it’s the rush on the popular savings account

More than 300,000 new popular savings accounts (LEP) are opened each month, according to the Banque de France. It is a real popular success: at the end of 2022, 8.5 million booklets were opened while at the end of March, we were at 9.6 million. Over one year, outstandings (money invested) soared by 15 billion euros to reach a total of 55 billion. We are approaching the historic high which was reached in 2008 just before the subprime crisis in the United States.

The rate of pay is particularly attractive: 6.1%, where the livret A is currently remunerated at 3%, more than double. And when we look at the evolution curve, we see that the remuneration of the popular savings account has soared in the space of a few months: the rate was still only 1% at the beginning of last year.

Misfortune is good for something: the LEP “benefits” from inflation. To set the rate of pay, the government can choose between the rate of Livret A increased by half a point, or the average inflation of the last six months. You don’t have to be a mathematician to come to the conclusion that with prices rising to their highest in a year and 6% in January, the government has chosen the second option.

Economic and political reasons

By promoting the LEP, the government is ensuring that low-income households that suffer from inflation can still derive some benefits from it. Fair return for households put to the test in their daily consumption.

To be able to open a popular savings account, household income must not exceed a certain level. For a single person, for example, the annual income ceiling is 21,300 euros and it is impossible to deposit more than 7,700 euros, three times less than on the Livret A. And this ceiling increases according to the shares of the tax household , i.e. the number of dependents per family. Today 18 million French people are eligible for the popular savings account.