Deposit interest rates drop below 9.5% per central bank prompt

Vietnamese commercial banks have reduced their deposit interest rates en masse below 9.5% per year after the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said it would restrain credit institutions and branches of foreign banks with hiked interest rates.

On December 15, Vietnam Banks Association (VNBA) and its members agreed to set the deposit interest rate at 9.5% max to stabilize banking system interest rates and liquidity.

Then on December 20, SaigonBank cut its interest rate for six-month term deposits by 0.4 percentage points to 9.2% a year, 0.5 percentage points for nine-month terms to 9.3%, and 0.4 percentage points for 12-month terms to 9.4%. The biggest reduction was one percentage point to 9.5% for 13-month terms.

On the same day, BaoVietBank decreased its deposit interest rates to 5.65-5.9% for terms between one and three months, 8.8% for six-month terms, and 9.4% for 12-month terms.

The two banks once set their deposit interest rates at 10.2-10.5%, among the highest in the banking system.

On December 19, Cake by VPBank, a digital lender, lowered its deposit interest rates to 9.5% for all terms of six months or more.

PVComBank reduced its deposit interest rates to 9.7% for online terms of 18, 24, and 36 months, or 0.2 percentage points lower. The figure for 12-month terms is 9.4%.

OceanBank dropped its interest rate from 10% to 9.2% for 12-month terms.

GPBank set its highest interest rate at 8.6% for terms of 13 months or more.

Most small- and medium-sized banks apply the highest interest rates at 9.5% for terms of 13 months or more and 0.1-0.3 percentage points lower for 12-month terms.