The Popular Savings Booklet (LEP) has been a hit since its remuneration rate is twice that of the Livret A. More than 10 million French people now hold a LEP according to the Banque de France. But more than 8 million eligible French people are still missing out on the opportunity of this booklet with its unbeatable yield in 2023.
To have the right to open a popular savings account, you must be of legal age, to be able to prove a tax reference income (RFR), and not to exceed an income threshold. Are you one of them? To find out, just take a look at your income tax notice!
| You can open a LEP if… | Maximum annual income in mainland France based on the RFR (1) |
| Single (1 part) | 21393 |
| Couple without children (2 parts) | 32821 |
| Single parent with 1 child (2 parts) | |
| Couple with 2 children (3 parts) | 44249 |
(1) For an opening in 2023: reference tax income (RFR) of the tax paid in 2022 for the year 2021.
For more details on tax shares, read Family Quotient 2023.
For more details on eligibility for the LEP, read Conditions of access to the popular savings account.
In total, more than a third of French adults – 35% exactly – have the right to open a LEP: 18.6 million French people have an RFR below the thresholds above, according to the Banque de France, which revealed unpublished data on the LEP this Tuesday, October 31.
Who are these 8.5 million French people who are missing out on the bargain?
Yet… Of the 18.6 million eligible French people, only 10.1 million have opened a LEP. So 8.5 million eligible French people have not yet taken the step of opening a popular savings account. The LEP detention rate is therefore approaching today 54% of the eligible populationcompare to 81% for Livret A, open without conditions of age or resources, reports the Banque de France.
But the Bank of France considers this milestone of 10 million still insufficient: its objective is to reach at least 12.5 million LEP by the summer of 2024, or more than two thirds of the 18.6 million eligible people.
Young people are too little aware of LEP
Who are these more than 8 million French people who are missing out on this opportunity? Since 30 euros is enough to open a LEP, and nothing prevents you from digging into the cushion of precautionary savings that you are building up there. On October 31, the Banque de France detailed several target profiles for populations eligible for the LEP:
The most financially fragile households. The population in a situation of financial fragility represents approximately 22% of the population eligible for the LEP, reports the Banque de France. However, among the poorest 10% of the population, only one person in ten holds a LEP, according to the Banque de France. The low saving capacity of these households is obviously to blame and the Banque de France recognizes that in this segment of the population the margin for progress can only be quite low due to the difficulty of generating sufficient income.
Young people. Adults under the age of 25 represent less than 2.5% of holders even though they represent 10% of the population and their income most often allows them to have access to the LEP. But you have to be fiscally independent: complete your own income declaration. A condition which automatically excludes some of the students. THE youth [jeunes adultes, puisqu’il faut tre contribuable, NDLR] are too little aware of the LEP, pointed out the governor of the Bank of France, Franois Villeroy de Galhau, this summer during a press briefing. The Banque de France invites banks to carry out targeted communication on the LEP among eligible young workers and students. Conversely, withdrawals seem much more aware of their rights since 39% of LEP holders are over 65 years old while these seniors only make up 26% of the adult population in France.
Holders of a simple Livret A. Those who forget to open a LEP, due to failure to consider their savings and their rights? Or lack of sufficient reputation for the popular savings account? There are a number of fellow citizens who have a Livret A and would be entitled to the LEP. It is a priority target, underlined Franois Villeroy de Galhau in July. The Banque de France study thus reveals that certain households in the first deciles, in other words among the poorest households, hold a Livret A, suggesting, despite modest incomes, a very existing savings capacity. Clearly, these low-income households still put a little aside… on a Livret A remunerated at 3%, whereas they could do so on a LEP at 6%.
Some banks are not keen to open LEPs
A final project to help these more than 8 million taxpayers subscribe to a LEP is to convince the banks to communicate themselves, and not only to the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP), which sends an information message to households each year. eligible. But… Some banks are not zealous in opening LEPs, conceded Marie-Laure Barut-Etherington, deputy general director in charge of statistics at the Banque de France, this Tuesday in front of the press. Because for them, the LEP is expensive: the banks pay the 6% interest equally with the Caisse des Dépôts, a bill which could exceed 3 billion euros this year.
LEP: everything you need to know about this investment which beats inflation and yields twice as much as the Livret A