Numerous Belgians are likely missing out on superior rates offered by other savings accounts at their own banks, De Tijd reports.
The newspaper calculated that a saver who left €10,000 in Belfius' Classic Savings Account (Klassieke Spaarrekening) will earn €35 less after a year than they would if they parked their money in the bank's Fidelity Account (Fidelity-spaarrekening; €10,090 vs €10,125).
Similarly, De Tijd noted that savers who deposited the same amount of money for a year in Argenta's E-Savings (E-spaar) account rather than the bank's Fidelity Account (Getrouwheidsrekening) would fare even worse, losing out on €40 in total (€10,085 vs €10,125).
The worst discrepancy reported by the paper, however, was at BNP Paribas Fortis: Belgium's largest bank. In particular, savers who left €10,000 for a year in BNP's Classic Savings Account would earn €100 less than they would if they deposited that amount in its Savings Account Plus (Spaarrekening Plus; €10,050 vs €10,150).
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Last month, Belgium's State Secretary for the Budget and Consumer Protection Alexia Bertrand (Open VLD) said that she will explore the possibility of legally requiring banks to inform their customers about the existence of superior rates on other savings accounts.
"[The banks] should indicate whether they have a more interesting account for the consumer," Bertrand said on Flemish radio in comments that were subsequently reported by VRT. "In this way, there is more transparency and the customer can decide for himself whether he or she wants to switch to another account."
According to consumer test organisation Test Achats, the best short-term savings rates in Belgium (i.e. for those who plan to withdraw their funds after less than 12 months) are offered by the Dynamic Savings account at MeDirect, which offers a total rate of 1.50%.
The organisation also notes that those who intend to save for longer than a year will receive the best returns at MeDirect's Fidelity Savings account, which offers a total rate of 2.30%.
