Turning Savers into Investors
Turning Savers into Investors
Challenge Owner
The Problem
“In Europe, we have over 11 trillion euros sitting in low yield deposit accounts. There are good reasons for keeping money in safe bank accounts, but there are also missed opportunities.”
– Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque[1]
The EU, including Latvia, faces a significant annual investment gap of at least €800 billion to achieve its competitiveness, digital and green transformation and defence objectives.
At the same time, 70% of household savings worth around €10 trillion are held as bank deposits, often low-yielding and eroded by inflation.[2] In 2021, only 17% of household assets were invested in financial securities, compared with a share that was 2.5 times higher in the US.[3]
The barriers to investing vary. In Latvia, research to be published by the Baltic Finance Centre shows that these may include fear of losing money or mistrust in investing (36%), lack of clarity about where to invest (19%), uncertainty about how to get started (16%) and lack of time (16%), among others. Especially, new solutions and providers are less known to the public, e.g., 58% of surveyed consumers stated that they had never heard of peer-to-peer or crowdfunding platforms.
The core question is how to develop enabling and simple digital tools and solutions that help savers become investors.
The challenge
Design a solution that empowers savers to expand their investment choice set to include a wider range of investment options and providers beyond the traditional current and savings accounts provided by banks.
Things to consider
- The starting point is the current decision-making journey of a typical “saver”/”depositor”: knowledge, skills, attitudes, frictions encountered, time available.
- Solutions and tools that enable “learning by doing” and reduce the time and effort required, rather than relying on passive information provision.
- Solutions that expand the investment choice set by expanding the range of products and providers, without overwhelming and confusing consumers.
- Solutions that support savers in selecting options that are appropriate to their needs and risk preferences.
- Solutions that could be scaled across the entire EU.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_25_835.
[2] https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/savings-and-investments-union-better-financial-opportunities-eu-citizens-and-businesses-2025-03-19_en
[3] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/retail-investment-strategy/
The Problem
“In Europe, we have over 11 trillion euros sitting in low yield deposit accounts. There are good reasons for keeping money in safe bank accounts, but there are also missed opportunities.”
– Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque[1]
The EU, including Latvia, faces a significant annual investment gap of at least €800 billion to achieve its competitiveness, digital and green transformation and defence objectives.
At the same time, 70% of household savings worth around €10 trillion are held as bank deposits, often low-yielding and eroded by inflation.[2] In 2021, only 17% of household assets were invested in financial securities, compared with a share that was 2.5 times higher in the US.[3]
The barriers to investing vary. In Latvia, research to be published by the Baltic Finance Centre shows that these may include fear of losing money or mistrust in investing (36%), lack of clarity about where to invest (19%), uncertainty about how to get started (16%) and lack of time (16%), among others. Especially, new solutions and providers are less known to the public, e.g., 58% of surveyed consumers stated that they had never heard of peer-to-peer or crowdfunding platforms.
The core question is how to develop enabling and simple digital tools and solutions that help savers become investors.
The challenge
Design a solution that empowers savers to expand their investment choice set to include a wider range of investment options and providers beyond the traditional current and savings accounts provided by banks.
Things to consider
- The starting point is the current decision-making journey of a typical “saver”/”depositor”: knowledge, skills, attitudes, frictions encountered, time available.
- Solutions and tools that enable “learning by doing” and reduce the time and effort required, rather than relying on passive information provision.
- Solutions that expand the investment choice set by expanding the range of products and providers, without overwhelming and confusing consumers.
- Solutions that support savers in selecting options that are appropriate to their needs and risk preferences.
- Solutions that could be scaled across the entire EU.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_25_835.
[2] https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/savings-and-investments-union-better-financial-opportunities-eu-citizens-and-businesses-2025-03-19_en
[3] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/retail-investment-strategy/
