Promotional rates: when does a temporarily high savings rate pay off?

17 Sep 2026 · 3 min read · Spaarradar editorial team

Banks attract new customers with a high rate that drops back after a few months. A worked example shows when such a promotion really earns you more, and when a lower steady rate wins.

At the top of many rankings there is a rate that stands well clear of the rest. Often it is a promotional rate: a temporarily higher percentage, usually for new customers only. If you look at that one number alone, you are in for a disappointment after a few months. If you do the sums first, you can certainly benefit from it.

What a promotional rate actually is

A promotional rate has two parts: the base rate, which the bank pays to everyone, and a temporary bonus. The bonus applies for a fixed period, usually three to six months. After that you only get the base rate. There are often extra conditions:

• for new customers only, or only for newly deposited money;
• up to a maximum amount, with the base rate applying straight away above it;
• sometimes only if you also use a current account or app from the bank.

A worked example

Say you have €20,000 and are choosing between two accounts.

Account A advertises the highest rate, but earns €145 less over a year. Worked out over that year, the rate on account A is not 3.00% but about 1.9%. We call that worked-out percentage the effective annual rate, and the comparison sorts by it.

The percentages in this example are made up to show the arithmetic. The rates of this moment are in the table below.

When a promotion does pay off

A promotional rate is not a trick you always have to avoid. It pays off if:

• the base rate is good too. Then the promotion is a bonus and you do not have to leave afterwards.
• you are willing to switch. When the promotion ends, you move your money to the account that pays the most at that point. Transferring between your own accounts costs nothing.
• you are only putting the money away for a short time. If you need the money in four months, what counts most is the interest in those four months.

In the comparison you set the calculation period under 'All filters'. Set it to three or six months and you will see which promotions win over a short period.

What to watch out for

1. The promotion cap. If the bonus applies up to €50,000 and you put away €80,000, then €30,000 only gets the base rate.
2. The end date. Some promotions run until a fixed date instead of a number of months after opening. If you join late, you get fewer months.
3. New customer or new money. If you are already a customer, the promotion usually does not apply. Switch on 'Without promotional rate' in the comparison; you then see what an existing customer gets.
4. The base rate can change too. Both parts are variable. A bank may lower the base rate during your promotional period.

Would you rather not have to think about it?

Then switch on 'Without promotional rate' in the comparison. Every account is then worked out with the rate that remains after the promotion, so you see what they pay on an ongoing basis. If you would rather fix your rate entirely, you end up with a deposit; in deposit or savings account we set out the differences.

Want to know when a rate changes? Put an account on your list or follow the rate changes: every increase and decrease we see is there the same day.

Not advice. Rates are gross and can change; the tables in this article show the position at the moment you open the page. How we calculate and check is described in the methodology.