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Swiss banks may be at least as troubled as the Scottish variety, but there are still strong signs of the Helvetic instinct for money management.

It is reported by Reuters today that, in the canton of Zug, people are over-paying on their taxes, because the interest rate they get on doing so, at 2%, is better than the rates they can get by putting money into bank deposit accounts.

It has left the cantonal budget nearly £30m ahead of its projected budget, and the finance director in the strange position of trying to block over-eager tax-payers.

Closer to home, there's research just out that shows banks are increasing their demands for minimum deposits on accounts.

MoneyExpert.com has surveyed the conditions on financial products, and found the past 12 months have seen a 29% increase in the average amount people are expected to have on opening an account, now at £1381. The minimum deposits for term savings deposits such as bonds, has risen by 24%, to £2,567.

This is for the privilege of earning record low interest. The same website says instant access accounts have sunk from more than 3.5% to 0.97%, and the average for term products is down from 5.4% to 2.7%.

It seems that the higher deposits may be a means of discouraging people from spreading their savings around several banks. But if you look at the state of banking over the past 12 months, you can understand why people might find that option
attractive.