How safe is my savings account? Deposit insurance 2026
The short answer: money in current, instant-access and fixed-term accounts is protected by law up to €100,000 per bank per person across the EU — and if a bank fails, you are compensated within 7 working days. After the ECB’s June 2026 hike, many savers are chasing the top rates at neobanks and foreign partner banks. That makes one question key: who actually protects my money?
The key figures at a glance
Deposit protection is based on the EU Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (DGSD) and applies uniformly across all EU and EEA countries. It kicks in when a bank becomes insolvent — what is protected is your bank deposit, not your securities portfolio.
What deposit insurance covers — and what it does not
Protected are bank deposits: money in your current account, instant-access savings, fixed-term deposits and most euro cash balances. The €100,000 limit applies per person and per bank (more precisely: per banking licence). On a joint account the limit applies separately to each holder — so a couple sharing one account is covered up to €200,000.
- Covered: current accounts, instant-access savings, fixed-term deposits, savings accounts — ongoing cash balances.
- Not covered: stocks, ETFs, funds. But these are not lost — they are held separately as your client assets and are returned to you if a bank fails.
- Temporarily high balances (e.g. just after selling a house) are protected beyond €100,000 for around six months in some countries — the details are set by each country.
Guarantee schemes in major EU countries
Every EU country runs its own statutory scheme with the same minimum protection of €100,000. What matters is the country in which the bank holds its licence — because that scheme is liable. Below, Germany, Spain and Italy serve as examples of how the EU framework works in practice.
Statutory deposit guarantee compared (as of June 2026)
| Country | Guarantee scheme | Statutory limit | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇪 Germany | EdB (compensation scheme of German banks) | €100,000 | Plus the voluntary deposit protection fund (BdB) — private, not a state guarantee |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | FGD (Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos) | €100,000 | Payout in euros |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | FITD (Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi) | €100,000 | FGDCC for cooperative banks |
| 🌍 rest of EU/EEA | each national scheme (e.g. FR, AT, Baltics) | €100,000 | Protected by the bank’s home country |
Deposit marketplaces and foreign banks: the home-country principle
This is the decisive point for the 2026 rate chase: if you place money through a deposit marketplace like Raisin/WeltSparen or through a neobank that routes to a partner bank abroad, you are protected not by your own country’s scheme but by the home-country scheme of that bank. A deposit at a French, Italian or Baltic partner bank is therefore covered by that country’s national scheme — in euros, up to €100,000.
In practice that means: before chasing any top rate, check which country and which scheme sit behind the offer. The minimum protection is the same everywhere in the EU; but with unusually high rates from an unfamiliar provider, it is still worth looking at how solid that national scheme is.
More than €100,000? How to multiply your protection
The €100,000 applies per banking licence. If you want to protect more, spread the money across several banks with different licences — each bank brings its own €100,000 of cover. Watch out: several brands of the same institution often share one licence and therefore one limit. In Germany, many private banks are additionally covered by the voluntary deposit protection fund of the banking association (BdB), which insures well above €100,000 — but this is private-sector top-up cover, not a state guarantee.
Chasing the highest rate at an unfamiliar foreign bank means relying, in a worst case, on that country’s guarantee scheme — not your own. The statutory protection of €100,000 applies EU-wide, but check beforehand which scheme is liable. And remember: stocks, ETFs and funds are not deposits and are NOT covered by deposit insurance — they are held as separate client assets.
FAQ — Deposit insurance 2026
How high is deposit insurance in the EU?
Bank deposits are protected by law up to €100,000 per person and per bank across the entire EU and EEA. On a joint account the limit applies separately to each holder, so a couple is covered up to €200,000. In the event of a payout, compensation is made within 7 working days.
Are ETFs and stocks covered by deposit insurance?
No. Deposit insurance only protects bank deposits such as current, instant-access and fixed-term accounts. Stocks, ETFs and funds are not deposits — they are held as separate client assets on your behalf and returned to you if a bank fails. They are therefore protected differently, but they are not lost.
Is my money safe at a foreign bank via a deposit marketplace?
Yes, under the home-country principle. If you place money through a marketplace such as Raisin/WeltSparen, or a neobank, with a partner bank elsewhere in the EU, you are protected by the statutory scheme of the country in which that bank holds its licence — up to €100,000 in euros. Before signing up, check which country and which scheme stand behind the offer.
How do I protect more than €100,000?
The €100,000 applies per banking licence. Spread amounts above that limit across several banks with different licences, and the protection applies multiple times. In Germany, the voluntary deposit protection fund of the banking association additionally insures well above €100,000 at many private banks — but this is private-sector top-up cover, not a state guarantee.