Spanish-owned Bankinter, formerly Avant Money, has followed Monzo by lauching new savings accounts here.
Bankinter’s suite of Irish savings products, called Deposit Plus, offers a range of fixed-term deposit accounts.
It said its six-months fixed rate of 2.62pc annual equivalent rate (AER) was the best in the State. It is also offering 2.30pc AER for 12 months. Customers also have the flexibility to access up to 25pc of their funds after eight weeks.
Bankinter, the fifth-largest Spanish bank, entered the Republic in 2019 through the acquisition of Avantcard, a credit card and consumer finance business, from US investment group Apollo.
It has a full banking licence in this market since April last year.
Earlier this week Monzo entered the savings market in this country. Its instant-access account offers an annualised rate of 1.6pc.
Monzo, which has set up its EU headquarters in Dublin, is expected to begin offering current accounts for individuals as well as children and joint accounts in this country.
Last year, MoCo, which is owned by Austrian bank Bawag, entered the savings market here, offering rate of up to 2.6pc.
Berlin-based Raisin Bank is offering 3.10pc annual equivalent rate for three months with its Starter Account. The offer applies to new customers.
Research carried out for Bankinter by Empathy on a representative sample of 1,000 people found half of those with a savings fund have less than €5,000.
The research shows that close to a third of those with savings have less than €1,000.
Some 11pc of respondents said they have no savings.
Less than a third of savers have more than €10,000 on deposit.
And just 10pc of savers have more than €50,000 on deposit.
For the 58pc of people holding more than €2,000 in savings, those funds are earning very little.
Bankinter said some €146bn in household savings is currently in low yielding accounts offering average interest rates below 0.2pc, and many offering no return at all.
The market research found that only a third of savers know what interest rate they are getting from their deposit taker.
Head of everyday Banking at Bankinter Ciarán Byrne.
News in 90 seconds – Tuesday, February 10
Some 41pc said they don’t know what rate they are getting, with 19pc unsure.
Bankinter’s research asked respondents what prevents them from switching to higher-yield accounts.
A quarter said rates are too low to bother, 14pc cited that it’s too much hassle, and 27pc were nervous about not being able to access their funds in an emergency.
When asked what emergencies might require access to their funds, nearly a third named household repairs or medical needs, and 15pc job loss.
Ciarán Byrne, head of everyday banking at Bankinter, said: “With so many people keeping money where it feels ‘safe’, they’re missing out on what that money could be doing for them.
“The key insight from this research is that Irish savers don’t need to take risks; they just need more flexible, transparent options.”