transfers
- iDEAL or instant bank transfers
- Apple Pay or Google Pay
- Credit Cards
Save your spare cash in a few taps at the end of the month.
Choose your plan
bunq savings features come with four personal plans:
- Free
- Core (€3.99/month) – everyday banking made easy.
- Pro (€9.99/month) – banking with smart budgeting built in
- Elite (€18.99/month) – banking built for an international lifestyle
You can try all plans for free when you first sign up!
Try bunq this week to earn more
At bunq, you earn 3.11% interest paid weekly right in your account. It’s one of the best interest rates in the Netherlands. Other banks make you wait and lose compounding. Not bunq!
It’s easy to get started. In 5 minutes, you can open an account and have your savings growing by next week.