Avant Money, the Irish unit of Spanish bank Bankinter, has expanded its “soft launch” of a deposit offering to the market, though the formal rollout of its savings products has drifted into early 2026.
The lender last week started offering deposit accounts to new customers that had been on a waiting list since mid-October, when it commenced an offering to a group of existing customers.
Avant Money has also introduced a second product, a one-year fixed-term deposit with an interest rate of 2.3 per cent, according to a spokesman. This is in addition to the six month account previously on offer, with an annualised rate of 2.6 per cent.
“We’ve had an impressive response so far and will open beyond the waitlist in the new year,” the spokesman said. “Customers who want early access can register their interest at bankinter.ie.”
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Avant, led by chief executive Niall Corbett, became a branch of Madrid-headquartered Bankinter in April, allowing it to venture into deposit gathering with the benefit of the group’s Spanish licence.
Avant was originally known to be planning to start collecting deposits by the middle of the year.
Bankinter chief executive Gloria Oritz said in January she expected Avant to gather €100 million - €200 million of deposits in 2025, before growing gradually to a stage where the Irish loan book is almost funded by local deposits within eight years. However, that target has been pushed out as a result of the delay to the market launch.
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Avant Money’s loan book grew by 20 per cent to €4.4 billion in the 12 months to the end of September, driven by mortgage lending.
Irish households have about €170 billion on deposit with banks at the end of October, according to Central Bank data. However, more than 85 per cent of this money is in current and on-demand deposit accounts, earning little or nothing.
Still, competition for deposits is expected to increase in 2026, with official interest rates expected to start rising again. Financial markets have upped bets in recent weeks that the next European Central Bank (ECB) rate move will be an increase. This follows the ECB deposit rate falling to 2 per cent from 4 per cent in the 13 months to June.
MoCo, the Irish unit of Austrian bank Bawag, launched a new easy-access savings account in October, widening its product base beyond mortgages.
UK digital banking group Monzo is planning to offer Irish consumers with savings accounts after its Dublin-based European banking unit was authorised last week by the Central Bank and ECB.
