Vietnam banks diverge on deposit rates

While some banks in Vietnam are pushing deposit rates higher - in some cases to as much as 9% a year - to attract funds, others have quietly begun cutting rates to optimize funding costs.

Vietnam’s deposit market in early February 2026 has shown a notable divergence in interest-rate trends. After an aggressive race to secure liquidity toward the end of last year, deposit rates at several commercial banks have started to reverse, particularly among lenders that have already stabilized liquidity after the Lunar New Year holiday (the first day of the Lunar New Year 2026 is February 17).

ABBank is among the clearest examples. After raising deposit rates by as much as 0.7 percentage points in January, the bank announced a new rate schedule effective February 2 that reflects a downward adjustment. Counter rates for deposits with maturities of six to 12 months have been cut to 6.1% per year, down 0.2 percentage points, while the highest online rate now stands at 6.3%.

Sacombank has also surprised the market by lowering rates across most tenors from February 2. The bank has introduced a tiered-rate structure based on deposit size, with online deposits below VND500 million (VND19,260) earning just 5.6% per year for maturities of six to 36 months - a sharp cut of 0.4 percentage points.

ACB has followed suit. From February 3, the lender significantly reduced rates on its ACB One digital platform. Rates for six- to 11-month tenors were cut by up to 0.95 percentage points to around 5.2-5.3%, while the 12-month rate fell 0.6 percentage points to 5.7%.

The easing in retail deposit rates comes after a period of sharp volatility in the money market, during which Vietnam’s interbank overnight rate surged above 17% per year. This helps explain why, despite cuts at banks such as ACB and Sacombank, other lenders including PGBank and Bac A Bank have maintained higher rates to protect funding sources.

Some small- and mid-sized banks are still willing to offer very high deposit rates to remain competitive amid persistent funding pressure. Several lenders are advertising rates of 8.7-8.9% per year for 12- to 15-month deposits, while negotiated rates for large deposits of several hundred billion dong (VND100 billion = $3.85 million) can reach as high as 9%.

Outlook: rates to gradually normalize

Analysts attribute the opposing trends to three key factors.

First, cash demand typically eases after the Lunar New Year, with funds flowing back into the banking system. Banks with ample liquidity tend to cut rates to preserve net interest margins. Conversely, banks that experienced rapid credit growth from the beginning of the year were forced to raise interest rates to compensate for the capital shortage.

Second, pressure from the interbank market. Although the recent spike is seen as technical and temporary, it has prompted smaller banks to raise retail deposit rates to reduce reliance on volatile interbank borrowing.

Third, funding structure adjustments. Some banks are lowering short-term rates while keeping longer tenors - above 12 months - relatively high to secure medium- and long-term funding and comply with central bank safety ratios, as credit growth is expected to accelerate in 2026.

Analysts say the rate cuts at some banks suggest system liquidity is gradually stabilizing after the seasonal peak.

KB Securities Vietnam expects the gap between credit growth and deposit mobilization to narrow after the first quarter of 2026, noting that the State Bank of Vietnam still has room for flexible policy management to ensure system stability.

However, a more cautious view from Bao Viet Securities suggests that, despite being temporary, interbank rates are likely to remain at a higher baseline at least through the end of the first quarter.