Got queries on savings accounts or pension savings plans?

Frequently asked questions

Got queries on savings accounts or pension savings plans?

Frequently asked questions

Opening or closing a KBC Brussels Savings Account

If you already have a savings account at KBC Brussels:

  1. Tap ‘My KBC’
  2. Tap the plus sign next to ‘Accounts’

You can also tap ‘Start’ in the menu, swipe all the way to the left and then tap ‘New product’ to set up a new savings account.

If you don’t have a savings account at KBC Brussels yet:

  1. Tap ‘Offer’
  2. Under ‘KBC products’, tap ‘Accounts’

KBC Brussels Mobile lets you open a KBC Brussels Savings Account for yourself, yourself and your partner* (provided they’re known to KBC Brussels) or any of your children (again, if they’re on file with KBC Brussels). You can also open a KBC Brussels Savings Account for Third Parties for your child, grandchild or baby on the way (during pregnancy or adoption).

Marriage partners and legal cohabitants.

Once your savings account has been opened, we’ll message you as soon as possible to confirm this. You will find that message in your messages under ‘My KBC’ in KBC Brussels Mobile and under ‘Messages’ in KBC Brussels Touch,

which does not contain any legal information or product features. If you wish to save that information, download the respective PDF files and save them on your device.

A KBC Brussels Savings Account can be closed quickly and easily under your account’s ‘Settings’ tab. This applies to savings accounts you, you and your spouse or you and your children hold. You can also close savings accounts over which you have power of attorney.

KBC Brussels Mobile makes it easy for you to manage account insurance for your insurable savings accounts entirely online under your insurance settings. Contact your KBC Brussels branch if you’d like to insure your eligible current accounts.

Setting up a Pricos Responsible Investing pension savings plan

Select Offer > KBC Brussels products > Saving and Investments > Start saving for your pension. You can set up a Pricos Responsible Investing pension savings plan in just a few steps, with or without advice from KBC Brussels. The product you take out is Pricos Responsible Investing by default.

If you already have a tax-friendly insurance product with KBC Brussels, you won’t be able to set up a Pricos Responsible Investing pension plan.

You must be aged between 18 and 65 to set up a Pricos Responsible Investing pension savings plan, and you must have a permanent address outside the US.

You can only set up a Pricos Responsible Investing pension savings plan for yourself.

The tax benefit is only available to people who earn a sufficient amount of taxable income in Belgium.

Since 2018, you’ve been able to choose between two maximum tax-deductible amounts you can save under a pension savings plan. One gives you a tax break of 30% (when you opt for the lower tax-deductible amount), the other 25% (when you opt for the higher amount).

When you open a pension savings plan with us, the lower of the two capped amounts you can save for tax relief is chosen for you by default. Your pension savings plan appears in your assets view once you’ve paid into it for the first time. You can then opt for the higher of the two capped amounts under ‘Details’ in your pension savings account view. 

It’s automatically reset to the lowest amount for tax relief on 1 January every year. If you want to save the higher capped amount for tax relief, you can change it under ‘Details’ in your pension savings account view.

With a pension savings plan, you invest a fixed amount by standing order in a fund every month. You only pay the usual charges for the fund. See the relevant product information for more details of what you pay.

Every time you pay into your plan, you pay entry charges. There are also annual management fees to pay as the fund invests in shares and bonds that need to be actively monitored.

That said, there is a final tax charge, on top of the attractive tax relief and potentially high returns. The tax is generally payable on your 60th birthday. If you start saving after turning 55, the tax charge is due after ten years.

The tax treatment will depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future. For further details, including on the final tax charge, contact your KBC Brussels branch.

No, KBC Brussels Mobile only lets you pay into a Pricos Responsible Investing by standing order.

You can’t set up more than one Pricos Responsible Investing.

Once your Pricos Responsible Investing has been set up, we’ll message you as soon as possible to confirm this. You will find that message under ‘Messages’ in KBC Brussels Mobile and in KBC Brussels Touch,

which does not contain any legal information or product features. If you wish to save that information, download the PDF files and save them on your device.

You can always sell or take your pension savings earlier, but you’ll be heavily taxed.

If you want to save more or less, or cancel your standing order temporarily or entirely, or sell or take your pension savings earlier, we’ll be happy to help you. Call or chat with KBC Brussels Live, or make an appointment at your branch.

Your pension benefits are not automatically paid out when you turn 65, which means you can withdraw them whenever you want. So if you believe the price of the fund will still go up, you can also choose to leave them where they are. If you would like to withdraw your pension benefits, contact KBC Brussels Live or make an appointment at your branch.

Topping up your pension savings plan

As soon as you’ve paid the maximum tax-deductible amount into your pension savings plan, a ‘Fully paid’ label appears next to your account. If you tap this label, a screen will appear showing what you’ve already paid and still have left to pay into your plan and what this year’s maximum tax-deductible amount is. This screen will also be marked with a ‘Fully paid’ label when you’ve deposited the entire amount qualifying you for the full tax break.

Yes, you can. Just tap your account to view its details and make an additional deposit. You can opt to pay in the full tax-deductible amount in one go or an amount of your choosing (at least 10 euros per deposit).

You are legally no longer permitted to make additional deposits after turning 65 and the top-up button will no longer be visible. Although the maximum tax-deductible amount no longer applies, it will still be shown in your pension savings plan details screen.

If you make a manual top-up, we’ll automatically recalculate the remaining balance for that calendar year and divide it equally over the remaining months of that year. From 1 January of the following year, you’ll start again with a monthly amount equal to a twelfth of the lower of the two amounts eligible for tax relief.

You can make several manual top-ups in a row.

No. You can only see it once your first deposit has been processed, which takes three working days. Bear that in mind if you set up a plan at the end of the year.

  1. Log in to KBC Brussels Mobile
  2. Tap ‘Investments’ at the bottom then ‘Tax-advantaged savings and investments’
  3. Select your pension savings plan
  4. Hit the ‘Increase your maximum tax-deductible amount’ link at the top and read the information about the maximum amounts
  5. Choose your maximum tax-deductible amount
  6. Sign to confirm your choice

Topping up a KBC Brussels Life Home Plan, KBC Brussels Home & Pension Plan, KBC Brussels Home & Long-Term Plan or KBC-Life Long-Term Fund Plan

When you’ve paid the maximum tax-deductible amount, your plan will be marked with a ‘Fully paid’ label in your overview screen. If you tap this label, a screen will appear showing what you’ve already paid and still have left to pay into your plan and what this year’s maximum tax-deductible amount is. This screen will also be marked with a ‘Fully paid’ label when you’ve deposited the entire amount qualifying you for the full tax break.

Yes. Just tap the tax-advantaged savings plan to view its details and pay into your plan. The amount to be deposited is the amount needed to top up your plan to get the full tax relief. You can change this amount if you prefer, as long as you don’t exceed the maximum tax-deductible amount.

Note that we’re unable to check in real time whether you’ve deposited the entire amount making you eligible for the full tax break. If you pay in too much, we’ll repay you the difference afterwards.

Yes. It takes three banking days to process a deposit, so you won’t be able to make a second deposit quickly after making a first one. Once your previous deposit has been processed, you can make another one.

If you hold the KBC Brussels Home & Pension Plan NIHDI insurance product, you can only view the reserve that you have built up with it.

Long-term saving: Open a KBC Brussels Home & Long-Term Plan or a KBC-Life Long-Term Fund Plan

This type of saving is where you save through a life insurance savings (class 21) product or unit-linked life insurance (class 23) product to build up a supplementary pension. It also benefits you in that you can get tax relief of up to 30% on the amount you save.

Savings insurance plans are effectively life insurance policies where each deposit you make earns a fixed amount of interest. You could also receive an annual profit share, depending on KBC Insurance’s results.

Unit-linked life insurance is a form of life insurance whose return is linked to that of one or more investment funds. These funds invest primarily in shares, bonds, cash, real estate or a combination of these assets. Depending on the selected investment combination, the policy can entail a low to high degree of risk. Ultimately, the return is dependent on the performance and changes in value of the funds. The value of the fund may fluctuate over time. The associated financial risk is borne by the policyholder. On the other hand, you could potentially receive a higher return.

Long-term savings are a great way to build up a supplementary pension.

The government caps the amount eligible for full tax relief every year.

The most that you personally can save depends on your net taxable earned income, which is given on your most recent tax assessment notice under ‘Gezamenlijk belastbaar inkomen’ (Joint taxable income).

When you set up a long-term savings plan using KBC Brussels Touch or KBC Brussels Mobile, you automatically save a twelfth of your personal maximum amount every month by standing order.

Yes, provided that you don’t save more than your personal maximum amount. You are responsible for keeping an eye on this maximum figure.

No. You can never save more than the capped amount set by the government.

You can, however, save more than your personal maximum amount, though you won’t get tax relief on any amount you save above that. You’ll also have to pay tax on the total amount and possibly additional charges once you turn 60.

Long-term savings plans must be for 10 years to benefit from tax breaks.

If you’re under 55 when you set up your plan, it ends once you turn 75. If you set up your plan when you’re 55 or older, it lasts for 20 years.

Married couples receive a joint tax assessment notice. The tax authorities regard one member of the couple as being the ‘declarant’ (usually the man – left column on the tax return) and the other as a ‘partner’ (usually the woman – right column on the tax return). It’s important that you use the amount from the applicable column.

No, you can’t. Plans set up using KBC Brussels Mobile are opened in the name of the person logged into the app at the time.

Yes, you can, though bear in mind that withdrawing the money that you’ve accrued will attract charges and could be heavily taxed.

Yes, you can. Just contact KBC Brussels Live, your branch or your insurance agent. They’ll be happy to help.

  • Open KBC Brussels Mobile
  • Tap ‘Investments > Tax-advantaged savings and investments’
     

Opening and releasing security deposit savings accounts

Tap Offer > KBC Brussels products > Accounts > Open security deposit savings account. You can immediately view the new account.

You will find your security deposit savings account with all your other accounts under ‘My KBC’.

You can open a security deposit savings account if you’ve signed a private lease for renting an apartment, house, student accommodation, service flat, room in a nursing home or a parking space, both as a main residence and a second home. You can’t open one for property that you rent for professional purposes or for property abroad.

You need the ID cards of all tenants, the name(s) and address(es) of the landlord(s) and the lease.

Any individual aged 18 and over can open one, either in your own name, or in your and your partner’s names (provided they’re on file with KBC Brussels).
The landlord may be a private individual, a Public Social Welfare Centre or an estate agent.

That includes your spouse, legally cohabiting partner, unofficially cohabiting partner, brothers, sisters, parents, boyfriend or girlfriend. They all qualify, though the ‘other person’ must be on file with KBC Brussels.

All tenants that you register when you open a security deposit savings account must sign the contract.

Yes, your new security deposit savings account will be immediately accessible in your accounts overview under ‘My KBC’.

No, you don’t. You can transfer your security deposit either as soon as you open the account, or at a later date.

You can’t use KBC Brussels Mobile to open a security deposit savings account:

  • if you’re under 18
  • if there are more than two landlords
  • if you’re an expat
  • for property that you rent abroad
  • for a business premises or moveable assets

No, you can’t. However, you can pay it at a later date (after opening the security deposit savings account). The entire amount of the security deposit will be blocked immediately after being transferred. You can deposit additional money on this account at any time, but can’t withdraw any.

You can have the names of the tenants or landlords changed at your branch. You may not add or remove tenants or landlords without first closing the security deposit savings account.

No, you can’t.

It only contains the name of the tenant (or names of the joint tenants) and the amount of the security deposit.

We only use your landlord’s e-mail address (if necessary) to inform them about the security deposit savings account. We remove their e-mail address from our records afterwards.

The app lets you apply to close your security deposit savings account or release your security deposit after receiving the signed release agreement from your landlord(s) or when you are in possession of a court order.

You need the following documents:

  • Completed release document signed by the tenants and the landlord (or joint landlords, if the property is jointly owned)
  • Landlord’s ID card (or joint landlords’ ID cards, if the property is jointly owned)
  • Lease contract

Once we’ve checked and approved the documents you send us, we’ll transfer the amount in accordance with the guidelines shown on the release document. The release, including the transfer, will take one banking day. You will receive a notification of this in KBC Brussels Mobile > My KBC.

Opening a time deposit account

Tap Offer > KBC Brussels products > Saving and Investments > Open a time deposit account

  • Yourself
  • Your minor child 
  • Yourself and your spouse or partner
  • Someone else (provided you have power of attorney over the originating account and over an existing KBC Brussels time deposit account in the name of the same person)

A KBC Brussels time deposit account opened using KBC Brussels Mobile is always in the name of the person or persons holding the originating account.

You’re notified of this once you’ve signed. Your list of transactions on the originating account shows the transaction described as ‘Subscription’ and also the time deposit account number.

No. It may take up to two days for your time deposit account to appear in your ‘Investments’ overview.

Only if you already have the amount available in the currency concerned. Our range of time deposit accounts in foreign currencies is also limited and subject to change. If any are available and you have an account in the relevant currency, you’ll be given the option at the start of the subscription transaction.

Most of the time it is, but not always.

The rate you see when checking all the details just before signing is the one you’ll get. If exemption from withholding tax applies, this is not displayed at earlier stages of the process (like choosing the term), but you are shown this at the end when reviewing all the details. Only then is all the relevant information known.

The range of time deposit accounts changes, so we may be unable to offer any standard ones.
Time deposit accounts may be available through other channels, or other products that offer a fixed interest rate such as savings certificates. KBC Brussels Live will be happy to help you with this.

You won’t be shown accounts that you can’t use to subscribe, like pledged accounts or accounts subject to usufruct.

Saving for your dreams

A dream is something you want to save up for. Setting a clear savings goal based on something you’ve always dreamed about makes saving more fun – and gives you something to aim for.

I don’t have a dream yet

  1. Scroll to ‘Income and expenditure’ on your app’s start screen
  2. Tap ‘What do you dream about?’
  3. Choose one of the suggested dreams or create a dream of your own

I already have a dream

  1. Scroll to ‘Income and expenditure’ on your app’s start screen
  2. Tap ‘Saving for your dreams’
  3. Scroll right down to the bottom and tap ‘Create a new dream’
  4. Choose one of the suggested dreams or create a dream of your own

Yes, you can.

Our savings boosters offer you a fun and original way to help you save for your dream. The amount you save is transferred from a current account to a savings account. The money you transfer will only be virtually allocated to the dream (all the money remains available in the savings account you selected).

No. The money in your savings account is assigned to your dream (or dreams) only in a virtual sense. The total amount you have saved remains the same and you’re free to withdraw it whenever you want.

Yes, you can.

  1. Scroll to ‘Saving for your dreams’ on your start screen and tap ‘View details’ to see the details of your dream
  2. Tap ‘Manage your money’
  3. Select the dream you want to transfer money to

You can also release money assigned to a dream, so that it becomes available in your savings account again and can be used as you wish.

  1. Scroll to ‘Saving for your dreams’ on your start screen and tap ‘View details’ to see the details of your dream
  2. Tap ‘Manage your money’
  3. Select ‘No dream’ and enter the amount you want to release

Your savings are only virtually assigned to your dream (the money always remains available in your savings account).

To transfer all or some of the money assigned to a dream to a current account, follow these steps:

  1. Scroll to ‘Saving for your dreams’ on your start screen and tap ‘View details’ to see the details of your dream
  2. Tap ‘Manage your money’
  3. Select ‘No dream’ and enter the amount you want to release
  4. Close ‘Saving for your dreams’ and tap the ‘Transfer’ icon on the start screen
  5. Tap ‘Transfer money’ and then ‘Your own accounts’
  6. Transfer the amount you want from your savings account to your current account

If you’re under 18, you might not be able to transfer money from your savings account to your current account and you’ll have to ask your parent(s) for help.

Once you’ve reached your target amount, your dream will automatically be marked as achieved.

This will trigger a number of things:

  1. All active savings boosters linked to that dream will be stopped and all future transfers automatically cancelled
  2. If the amount of the transfer to fulfil the dream exceeds the target amount, the excess amount will also be added, leaving the balance assigned to the dream a little higher than the target amount

You can also manually set a dream to achieved by tapping ‘Stop saving’ (see ‘How do I end a dream’ for further instructions).

You can end a dream by deleting it or manually ending it (‘Stop saving’).
Follow these steps to delete a dream:

  1. Go to your dream’s details screen
  2. Tap ‘Settings’ and then ‘Delete dream’

Once you delete a dream, it’s gone for good and cannot be recovered. Ending a dream means temporarily putting it on hold before achieving your goal. You can always start saving again for a dream you’ve put on hold.

In both cases – deleting your dream and putting it on hold – all savings boosters linked to your dream will also be stopped.

No. Only you have access to your dreams. No one else can see the amount, name or any other information relating to your savings.

No. The accounts you selected the first time you activated a savings booster remain the same for every future dream or savings booster.

Savings boosters help you save for your dreams.

  • One-time savings boosters: you make a one-time transfer to your dream (for example, you have to activate the ‘Chef’ booster every time you cook at home instead of eating out)
  • Automatic savings boosters: after activating the savings booster, you transfer an amount automatically to your dream (you decide how much and when)
  • Triggered savings boosters: after activating the savings booster, certain events trigger a savings transfer (for example, the ‘Goal? Save!’ booster is activated every time your favourite football team scores a goal)

We will then transfer the money you save with savings boosters from your current account to your savings account. If you’re under 18, you can only use the one-time savings boosters.

  1. Tap ‘Saving for your dreams’ on your start screen
  2. Tap ‘Save’
  3. Select a savings booster from the list or create your own booster

OR

  1. Scroll to ‘Saving for your dreams’ on your start screen and tap ‘View details’ to see the details of your dream
  2. Tap ‘+ Add savings booster’ or ‘Save’
  3. Select a savings booster from the list or create your own booster
  1. Scroll to ‘Saving for your dreams’ on your start screen and tap ‘View details’ to see the details of your dream
  2. Tap ‘+ Add savings booster’
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap ‘+ Create your own savings booster’

Go to your dream’s details screen to see a list of your active savings boosters and edit or remove them.

This option is not available just yet. You can only save for a dream through your personal account for now.

  1. Scroll to ‘Saving for your dreams’ on your start screen and tap ‘View details’ to see the details of your dream
  2. Tap ‘Transactions’
  3. You will see an overview of all transactions (including transactions that didn’t go through or transactions still being processed)

All completed transactions are also shown in the details screen of your current or savings account in ‘My KBC’ and marked as ‘Saving for your dreams’.