Bankinter and Abanca are the only banks that have managed to raise gross interest income in the last year, despite the decrease in the Euribor (which has been negative since 2016) and the deferrals and shortcomings granted on loans as a result of the crisis of the coronavirus. Kutxabank has defended this item, the main one of any entity, with a maintenance of the amount.

According to its results accounts for the first semester, Bankinter improved by 5.1% , to 716 million, the money it charges for customer loans and the returns on public and private debt portfolios, with respect to the same period from the previous year. Abanca, for its part, has achieved a rise of 3.4% , although in its case there is a positive effect due to the incorporation in the balance sheet of the assets acquired from Bankoa and Novo Banco, firms that it absorbed in early 2021. In As for Kutxabank, interest income remains stable at 307 million.

In the rest of the entities, billing decreases and, in some, significantly. In Santander and CaixaBank it fell to double digits, while in Ibercaja and Sabadell , more than 8%. BBVA , which is one of the banks that to date had best defended the negative Euribor and a declining loan portfolio, in exchange for a fall of more than 7%, although this is affected by the sale of the US division .

The sector has had to carry out drastic measures in recent years to be able to compensate for the sub-zero rate situation for a long period. Among these, the fall in the interest paid on deposits to individuals, a trend that has been reversed in recent months (especially throughout 2021) and the collection for them from companies and large fortunes stand out.

Thanks to these measures, interest costs have dropped considerably and banks have been able to reduce the collapse of margins, an action that has been added to the adjustment of personnel and higher commissions for products and services to users with little connection.

Downward costs
Santander’s interest expenses, for example, were cut in the first half by 30% , to 5,737 million. A percentage that is also observed in Sabadell and that is, even higher in Unicaja , of almost 35%. At CaixaBank, the payment it made for liquidity fell 17.6%.

The only entity that increased the disbursement for raising money is Bankinter, by 11%. It should be noted that it is an exception and that it may be influenced because it offers 5% returns to customers for direct debit payroll, a rate that is not even given by neobanks or fintech to attract users.

Since the Euribor went negative, the main entities of our country have received 11,000 million less for the collection of interest , which represents a decrease of 21% in their base business. Between January and June, the amount stood at 40,400 million compared to 51,400 in the same period of 2015.