Demand deposit accounts: 55 million euro increase in Saint-Martin bank accounts

Demand deposit accounts are ordinary banking accounts held by an individual or a company, which allow them to deposit or withdraw money at any time. In Saint-Martin, there were 13,109 in 2015, which is 2,148 more than in 2014. All together they contain 236.5 million euros, according to the IEDOM (The Bank of Issue of the French Overseas Departments - Bank of France in Overseas). A record figure since 2007*. That’s 31% more than in 2014 and 62.3% more than in 2007.

"This increase is due to the dynamism of corporate demand deposit accounts", reported the IEDOM. These have increased by 33.8 million in one year and reached nearly 150 M€ in 2015 (+29%). According to the Institute, "this sharp increase is partly related to a reclassification, i.e. the passage from one category of assets to another. Apart from the reclassification, they’re still on the upside, approximately +15%", added the IEDOM.

As for household demand deposit accounts, they have also increased but to a lesser extent: + 4.3 % in 2015 against + 14.7% in 2014. They represent a total of 54.3 million € (+2.2 m€). A trend that can also be seen in the mainland. According to the experts, the French no longer want to put their money into savings-type accounts which yield little do their low-interest rates.

This is indeed true in Saint-Martin where the assets in ordinary savings accounts dropped to 10.6% in 2015 (23.5 M€). The average balance of a regular savings account is 4,727 euros, which is 666 euros less than the year before.

As for the different kinds of savings accounts, the investments have remained stable: 11 M€ for “livret A” and “livret bleu” savings accounts, 0.2 M€ for popular savings accounts, 4.9 M€ for popular development savings accounts.

On the other hand, long-term savings for individuals have increased by 15.2% (5.8% in 2014). There were 15.7 M€ in 2015 of which 95% was placed in homebuyer savings plans. The average balance of a homebuyer savings plan is 6,500 euros against 5,622 euros in 2012.

Finally, the number of bank accounts registered by banking establishments on the French side has progressed by 8.6%. There are 34,944, which is 2,776 more.

* First year that the IEDOM has published an annual report on the financial and monetary activity which is specific to Saint-Martin.

** households, businesses, other financial agents all mixed together.