[TheFattestNinja]

That's not true. You can easily get, in Italy, over 4% on 12mo-locked saving accounts (random comparison website : https://www.confrontaconti.it/conto-migliore/miglior-conto-d... ), and Italy inflation right now is around 6%.

[olivierlacan]

That's not comparable at all to 4.80% APY savings and checking accounts in the U.S. right now with far more flexible rules.

This kind of return on ultra flexible accounts is basically unheard of in most of Europe in recent memory as far as I know (born & lived in Europe as recently as 2019). What you describe are called Certificate of Deposit (CDs) in the U.S. and you can get 5.50% for those in August 2023 [1].

[1]: https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/banking/cd-rates

[gambiting]

If you define UK as Europe still, then yes, you can get an easy access(withdraw whenever you want) saving account with 5% interest without any issue. Or 6%+ if you're willing to lock the money for some time:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-b...

[ricardobayes]

Maybe in Italy it's better, definitely not as rosy a picture in Spain https://thebanks.eu/compare-banking-products/savings-account...

[mdrzn]

That's a gross 4%, which turns out to be 2% - 2.5% net.