Austrian bank offers Irish savers returns of up to 1.5%

Irish savers can now access two-year savings rates of 1.5 per cent a year with Austrian Bank Euram, which has just signed up to online savings platform Raisin. com. Deposits of up to €100,000 are fully protected under Austria's deposit guarantee scheme.

The rate is considerably more than savers can expect in the Irish market, with 0.85 per cent the best rate on offer over the same term , available through Nationwide UK and Permanent TSB.

It means that a saver putting €20,000 into a Euram deposit could expect a gross return of €608 over the two years, compared with €342 with the Irish option.

European American Investment Bank AG (Euram Bank) is a fully independent Austrian private bank which was founded in 1999, and is authorised and regulated by the Austrian Financial Market Authority. Euram is also offering savers other options via the Raisin platform, including 1.05 per cent AER on a six-month deposit; 1.4 per cent on a 1.5 year term; and 1.33 per cent over one year.

Raisin is also offering those signing up to its platform a bonus of €25 for those placing money on deposit by July 8th. Since Raisin started with its German platform WeltSparen in December 2013 - of which AIB is a member - customers have invested more than €1 billion in overnight money and fix-term deposits.

However, while rates may be higher on Raisin.com than in your local Irish bank, Irish savers are warned to tread carefully and to consider the strength of the bank with whom they place their money.