Vietnamese banks are aggressively raising online deposit rates, with six- to twelve-month terms seeing the most significant increases. Several private banks have boosted rates by 0.5 to 1 percentage point, pushing the highest available rates for long-term deposits above 7% annually, according to a report from Dantri newspaper.
The surge in rates comes ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, known as Tet, as banks compete to attract funds to meet lending and liquidity demands. This indicates a sustained period of high deposit rates and a continuing capital competition among banks, the report stated.
A significant disparity exists in rates for one-month online deposits. SCB currently offers the lowest rate at 1.6% per annum, while several private banks, including OCB, PGBank, PVcomBank, TPBank, VIB, and VPBank, offer rates as high as 4.75%. This creates a difference of 3.15 percentage points – a substantial gap for short-term deposits.
The “Big Four” state-owned banks – Agribank, BIDV, VietinBank, and Vietcombank – are maintaining comparatively lower rates of 3% to 3.2% per annum, approximately 1.5 percentage points below the highest rates offered by private lenders.
The rate differential persists for three-month terms. SCB offers the lowest rate at 1.9%, while the highest rate reaches 4.75%. The Big Four’s rates range from 3.4% to 3.7%, again trailing the top private banks by 1 to 1.3 percentage points. Banks like ACB, SHB, LPBank, and MBV are offering rates between 4.65% and 4.75%, demonstrating intense competition in the short-term deposit market.
The gap widens further for six-month terms. SCB remains at the lower end with 2.9%, while PGBank leads with 7.1%, a difference of 4.2 percentage points. While state-owned banks maintain rates between 4.5% and 5.7%, several private banks, including Bac A Bank (6.8%), MBV and Vikki Bank (6.5%), ABBank, OCB, VPBank, and LPBank (6.2% to 6.3%), are offering rates exceeding 6%.
This trend continues for nine-month deposits, with PGBank maintaining the highest rate of 7.1% and SCB at 2.9%, a 4.2 percentage point difference. Private banks generally offer rates between 5.5% and 6.5%, exceeding the Big Four’s range of 4.5% to 5.7% by 0.8 to 2 percentage points.
The highest rates are currently applied to twelve-month deposits, with MBV and PGBank both offering 7.2%. Other banks, including Bac A Bank (6.85%), OCB and Vikki Bank (6.6%), and VIB (6.5%), also maintain rates above 6.5%. BIDV and VietinBank offer 5.2%, Agribank 6%, and SCB the lowest at 3.7%. The difference between the highest and lowest rates is 3.5 percentage points, and 1 to 2 percentage points compared to the Big Four.
Eighteen-month deposit rates also demonstrate a considerable spread. MBV offers 7.2%, Bac A Bank 6.9%, and PGBank and OCB 6.8%. The Big Four offer rates between 5.3% and 6%, while SCB provides 3.9%. The gap between the highest and lowest rates is 3.3 percentage points.
smaller and medium-sized banks are offering significantly higher rates for long-term deposits of six months or more, while state-owned banks maintain lower, more stable rates. According to the report, five banks – Agribank, MB, TPBank, KienLongBank, and Vietcombank – have increased deposit rates since the beginning of February. Conversely, ACB, Sacombank, ABBank, and Techcombank have lowered their rates.