Co-founder of Affari Miei Independent Financial Advisory Company
12 September 2023
Are you looking for information on UniCredit savings bonds?
If you are a bank customer it is very likely that your consultant has offered you i Savings vouchers Free Piggy Bank of UniCredit.
These instruments have always had a certain appeal among savers, especially among those who do not know much about investments or who in any case perhaps know few instruments and savings bonds are among these.
If I tell you savings bonds you will most likely immediately think of BFPor the savings bonds offered by Italian post.
However, Poste is not the only institution that offers them and has been offering them for some time banks they are really varying their proposal in a big way, offering a lot instruments different.
Today we will see all the together characteristics of this instrument, trying to understand if the returns are attractive and if it could actually be a convenient investment for you.
Let’s start!
This article talks about:
Two words about UniCredit
Unicredit is a pan-European commercial bank, and has a unique service model. It is present in several countries: Italy, Germany and Western and Eastern Europe.
The bank can count on approximately 15 million clientsand for this very reason trying to be very close to its customers by leveraging the scale of the group, and offering a complete range of products.
Furthermore the bank focuses on digitalisation and on respect for ESG principlesconsidered as important and key factors in the service they want to offer to customers.
UniCredit is investing in digital & datato try to define a new way of working for employees and to pursue a business model that is based on sustainability.
The advantages of UniCredit savings bonds
Although generally i Interest-bearing bonds they do not accrue noteworthy interest rates, they are one of the favorite investments of Italians who associate them, as we saw before, with Poste Italiane.
Since the offer of banks has developed in recent times, today they are able to offer savings bonds as very valid instruments for saving and, above all, capable of guaranteeing an annual revaluation.
They have no costs for subscription, reimbursement and management, except obviously tax charges.
Another advantage is that the invested capital is repayable at any time, so you do not risk losing your money due to market trends and you do not risk paying penalties if, for example, you have to withdraw your money early.
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The characteristics of UniCredit savings bonds
Let’s now see what they are characteristics of the bank’s savings bonds.
I’ll start by telling you that the formulas change quite often, every year, and obviously the returns are different based on the duration of the instrument.
Of course you have to take into account that the savings bonds will no longer be able to have i returns of past years, but they can still be a choice to make if you are looking for a place to park the money you have left over to get a little appreciation.
Free piggy bank
I UniCredit savings bondscalled Free piggy bankhave a maximum duration of 24 months.
They can be subscribed with a minimum amount which must be at least €1,000. Subsequently they can also be integrated, with denominations of €500.
If we focus on this first aspect we see that they are different from BFPs as the latter provide for lower minimum denominations, equal to €50.
If you are interested then i UniCredit savings bonds take into account that you will have to consider investing a higher amount than what you could put into a classic postal voucher.
However, UniCredit also offers other more flexible solutions, with the possibility of subscribing to multi-year bonds which also provide a lower minimum denomination. For this reason, however, I invite you to ask the bank directly.
The refund
If you decide to subscribe to this instrument you must know that it will be reimbursed to you upon expiry of the bond, or upon presentation in the case of a materialized interest-bearing voucher.
At maturity you will therefore receive your capital plus the interests matured.
It will be very useful for you to know that you can also extinguish in a manner anticipated the deposit, even if additional payments are excluded.
How to subscribe to them?
Per to subscribe these tools the best method is to go directly to one of the many branch UniCredit present in our area: this way you can ask the consultant directly and be guided in the best possible way in your choice.
The yield
Let’s now see what the yield is on UniCredit savings bonds.
So, the interest rate that is recognized on these instruments is not exactly exciting: let’s talk about 0.2% gross per annum.
Be careful because with this return you must also consider the 26% withholding tax on the amount of interest, and also remember that stamp duty is paid on the sums deposited.
Affari Miei’s opinions on UniCredit savings bonds
Having finished our analysis of the characteristics of UniCredit savings bonds we can now try to draw conclusions and understand together whether it can really be an interesting tool or not.
There is no doubt: savings bonds are safe instruments, guaranteed thanks also to the interbank deposit protection fund.
If you are looking for a safe investment and not very risky, you are not interested in obtaining large returns, but rather you are looking for an instrument that can serve as a “parking” of your savings without too many worries, then perhaps savings bonds can be an interesting instrument for you.
Previously, deposit accounts had fairly low returns, but in a context like today’s, where interest rates relating to deposit accounts have risen significantly, in my opinion you can ask yourself more than one question.
Since i deposit account returns have risen, I think I can tell you that today they represent aalternative very interesting for savings bonds.
Remaining instead in the field of savings bonds, making a quick one comparison you might think about thinking on a broader spectrum and considering postal savings bonds, which offer a greater offer and a wider variety. If you are interested in learning more about your personal culture and to be able to make a comparison I recommend you read here.
Additional helpful resources
Before finishing our analysis I would like to leave some available for you here guide which you might find very useful if you were looking for how to start approaching this investment:
Have a good time!
Find out what kind of investor you are
I have created a short questionnaire to help you understand what type of investor you are. At the end, I will guide you towards the best contents selected based on your starting situation:
>> Get Started Now