Overview
- At its Dec. 18 meeting the ECB left all key rates unchanged for a fourth time, keeping the deposit rate at 2.0%, the main refinancing rate at 2.15% and the marginal lending rate at 2.40%.
- President Christine Lagarde said decisions remain data‑dependent with all options open, while market pricing assigns a non‑zero chance to a hike in 2026 or 2027 given lingering risks.
- A Verivox study finds 36% of 823 banks now pay 0% to 0.25% on overnight savings, with Sparkassen and cooperative banks lagging, even as 13 providers court new customers with promotional offers at 3% or more.
- Examples at the top end include a 3.10% three‑month promo from Consorsbank, while the best un‑capped ongoing rate cited is 2.9% from Ferratum; nationwide average overnight rates hover near 1.29%.
- Fixed‑term offers show tighter spreads: averages are roughly 2.02% for two years and 2.42% for ten, with Suresse Direkt Bank lifting all maturities up to 2.40% and J&T Direktbank running a special up to 3.05% through Jan. 31, 2026, all covered by EU deposit‑guarantee schemes.