Interest rates are rising rapidly, and banks are 'racing' to raise capital.
In mid-March, many banks in Nghe An province simultaneously increased savings interest rates across various maturities; interest rates of 8% - 8.5% per year for maturities over 6 months are now commonly offered at many banks. The daily fluctuations in interest rates reflect the competitive pressure to attract deposits and the need to prepare capital for credit growth.
The deposit interest rate race
The deposit market saw a surge in activity last week as many banks simultaneously adjusted interest rates upwards, focusing on longer terms. To attract deposits, employees at some banks actively contacted customers via text messages and phone calls to introduce attractive interest rates.
According to our research, interest rates for 6-month terms have been adjusted upwards by many banks by 0.1–0.8%. For shorter 1-month terms, the divergence is clear: while state-owned banks maintain low rates (3–3.2%/year), joint-stock banks have pushed interest rates close to the ceiling of 4.75%/year. For longer terms, 12-month interest rates at many banks have exceeded 7%/year, while 18-month rates currently hover around 7%/year. In fact, some banks are trading at interest rates higher than their listed rates.
On the morning of March 20th, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (Vinh Phu ward, Nghe An province) decided to close her savings account at her old bank and transfer it to MB Bank. Ms. Huong said: "Hearing that MB Bank had significantly increased interest rates on individual deposits for terms of 12 months or more, with the highest rate reaching 8.4%/year – among the top in the market today – I rushed to deposit my money. While I'm still unsure where to invest and gold prices are volatile, this interest rate is quite good for me."
Reportedly, this is MB's second increase in deposit interest rates in March. Previously, on March 7th, the bank also increased interest rates for terms of 12 months or more, while keeping interest rates unchanged for short-term deposits under 12 months.
According to the new schedule, the interest rate for 12-18 month deposits under VND 1 billion has been raised to 6.5% per year, while deposits of VND 1 billion or more are subject to a rate of 6.6% per year. Compared to the previous rates, the deposit interest rates for 12-18 month terms have increased by 0.4% per year.
Notably, interest rates for long-term deposits from 24 months to 60 months have been sharply increased to 7.5% per year for both deposit groups. Compared to the interest rate schedule published at the beginning of March, this rate has increased by approximately 0.8 - 0.9% per year, marking one of the most significant adjustments by this bank in recent times.
Vietnam International Commercial Bank (VIB) has also adjusted its online deposit interest rates upwards, especially prioritizing terms from 6 to 11 months with interest rates up to 7.9%/year. This rate is 1.4% higher than the rate for deposits made at the counter (currently at 6.5%/year). Notably, online interest rates at VIB are approaching 8%/year depending on the deposit amount.
Not only small joint-stock banks, but also large-scale banks are racing to attract deposits. Even the state-owned banks (Big4) are not left out, although their deposit interest rates are relatively lower than those of private joint-stock banks.
On the morning of March 20th, BIDV officially adjusted its deposit interest rate schedule, becoming the second bank in the Big4 group (after VietinBank) to raise short-term interest rates to the regulated ceiling. Online deposit interest rates from 1 to 5 months uniformly increased to 4.75%/year. Of these, the 1-2 month term saw the most significant increase at 1.75%/year. Terms from 3-5 months also increased by 1.35%/year to reach the permitted ceiling...
What is the cause?
Currently, banks have their own interest rate policies applied to different customer groups, depending on the deposit amount. In addition, the actual deposit interest rate may vary depending on the capital balance of each bank branch. Besides the standard interest rate, some banks are offering deposit packages with special interest rates of up to 7-9% per year, but these come with conditions requiring a large deposit amount.
In addition to publicly available interest rates, some banks also offer special promotions to increase the actual return on investment for depositors. For example, MB allows customers to earn a maximum interest rate of approximately 8.4% per year through a voucher-based interest rate promotion mechanism, subject to conditions regarding the deposit amount and the applicable period.
As for VIB, according to a bank employee, the interest rate for 1-month deposits is applied flexibly depending on the deposit amount. Specifically, customers depositing 100 million VND will receive an interest rate of 5.6%/year; this increases to 6.4% for deposits of 500 million VND and reaches 6.5% for 1 billion VND. Notably, for deposits of 1 billion VND or more, customers will be upgraded and receive an additional 0.2% preferential interest rate from the following month, along with many attractive gift programs.
In order to achieve the government's economic stimulus goals, the banking system has proactively unlocked input resources, ready to supply capital to the market. This is the main reason for banks increasing deposit mobilization. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thong - Director of VIB International Bank in the North Central region, said: The trend of increasing savings interest rates started from the end of last year when there was a difference between deposit and credit growth. In addition, the impact of the shock from the global energy market, causing oil prices to skyrocket recently, has raised concerns about inflation. In this context, competition from other investment channels may make bank deposits less attractive to investors, and at the same time, there is a tendency to seek safer assets.
The banking sector is adjusting to maintain its attractiveness, a necessary move to attract capital in the face of competition from other investment forms. Despite rising interest rates, fundraising remains difficult; currently, our deposit mobilization has only increased by 5% compared to the beginning of the year.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thong - Director of VIB International Bank, North Central Region
According to our findings, besides the high demand for credit in the market, other factors also impact the liquidity of the Vietnamese Dong, such as continued net selling by foreign investors in the stock market, leading to the withdrawal of real capital; the tightening of tax management policies for household businesses has initially affected the amount of money maintained in the banking system, while the disbursement of public investment capital has not met expectations, causing the actual flow of money back into the economy to be slow.
According to information from the State Bank of Vietnam's Regional Branch 8, as of February 28, 2026, mobilized capital in the region (excluding the Development Bank) reached VND 588,327 billion, an increase of VND 9,069 billion (1.56%) compared to the beginning of the year. Specifically, Ha Tinh increased by VND 1,658 billion (1.3%), Nghe An by VND 5,025 billion (1.6%), and Quang Tri by VND 2,386 billion (1.7%). Mobilization in Nghe An accounted for 54.2%; Ha Tinh for 21.7%; and Quang Tri for 24.1% of total mobilization in Region 8.
As of February 28, 2026, the total outstanding loans of credit institutions and their branches in the region (excluding the Development Bank) reached VND 670,608 billion, an increase of VND 9,836 billion compared to the beginning of the year, or 1.49%; of which Ha Tinh increased by VND 4,513 billion, or 3.56%; Nghe An increased by VND 6,368 billion, or 1.74%; and Quang Tri decreased by VND 1,045 billion, or -0.62%. Outstanding loans excluding the Development Bank in Nghe An accounted for 55.6%; in Ha Tinh 19.6%; and in Quang Tri 24.8% of the outstanding loans in Region 8.
