5 ms·

Interest rates for banking accounts for quite some time have been low. 3% is very high for the USA so it' s a pleasant surprise for many people.

• novaRom 8y ago
  Also 3% is astronomical for Euro zone. Here you typically have 0.01-0.1% on saving accounts (only for 100k Euro and below), and negative rate on checking accounts (most people usually pay 7-12 Euro per month for checking accounts and 20-40 Euro per year for Visa card).
  • zeroname 8y ago
    ...which is appropriate when "risk-free" government bonds hover near zero percent. The US 10-year is on the other hand is near 3%.
  • hocuspocus 8y ago
    It's not a fair comparison. Interest rates have bounced back (to some extent) and interchange fees are quite a bit higher in the US. I haven't checked everywhere in the eurozone but a lot of major banks have online brands/products that are typically free. You should be able to have at least a checking account and a debit card without paying any fees. "Neobanks" are also a lot more developed than in the US: see N26, Revolut, Ferratum, ... Savings accounts yield nothing, but that has nothing to do with retail banks :) That said, you can find fixed-term deposits between 1 and 2%: https://www.raisin.com/ https://www.raisin.com/
  • nawitus 8y ago
    You can get around 0.8% in Euro zone, but your local bank is unlikely to offer that.