Popularity online saving further down

  • Less money deposited in online savings accounts
  • Increasing amount deposited in salary savings schemes
  • New bank savings scheme introduced to build up pension

The aggregate amount deposited by Dutch households in online savings accounts exceeded 55 billion euro by the end of 2008, i.e. 11 billion down on the end of 2007. For the second year running, the amount deposited in Internet savings accounts has dropped, but still makes up more than two fifths of the total savings balance, according to the most recent figures released by Statistics Netherlands.

The average Dutch household had deposited 7,600 euro in Internet savings accounts, as against 9,200 euro by the end of 2007. Possibly, online saving has become less popular, because most of these deposits, which were instantly withdrawable, have now been converted to fixed-term savings accounts.

The aggregate amount deposited in savings schemes has again risen and stood at 3.5 billion euro by the end of last year.

Since January 2008, it is possible to build up your pension with a bank. This so-called ‘banksparen’ offers tax benefits. The total amount deposited last year was 287 million euro.