Being financially independent has always been very important to me. Early on, I earned money on top of my pocket money and looked into different investment forms. Making money through interest always seemed better to me than through work. Later, I started investing in stocks and ETFs – so it’s no wonder I thought UnitPlus was a great business idea: an ETF savings account that can also be used as a checking account with a credit card.

Unfortunately, not all Germans are so interested in investing money.

The last monthly report of the Deutsche Bundesbank shows the slumbering potential of private households in Germany. Thus, primarily low-interest demand deposits amount to EUR 1.8 trillion. EUR 429 billion is also held in cash. This sum significantly exceeds the federal government’s spending of EUR 344 billion for the 2018 fiscal year, during which I was Minister of Economic Affairs.

Now is not the time for high-flying plans on stock markets. Still, you can do the math: Assuming that just 10% of households’ cash holdings were invested over ten years in a broadly diversified global equity portfolio with an 8% return per year, the gain would add up to around EUR 50 billion, making it a perfect complement to the federal government’s targeted equity pension of EUR 10 billion per year over 15 years.

The government has to get the share pension off the ground; we take care of our assets – and thus, in part, our retirement provision – ourselves. UnitPlus is an excellent tool to achieve the goal, and therefore I also support their mission to make investing as easy as saving. 

With UnitPlus, anyone can become active in the capital market easily, flexibly, and without prior knowledge and invest money on a broadly diversified basis worldwide for small and large goals in life. Thanks to the globally unique and direct link to a bank card, it is possible to pay with profitable money anytime. This beats inflation and fundamentally represents a new way of paying. I am also impressed by the speed of UnitPlus’ further development. In particular, the “CashPlus” interest product that has just been launched on the German market – an interest solution with 3.73% interest (as of June 12th, 2024) and worldwide payment flexibility, is a tremendous further development of the possibilities with the account. CashPlus manages to make established banks and traditional bank cards look old. Traditional providers, in particular, usually give no or only meager interest to savers. The UnitPlus bank card stands out on the German market with its interest rate compared to 150 million other bank cards.  

Germany is not only a country of poets and thinkers but also one that bases its economic success on innovation. UnitPlus is doing its part.