Deposits

Bank deposits correspond to operations of receipt of funds by credit institutions, which undertake to repay them in accordance with the terms contracted. These operations may only be carried out by credit institutions registered with Banco de Portugal and authorised for this purpose.

To make a deposit you must have previously opened an account, which will allow you to make cash withdrawals and to make and be the beneficiary of payment transactions.

Most common types of deposits

Demand deposits:

• These can be made available at any time.
• Demand deposits generally do not pay interest or they pay interest at a very low rate, because transactions on these funds can occur at any time.
• The minimum banking services account and the basic account are demand deposit accounts with special conditions (see the "Minimum Banking Services" section).
  
  

Term deposits:

• These are repaid at the end of the period for which they were set up.
• Credit institutions may allow early withdrawal of the funds but there is usually a penalty, which is reflected in the amount of interest receivable for that period.
• This type of deposit usually pays interest at a rate higher than that of demand deposits.
• Interest may be paid periodically or only when the deposit period ends, and depends directly on the length of that period.