The bank takes a turn with deposits in the final stretch of 2025 and raises remuneration

The profitability of term deposits rebounds in the final stretch of 2025. The average interest rate stood at 1.79% in October, its highest level since last March, thus chaining its second consecutive month of growth. This is the first time that remuneration has changed since the European Central Bank (ECB) The process of lowering interest rates began in June of last year, when they reached 2.65%.

The entities have begun to adapt their catalog of savings products to the new scenario for the price of money, which places the floor at 2%the level at which they are currently, compared to the 1.5-1.75% that was expected a year ago. He market has ended the cycle of cuts and, based on this, the Euribor – the reference in the mortgage market – began to rise a few months ago.

This indicator broke its downward trend last August, starting from which turned around and, in these moments It moves around 2.27%, a figure that in any case is lower than the 2.24% at which it moved twelve months earlier. All of this has resulting in an increase in price of new loans, especially mortgage loans, with which the banks conclude the end of the mortgage war.

Part of this rebound It is not carried out by the Spanish entitiesbut by European banks that compete directly with national groups. It should be remembered that the deposit facility in the eurozone is at 2%. Banqmi spokesperson, Antonio Gallardo, explains to Economic Information that The evolution is due to several factorsamong them, the need for some entities to attract liquidity, especially small ones or digital banks, as well as “the resistance of certain terms to market expectations, especially 12 to 18 months.”

Traditionally, the fixed-term deposits have been one of the products savings par excellence in Spain. However, the reluctance of the sector to adapt the interest offered to the level stipulated by the ECB has caused that in the last three years the Spanish saver opts for other more attractive options such as Treasury Bills or monetary funds, which for a few months became the best bet for families.

Now the sector is beginning to tighten its grip in the final stretch of the year and is launching to reinforce remuneration in a context of moderation in the volume of balances. The latest data published by the Bank of Spain (BdE) corresponding to October show that bank deposits to households and companies They closed the tenth month of the year on 1,406 billion with a monthly decline of 12,000 million, although it increases by 66,000 million compared to the same month of 2024.

To put in context, the interest of the last auction of the Letters to three and nine months It was slightly lower than 2%, which despite being higher than the average interest offered by new deposits, has lost strength since its peak, when almost 4% were paid. On the other hand, call the attention that the interest on the balance of depositsthat is, those who have no longer expired new hires, remained at 1.54% in October.

Despite this, Gallardo rules out that it is a change in trend. “The factor more relevant in the medium term for deposit rates It is not just what some individual banks do, but the global interest rate environment and there is no systematic decline taking place. What’s more, the most plausible perspective is one of stability, without being exempt from specific changes and not in all entities,” he comments.

Expectations for 2026 are unclear

Looking ahead to the coming months, everything will depend on the future monetary policy expectations, but also on the needs of each bank. Precisely, excess liquidity was one of the reasons for which the increases registered by the Spanish sector were lower with respect to their European counterparts. The commercial policy of each entity has also played a decisive rolewith smaller and digital entities being the most proactive in this sense.

Looking ahead to 2026, Estefanía González, spokesperson for Kelisto.es, points out that the key will be to follow an active strategy: compare offers, read the fine print of each product and stay tuned for promotions. From the price comparator they are cautious and warn that returns could remain stagnant or experience slight falls, an environment that forces savers to have to search for alternatives. “Even if the options available do not exceed inflation, taking advantage of the best offers on fixed-term products will be a way to guarantee a stable profitability in the coming months“, they point out.