FRANKFURT: Consumers and firms put money back into Spanish and Greek banks in September, European Central Bank data showed, ending a run of declines driven by concerns about both countries' finances.
Private-sector deposits at Spanish banks rose to 1.505 trillion euros ($1.95 trillion) at end-September from 1.492 trillion euros a month earlier, reversing the August fall.
A spokeswoman for the Bank of Spain said the main reason for the increase there was the central bank's decision to lift a scheme which penalised lenders for offering high-interest deposits.
The scheme was aimed at ending a deposit war between banks but it only moved the fight to commercial paper - a popular product among retail investors - whose volumes are not reflected in deposit figures.
Greek bank deposits rose to 160.1 billion euros from 158.7 billion. They have been relatively stable since June elections eased the fears the country might drop out of the currency bloc, but are still about one third below their December 2009 peak.
Deposits in other countries at the sharp end of the euro zone crisis were little changed.
In Ireland they were close to flat while in Portugal they fell less than 1 percent. Deposits rose in Italy to 1.467 trillion euros from 1.437 trillion in August.
Monthly fluctuations in the figures are common, though sharp consecutive drops in countries with stable banking systems are unusual.
The data, which are for all currencies combined, are not seasonally adjusted and differ slightly from national central bank figures.
They exclude deposits from central government and financial institutions.
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