After years of turbo-driven central bank stimulus, mostEuropeans still want to leave their spare cash in savings accounts,even if those accounts pay zero interest.

That's the finding of a survey by Europe's biggest debtcollector, Stockholm-based Intrum Justitia AB.

“After the financial crisis, people have felt a need — even ifthey have small means — to create some kind of security,” CEOMikael Ericson said in an interview in Stockholm on Nov. 16. “Itcan't be that people save in a bank account because of thefantastic returns, so it must be about a sense of security, havingmoney in the bank.”

Some 69% of Europeans put their savings into bank accounts,according to Intrum Justitia's European Consumer Payment Report.The survey is based on feedback gathered in September and coversabout 21,000 people in 21 countries.

The survey also shows that 26% of Europeans prefer keeping theirsurplus funds in cash, while 16% hold stocks. Only 14% turn toinvestment funds, 8% invest in real estate and 8% in bonds. InDenmark and Sweden, where central bank benchmark rates arenegative, almost 80% of people put their surplus cash in bankaccounts. In France, the U.K. and the Netherlands, the figure isabove 80%.

But worryingly, Intrum Justitia's survey shows that even afteryears of extreme monetary support, many Europeans are wonderingwhether they'd be better off if they lived somewhere else.

Looking for Escape

Across Europe, 24% of people said they want to move to escapetheir country's financial plight. About 27% of respondents saidthey sometimes can't pay their debts. Of those, 58% feel they don'thave enough money “for a dignified existence.”

In Britain, 29% of people aged 18 to 24 said they'd considerleaving the country, possibly in response to the U.K.'s decision toquit the European Union, Intrum Justitia said. A year earlier, only13% of young Britons said they wanted to leave.

The survey also revealed how financially fragile many Europeanscontinue to be almost half a decade after the region's debt crisis.About 44% of all Europeans were unable to pay at least one bill ontime during the last 12 months, mainly because of a lack of money,the survey found. Greece was worst, with 76% of households failingto pay on time.

The report comes as central banks run out of tools to providefurther stimulus and after years of austerity policies in Europeproduced questionable results. Now, with U.S. President-electDonald Trump promising an investment boom driven by fiscalstimulus, the outlook for interest rates is unclear. Aninflationary spending cycle would drive rates higher, but aneconomic downturn triggered by an international trade war mighthave the opposite effect.

Asked whether households would be wise to take on a bit morerisk in an effort to get higher returns, Ericson struck a cautiousnote.

“Personally, I think you should be conservative with yoursavings and ensure that you always get your capital back,” he said.“The basic savings should be placed so that you don't risk yourcapital, and in today's low-rate environment, you shouldn't be tooworried if you don't have any high interest rate on your account assuch.”

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