If the interest paid on your savings account is more than the level of inflation your purchasing power will grow although less than it would have without the loss due to inflation. For instance, if inflation is 3% and your account pays 5% interest you are gaining a net of 2%. This is known as the Real interest rate. However, if the inflation rate is 5% and your account pays 3%, you will lose purchasing power on your account. Currently interest rates are very low and so there is very little incentive for saving money.