Turks prefer deposit accounts to save cash

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Around half of Turks saves their money in Turkish Lira deposit accounts in the second quarter of 2013. Hürriyet photo

Deposit accounts emerged as the most preferred saving instrument in the second quarter of 2013 thanks to a surge in interest rates, new research has shown.

The percentage of those choosing to save their money in Turkish Lira deposit accounts reached 46 percent, according to a report titled “Turkey’s Saving Tendencies Research” by ING Bank and Sabancı University.

Healthy banking system

Speaking at a meeting to share the research results, ING Bank Vice General Director Barbaros Uygun said under-the-mattress caches ranked as the second most-favored savings method by 14 percent.

According to first-quarter results from the same report, the percentage of those who preferred lira deposit accounts was 26 percent, 8 percent higher than those who preferred to stash their savings at home. Uygun said the rise in people’s desires to save money in deposit accounts indicated the critical importance of protecting banking systems against external volatilities.