Saldo Bank has announced its entry into the Swedish market to offer interest rates of up to 5% on one year fixed-term accounts.
The Finnish neobank aims to lift the interest rate competition in Sweden to a “new level” as the current highest interest rate offering stands at 4.4%.
Jarrko Mäensivu, CEO of Saldo Bank, has emphasised that the financial institution wants to “increase fairness in fixed-term deposits” in Sweden by leveraging its digital lending solutions.
He said: “In our opinion, the interest paid on the fixed-term accounts has been very low for a long time. Interest rates paid to customers should reflect at least market interest rates. We want to increase fairness in borrowing.”
Saldo Bank began its digital banking operations in Finland last October after launching in Lithuania in 2021, providing interest rates on loans that seek to be the best in Europe.
Saldo Bank has a Finnish background, however, the core of the company’s banking operations is in Lithuania and the operations are supervised by the Bank of Lithuania. In addition, Saldo Bank’s technology development centre is located in Vilnius.
The neobank has revealed that since operating in the aforementioned countries, several banks have raised their interest rates to compete with Saldo’s offering.
Mäensivu added: “Other banks follow suit. We want to grow in Sweden. We use local funds to grow our loan portfolio in Sweden.”
The maximum amount of a fixed-term deposit is SEK 900,000 and the funds deposited in the fixed-term accounts are subject to deposit protection.
Mäensivu says that Sweden plays a key role in the company’s plans, as deposits in Sweden will continue to benefit the business’ Swedish scaling.
