The best instant access savings account alternatives in 2026
Instant access savings accounts are practically dead: the current ECB base rate stands at just 2% in October 2025. So it’s no wonder that more and more savers are specifically looking for better alternatives. In this article, I’ll show you my personal alternatives to instant access savings accounts and how I use them to generate returns of between 6% and 12%.
In brief:
- Low overnight interest rates cannot offset inflation.
- Those who opt for alternatives to overnight money in the area of P2P loans can secure significantly higher returns of 6 to 12%.
- Those who are waiting for a higher base rate will most likely be disappointed, as the past has shown.
- Even a few percentage points more can generate exponential gains over the years, making alternatives to instant access savings accounts the best choice for successful wealth accumulation.
Instant access savings accounts are a thing of the past: why they are no longer worthwhile
Recently, it has become increasingly apparent that instant access savings accounts offer hardly any real advantages. The hope of uncomplicated saving with reasonable growth has long since been overtaken by reality.
- Interest rates on instant access savings accounts: Currently, most banks only pay around 2%. That is not enough to build up assets or maintain their value.
- ECB base rate: In October 2025, it will be 2%. This figure has a direct impact on the terms and conditions offered by banks.
- Inflation: Price increases significantly exceed the returns on instant access savings accounts. The average inflation rate in the United Kingdom is 2.6%, meaning that your capital is gradually losing value despite instant access savings accounts.
- Security: The amount in your instant access savings account is secure, but so is inflation! You still have the same amount, but you can buy much less with it.
- Compound interest: With a call money account, the compound interest effect is almost negligible. Only alternatives to call money accounts allow you to experience noticeable growth.
The following chart shows you at a glance how an investment of €10,000 develops at 2% and 5% per annum. If we look at the final value after 30 years with a return of 2%, we arrive at e18,136. With a return of 5% after 30 years, the final value is €43,219. In retrospect, your investment in a call money alternative would have been significantly more worthwhile!
This is how much your money has lost value in recent years
A glance at the development of inflation rates in Germany quickly reveals the dilemma for savers:
- In 2025, inflation will be around 2.1%.
- In the previous year, the figure was as high as 2.2%.
- Anyone looking at the years 2022 and 2023 will be even more disappointed, because back then the figures climbed to almost 7%.
The following chart shows the base rate over the last 15 years and clearly illustrates this disappointment: only a brief ‘spike’ brought acceptable interest rates. However, this window of opportunity disappeared again in no time at all.
If banks are currently only paying around 2% interest on your instant access savings account, you are getting a very bad deal. As a result, your money loses purchasing power year after year. This means that over longer periods of time, your savings are worth less and less in real terms, despite the interest credited. A real strategy for building wealth looks different.
The following table shows the inflation rate in Germany over the last 10 years. If you compare these figures with the respective base rate, you will want to find better alternatives to instant access savings accounts.
| Year | Inflation rate (rounded) |
| 2025* | 2,1 % |
| 2024 | 2,2 % |
| 2023 | 5,9 % |
| 2022 | 6,9 % |
| 2021 | 3,1 % |
| 2020 | 0,5 % |
| 2019 | 1,4 % |
| 2018 | 1,8 % |
| 2017 | 1,5 % |
| 2016 | 0,5 % |
The 5 best alternatives to instant access savings accounts in 2025
If you are looking for a high-yield investment today, you clearly need to opt for a call money alternative! The choice is huge. That’s why I’m going to show you the offers that I personally find most suitable. I will discuss my personal investments, everyday use and special features.
1. P2P platforms: Up to 14% return per annum
P2P lending is ideal in times of high inflation or simply to achieve high returns. With this form of investment, you pool your money with other investors. Together, you then finance personal loans or loans for businesses, builders, farmers and much more.
The entire process (including debt collection if borrowers fail to pay on time) is handled by P2P platforms. This concept has proven to be very crisis-proof and extremely lucrative in the past!
I have been analysing the best P2P providers every three months in my P2P lending ranking for many years. My portfolio is also full of such peer-to-peer investments! I have invested over €85,000 in various platforms and receive almost €1,000 per month in interest.
- Flexibility: All of the P2P platforms mentioned allow deposits and withdrawals after just a few days, which is significantly faster and more flexible than many traditional investment products offered by banks.
- Attractive interest rates: Bondora offers 6%, Monefit from 7.5% and Swaper up to 16% per annum. This opens up completely new perspectives for your money.
- Low barrier to entry: You can try out the offers and see for yourself starting at just €1.
- Transparency: Providers display current statistics, results and processes clearly in your user area.
- Diversification: Spreading your money around reduces your risk. It is a basic concept of safe investing! I myself also spread my capital across several P2P platforms.
Unlike conventional overnight money, P2P loans can offer significantly higher interest rates, but require a greater willingness to take risks. For investors who do not want to park all their capital exclusively in conservative investments, a partial shift into such loans may be a sensible option.
Let’s consider, for example, a €5,000 investment over a period of 30 years:
| Instant access savings account: 2% interest | Bondora: 6% interest | Monefit: 7,5 % interest | Swaper: 14 % interest | |
| Interest income: | 4.057 € | 25.244 € | 42.428 | 320.423 € |
| Total capital | 9.057 € | 30.244 € | 47.428 | 325.423 € |
The following should be noted:
- Bondora and Monefit credit your proportional interest daily. This maximises your compound interest effect: interest payments already received generate new interest.
- With Swaper, interest is credited to your account a little more slowly. That’s why I’ve calculated a monthly payout here. However, thanks to the very high interest rates, we still achieve the best result here!
- Interest on a call money account is paid either monthly, quarterly or even just annually. No wonder the alternatives perform so much better!
This comparison clearly shows the impact that a few percentage points more or less can have over several years. The following chart immediately illustrates how crucial the chosen interest rate is for your capital growth.
Bondora Go & Grow: Up to 6% return per year
Bondora is one of the best-known European P2P platforms and, for many investors, an easy way to get started with real overnight money alternatives. Its core product is Go & Grow, which allows you to make flexible deposits and withdrawals at any time.
The interest rates are attractive at around 6% compared to traditional instant access savings accounts, and it is easy to use. Registration takes just a few minutes and you can start with as little as €1.
Special features:
- Daily liquidity: deposits and withdrawals usually processed within 24 hours
- Transparent display: In the dashboard, you can see how your balance is growing and how interest rates are developing at any time.
- Beginner-friendly: clear interface, easy to use, lots of information in the help section
I have invested around €3,300 here in order to remain particularly flexible. Although this only represents just under 4% of my P2P portfolio, Bondora is nevertheless extremely important as a reliable ‘nest egg’ for my financial planning!
Monefit: Up to 7.5% return per annum
Monefit is ideal for anyone looking for an alternative to a call money account with slightly higher interest rates. With Smartsaver, you can earn up to 7.5%, which you can even increase to 10.52% with longer terms. Interest is paid daily, and withdrawals take up to 10 working days, depending on the bank.
Special features:
- Daily interest: compound interest effect is continuously visible
- Modern and easy to understand: clear presentation, well-organised dashboard and quick management of Smartsaver and Vaults
- Fair and flexible: interest continues to accrue until the payout date
My portfolio contains over €13,000 in Monefit investments. This makes it the largest single item in my P2P portfolio, just ahead of Ventus Energy.
Swaper: Up to 14% return per annum
Swaper is the platform for anyone who doesn’t want to forego high interest rates despite quick accessibility. Here, up to 16% interest is paid out annually, with the average being 14%. In my experience, the flexibility and reliability are high.
The investment is spread across many individual loans, which better distributes the risk. Deposits and withdrawals are possible within one to two banking days, allowing Swaper to function smoothly as an alternative to overnight money.
Special features:
- Very high interest rates: 12 to 14% per annum, depending on the loan selected
- Speed: Deposits and withdrawals are particularly quick.
- Automated system: The platform handles distribution fully automatically.
I currently hold approximately €5,700 there and use Swaper as a building block for high, yet relatively flexible interest rates.
Good to know:
The P2P platforms presented are significantly above the inflation rate, allowing you to increase the real purchasing power of your money in the long term.
2. Government bonds: Up to 4.27% return per annum
Government bonds are traditionally regarded as particularly safe investments because they are issued by governments and offer a low risk of default. However, yields, especially on German and many European government bonds, have been extremely low for years and are often well below the inflation rate.
This means that as an investor, you are securing your capital with government bonds, but your money is losing purchasing power in the long term. The real return is often negative. If you choose government bonds as an alternative to instant access savings accounts, you are trading security for risk and continuously burning through your hard-earned money year after year because inflation eats away at the meagre interest rates.
The following table shows the current yields on 10-year government bonds in a country comparison (as of October 2025).
| Country | Average return |
| USA | 4,27 % |
| Germany | 2,57 % |
| France | 3,41 % |
| Greece | 3,29 % |
| Japan | 0,8 % |
3. Swiss franc: Average return of 2.8% per annum
For a few years now, I have been parking part of my assets in Swiss francs in order to make myself somewhat less dependent on the euro and to diversify my assets.
The exchange rate between the euro and the Swiss franc has shown a clear downward trend over the last five years. At the beginning of 2020, the rate was still around 1.08, which meant that one euro was worth around 1.08 francs.
By the end of 2021, the value had already fallen to around 1.05, and by the end of 2022, it had fallen to around 1.03. In 2023, the decline continued and the price fell below 1.00, reaching around 0.93 in October 2025.
- Stability factor: The Swiss franc is often regarded as a ‘safe haven’, supported by sound financial policies and a traditionally strong currency.
- Euro weakness: Weaker performance in the eurozone has further strengthened the Swiss franc and contributed to the downward trend in the EUR/CHF exchange rate.
- Forecast: Experts expect that the trend of the Swiss franc appreciating against the euro could continue in the future.
- Performance: Over the last five years, exchange rate gains on the Swiss franc have generated a value increase of around 14 per cent, purely through holding the foreign currency.
- Portfolio diversification: The Swiss franc is thus proving to be an attractive diversification currency in euro portfolios.
- Inflation in Switzerland: The average inflation rate in Switzerland over the last five years was only 1.2% per annum, or 6.2% cumulatively.
- Inflation in the EU: During the same period, average inflation in the EU was 4.4% per annum, with a cumulative total of 23.5%.
4. TradeRepublic current account: 2% return per annum
In October 2025, the TradeRepublic current account offers an interest rate of 2% per annum on your uninvested balance. Interest is paid out every month, giving you a small bonus on your daily savings thanks to the compound interest effect. In addition, TradeRepublic does not normally impose any limits on the amounts on which interest is paid, which is particularly attractive if you have larger sums of liquid assets.
For investors who already invest through TradeRepublic and are waiting for a short-term opportunity to enter the market, the current account is a practical solution: your money is available every day, you don’t have to make transfers to external instant access savings accounts, and you are immediately ready when investment opportunities arise.
In the long term, however, there are significantly better alternatives for genuine wealth accumulation: with broadly diversified ETFs or shares, you can achieve much higher returns on average than with the interest rates offered by a current account. But there’s more, because you’re about to find out what attractive alternatives to instant access savings accounts there are besides shares and ETFs.
5. Money market funds: average return of 1.9% per annum
A money market fund is an investment fund that invests in so-called money market securities. These securities are usually very short-term and are considered relatively safe. The focus is on overnight or term deposits, government bonds or corporate bonds with maturities ranging from a few days to a maximum of one year.
The fund’s objective is to be as stable and liquid as possible, which means that the money is available almost at any time and its performance remains constant. The return is based on the current interest rate level on the money market.
- Security: Money market funds are low-risk, but do not offer deposit protection like instant access savings accounts.
- Liquidity: Shares can be sold at any time without any complications.
- Regulation: EU requirements ensure that the funds are crisis-proof and only invest in short-term investments.
- Return: The average annual interest rate is around 1.9%, which is currently below the inflation rate (as of October 2025).
- Favourites: Many investors opt for money market-related ETFs, such as Amundi Overnight (ISIN: FR0010510800) or Xtrackers Overnight (ISIN: LU0290358497).
- Use: Ideal for parking money in a deposit account for a short period of time when overnight interest rates are insufficient.
Good to know:
Anyone looking for attractive overnight money alternatives will not get very far with traditional financial products given the current inflation rate.
Conclusion: Will you also invest in overnight money alternatives?
The era of traditional overnight money is over: anyone who still parks their money in bank accounts with 2% interest rates is losing real purchasing power every year due to inflation and tax burdens.
Alternatives to instant access savings accounts such as Bondora, Monefit and Swaper finally make it possible to invest smartly and flexibly again, with interest rates between 6% and 16%. Security increases with broad diversification across multiple providers, as this allows you to remain flexible and reduce risks. Investing in the Swiss franc has also proven successful in recent years and offers good diversification from the euro.
Those who dare to take the step towards new instant access savings alternatives will see their assets grow in the long term, gain new financial freedom and no longer be solely dependent on bank interest rates. With this approach, you can face a stock market crash with confidence!
FAQ: Frequently asked questions and answers about overnight money alternatives
