Podcast
The Germans, says Tamaz Georgadze, Ceo of Raisin Bank, have made historic savings in recent months. The interest rates are low, if there are any. How did the account balance grow anyway?
Limited travel options, closed restaurants, no concerts: Germans saved a lot during the pandemic. “The net savings rate was 23 percent in the first quarter,” says Raisin boss Tamaz Georgadze. “That is actually the absolute record. Usually it is 12 to 14 percent.” However, a large part of the savings remains on the payroll: “That naturally hurts the customer because it is an automatic loss of value.”
Against this background, Raisin has won many new customers with its Internet platform WeltSparen: Offers from more than 100 European banks can be compared on the platform in order to get the best possible interest in the end. “We had the best quarter in our history, despite all the adverse market conditions,” says Georgadze.
Younger people dare to take more risks
It is true that more and more Germans are now also investing in the stock market. However, according to the Raisin CEO, these are primarily “the younger classes of the population”. The reason: “The risk-bearing capacity at a young age is very high because the investment periods are very long”. Raisin’s average customer, on the other hand, is 55 years old. For him, “short-term available liquidity” is important and fixed deposits for one to three years are therefore a very important investment product.
Raisin recently announced a merger with Hamburg-based competitor Deposit Solutions, which operates the Zinspilot platform. The joint venture, called Raisin DS, is valued at $ 2.5 billion by industry services and has 170 partner banks. The aim is to build a large European company that can also be competitive in the USA. Achieving such a size alone would have “taken significantly longer and consumed a lot more energy,” says Georgadze, who is to take over the management of the joint venture.
Also listen to the new episode of “Zero Hour”:
- What the new Raisin offices in Berlin look like
- How the talks with Deposit Solutions went
- Whether Raisin could oversee banks
You can find all episodes directly at , or or via .
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
