Deposit Guarantee Scheme

Deposit protection is a fundamental pillar for the stability of financial markets. Many of us work all our lives to be able to accumulate some savings to support our future needs, for which we are dependent on financial institutions’ abilities to keep these funds safe.

Acknowledging this, the EU has adopted a legal commitment to the protection of depositors throughout the entire EU. The legal framework for this commitment is provided by EU Directives 2009/14/EC and 2014/49/EU, which all member states must implement. Under this protection scheme, deposits must be protected up to €100,000 per depositor and bank.

This page provides you with more information about deposit protection and the respective national deposit guarantee schemes in different EU countries.

The Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) is a fund whose purpose is to guarantee the deposits made with a credit institution up to a certain protection limit in the case of its insolvency. This includes deposits made in savings accounts, current accounts, fixed-term deposits and securities (shares or bonds).

As a result, if a bank were to become insolvent and deposits were no longer sufficiently covered by its assets, savers would receive their money in full through the statutory deposit guarantee scheme up to the predefined protection limit. In the EU, this protection limit is set at €100,000 (or an equivalent amount in the respective local currency) per depositor and bank. In this way, savers can trust that their money is protected. Each EU country has its own statutory deposit guarantee scheme that meets this coverage condition.

In the EU, deposits made in savings accounts, current accounts, fixed-term deposits and securities (shares or bonds) – including accrued but not yet paid interest – are always protected up to €100,000 per depositor and bank. In non-euro countries (e.g. Norway or Sweden), this protection limit is the equivalent amount to €100,000 in the local currency of that country. In such cases, your money will also be repaid in the local currency.

Article 8(1) of Directive 2014/49/EU states that, as of 1 January 2024, the maximum legal time allowed for reimbursement – the period between the determination by a competent administrative authority that a case is eligible for compensation by the DGS and the time when the funds are reimbursed – will be 7 business days. Until 31 December 2023, DGS’ have a maximum of 10 business days to refund deposits, though many countries already use the reduced deadline of seven business days. According to this article, further deadlines may be introduced during the transitional phase until 2024.

Yes. Within the EU, all depositors are covered equally by the respective national deposit guarantee scheme of the country where the bank is located, regardless of their nationality or country of residence. Your money therefore enjoys the same protection throughout the entire EU.

The European Community first decided to introduce a minimum harmonisation of member states’ deposit guarantee schemes in 1994. However, according to Directive 2009/14/EC, the financial crisis of 2008 made it necessary for the EU to provide even better coverage.

As a result, the maximum amount covered was increased to €100,000 per depositor and bank from 2010. Additionally, the repayment period was reduced to a maximum of 20 business days.

A few years later, in 2014, Directive 2014/49/EU further tightened and harmonised the criteria for Deposit Guarantee Schemes.

• The deadline for repayment is to be gradually reduced from 20 to 7 business days by 2024.
• The funding of national deposit guarantee schemes in the EU is to be harmonised. Specifically, DGSs must have established and maintain a reserve of at least 0.8% of protected deposits by 2024 at the latest.

Many of the countries in which our partner banks are located already meet these stricter requirements.