Bank interest rates today February 26: Sharp decrease right after the Prime Minister's direction

Deposit interest rates drop sharply below 6%/year

On the afternoon of February 25, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) held a meeting with commercial banks to discuss stabilizing deposit interest rates. Immediately after that, a series of banks such as Eximbank, BVBank, KienlongBank, VietBank and MSB simultaneously adjusted their deposit interest rates down. Some banks even reduced them by up to 0.7%/year.

Eximbank has just announced a new interest rate schedule effective from February 26. This is the second time in a week and the third time this month that the bank has reduced its deposit interest rates. According to the new interest rate schedule, the 6-9 month term is reduced to 5.3%/year, while the 12 month term is reduced to 5.5%/year.

Notably, Eximbank has sharply reduced interest rates for long-term terms from 15-36 months. Specifically, the 15-month term decreased by 0.3%/year to 5.8%/year, officially losing the mark of over 6%/year that had been maintained for a long time. The 18-36-month term decreased by 0.4%/year, down to 6%/year for the 18-month term and 6.1%/year for the 24-36-month term.

Meanwhile, interest rates for terms under 6 months remained unchanged. The 1-month term remained at 4.1%/year, the 2-month term was 4.3%/year, the 3-month term was 4.4%/year and the 4-5-month term was 4.7%/year.

Eximbank is the only bank that applies a separate interest rate schedule for the two weekends, with similar reductions. Specifically, the 1-2 month term is 4.7%/year, the 3-5 month term is 4.75%/year, the 6-9 month term is 5.5%/year, the 12 month term is 5.6%/year, the 15 month term is 5.8%/year, the 18 month term is 6%/year and the 24-36 month term is 6.1%/year.

After two consecutive interest rate cuts, Eximbank has lost its leading position in terms of highest deposit interest rates to IVB and GPBank.

Not only Eximbank, but also the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam (BVBank) has just adjusted the interest rate for deposits with terms of 6 months or more. Accordingly, the term of 6-8 months decreased by 0.1%/year, the term of 9-12 months decreased by 0.25%/year, while the term of 13-24 months decreased by 0.3%/year.

After adjustment, the interest rate for 6-month term is 5.35%/year, 7-month term is 5.4%/year and 8-month term is 5.45%/year. The new interest rates for 9, 10 and 11-month terms are 5.5%, 5.55% and 5.6%/year respectively.

Notably, the 12-month deposit interest rate has officially dropped below 6%/year, to only 5.8%/year. The 15-month term has also dropped to 5.9%/year.

The simultaneous reduction of deposit interest rates by banks shows a strong adjustment under the direction of the State Bank of Vietnam to stabilize interest rates. This is also a move to help reduce lending interest rates, supporting the economy in the context of credit needing to be promoted.

Many banks offer high interest rates with strict conditions

Previously, some banks listed very high interest rates for 12 and 13 month terms. However, to enjoy this interest rate, customers had to deposit a very large amount of money, up to VND500 billion or even VND2,000 billion.

Although in practice, these interest rates are mainly used to guide lending rates (because lending rates are usually calculated based on 12- or 13-month term interest rates plus a margin), many banks have now adjusted these rates down or completely removed them. This move took place after the dispatch of instructions on strengthening the implementation of interest rate reduction solutions.

Some banks are still maintaining high interest rates with special conditions. For example, PVComBank still lists an interest rate of 9%/year for a 12-month term, but only applies to customers who deposit at least VND2,000 billion. HDBank also maintains an interest rate of 8.1%/year for a 13-month term and 7.7%/year for a 12-month term, with the condition that the deposit amount is VND500 billion or more.

However, some other banks have changed their policies. Vikki Digital Bank previously applied an interest rate of 7.5%/year for a 13-month term with a minimum deposit of VND200 billion, but this rate is no longer applied. Currently, the 13-month term interest rate at this bank is only 5.82%/year, similar to other savings products.

The adjustment of interest rates by banks shows a general trend of gradually reducing deposit interest rates, in line with the direction of the management agency to stabilize interest rates and support the economy.

Quoc Duong