The war to capture payrolls has intensified. On this occasion by Banco Santander. The entity chaired by Ana Botín, through its digital subsidiary Openbank, the offer of the Welcome Savings Account has improved with payroll Thus, it has extended the period for which it offered a return of 5%, going from six months to 12, which raises the total return to 5.12%. In this way, it equals the offers of Bankinter, Caixabank and Ibercaja.
From the sector they explain that remunerated accounts offer the most interesting offers because they require a link via payroll and that assures the bank that it wins a client for a longer period of time and to whom it can try to sell other products, such as a mortgage. In addition, through these remunerated accounts – which they tend to have a low maximum salaryespecially those with a higher TIN – it’s easier to reach a higher volume of customers.
Returning to the Openbank offer, it is true that Banco Santander has an offer to capture payrolls for which it gives away money, 150 euros gross, but with Openbank it allows it to be more aggressive. Besides, the entity was already competing with Bankinter, pioneer in this offer, but the total APR remained at 2.83%. The truth is that the success of the bank run by María Dolores Dancausa seeks to be replicated by other entities. To give an example, at the end of 2022. Bankinter’s payroll account portfolio already amounts to 16,700 million euros, which means multiplying by 2.4 the volume of 5 years ago, in 2017.
An initial interest of 5% in exchange for the payroll
Regarding the offers in detail, Openbank promises a remuneration of 5.12% APR for the first 5,000 euros, but for this, it requires direct deposit of a salary of more than 900 euros. CaixaBank was the first of the large banks to replicate Bankinter’s offer. At the beginning of the year, it launched its campaign for which it offered the possibility of remunerating the balances of its clients, up to a maximum of 5,000 euros, if a salary of at least 2,500 euros was domiciled.
However, the pioneer was Bankinter. The entity offers an extra rate of 5%, the first year and for an amount of 5,000 euros, to reduce it to 2% the second year. As a requirement, the entity requires a direct deposit of a salary of at least 800 euros, although initially it was 1,000 euros. In addition, the client must be open to making at least 3 receipt charges per quarter and 3 movements with the card. The total benefit would amount to 342 euros, since the TIN (the nominal interest rate) is 4.94% the first year and 1.99% the second.
Finally, Ibercaja stands out, as the most complete offer has been launched. Ibercaja pays up to 5.06% for the first 6,000 euros in the first year and 3.02% up to 10,000 euros the second when domiciling a salary greater than 600 euros, although it requires making 6 movements in the semester, the direct debit of receipts that involve 6 charges per semester and the use of digital banking.
Despite this payroll war, the entities set an end date for these offers and, in some cases, establish a maximum number of beneficiaries. For example, Bankinter promotes its product until March 31 or until reaching 40,000 accounts under this model. However, others have chosen to extend the date of their offer. Although it is also likely that, due to their success, they will prolong the campaigns. Caixabank has set itself the goal of raising the number of payrolls to 6 million.
