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Nov 01, 2017 / 16:20

Banks start competing to mobilize deposits

Many banks, especially small- and medium-sized ones, have recently offered high interest rates and promotion programs to compete for mobilization of deposits to meet rising capital demands in the last months of the year.

They have offered high interest rates for long-term deposits to lure depositors. For example, customers will enjoy the highest interest rates of 8.2 percent per year for 18-month term when depositing at VietCapitalBank or eight percent per annum for 24-month term at VietABank.
Besides, to attract customers, apart from high interest rates, banks also offer many attractive promotion programs. For example, HDBank has a promotion program with a total value of nearly VND14.5 billion for customers who deposit from just VND60 million for at least one month.
Kienlongbank is attracting capital by a promotion program for depositors nationwide with the total value of more than VND6.8 billion.
Caption: HDBank offers a promotion program with a total value of nearly VND14.5 billion for customers who deposit from just VND60 million for at least one month.
HDBank offers a promotion program with a total value of nearly VND14.5 billion for customers who deposit from just VND60 million for at least one month.
Viet Capital Bank is also offering a promotion program with the total value of VND2 billion.
Apart from long terms, some banks also added interest rate range of 0.2-0.4 percent per year for depositors of short terms of 1-6 months. For example, at PVcombank, customers will enjoy the highest interest rate of 7.9 percent per year and additional interest rate of 0.4 percent per year when depositing at least VND30 million for six month terms and above.
At larger scale banks, competition in savings mobilization is also rather intense with the average interest rate of 5.5-6 percent per year for terms of 1-6 months and 7-7.8 percent per year for terms from one year. For example, at a Vietcombank’s transaction office in HCM City, when customers withdraw a large amount of money, the leader of the transaction office quickly offers invitations to deposit with interest rates being calculated on a daily basis.
Another large bank allows customers to withdraw part of their principal when they urgently need capital and enjoy no term interest rate for that part while the rest in the savings book still enjoys term interest rate.
A leader of a joint stock commercial bank, who declined to be named, said currently, many banks are having high deposit rates especially small banks. To prepare liquidity and meet high capital demand in the last months of the year, while retaining old customers, we are forced to increase deposit rates. On the other hand, further loosened credit growth target is also a good condition for lending.
As per initial plan, the credit growth target of the banking sector this year is assigned at 16-18 percent. In order to boost credit growth and contribute to support economic growth to achieve the set target, the credit growth target was raised to 21-22 percent.
Financial experts said that the last quarter of the year is a very good time for banks to improve outstanding loans when the capital demand of businesses has always increased in this period. However, banks should be cautious with the bad debt risk as credit growth is high.