Vietnamese banks raise deposit rates as year-end loan demand surges

With capital demand surging toward the year-end, numerous banks in Vietnam, particularly smaller ones, have increased their interest rates to attract more deposits.

Since the beginning of November, 16 banks have hiked their deposit rates, with some offering as high as 7% per annum. Notably, many banks are offering 6-month rates at 5.65%, hitting the highest levels seen one year ago.

Among the notable players are CBBank and OceanBank, which offer some of the most competitive rates in the market. The two lenders were recently taken over by state-controlled Vietcombank and military-run MBBank, respectively,

CBBank is posting the highest 6-month deposit rate at 5.65% per year for online deposits. For longer-term deposits of 13 months or more, the rate is up to 5.8% per year.

On December 2, OceanBank introduced a special savings program for the 2025 Lunar New Year with attractive rates: 4.6% per year for 3-month deposits, 5.5% for 6-month, and 5.8% for 12-month, which is currently the highest in the sector.

The program also includes an enticing promotion campaign, "Deposit Now, Double Your Luck," where customers who make a 6-month deposit will have chance to win a VinFast VF7 electric car, an iPhone 16 Pro Max, or AirPods 4.

BacABank is offering a competitive 5.5% per annum for 6-month term deposits. Rates for other terms range from 0.5% to 6.25% annually.

National Commercial Bank (NCB) is another listing attractive rates, with 5.45% per annum for 6-month deposits under its "An Phu" savings program, and 5.8% for those of 12 to 60 months.

As 2024 draws to a close, deposit rates for VND are showing a slight upward trend, reflecting banks’ increased demand for capital to support production and consumption.

At state-owned commercial banks, the 12-month rates range between 4.7% and 4.8%, while joint-stock commercial banks are offering higher rates - 5.4% to 6.2% for longer-term deposits. This shows strong competition among banks to secure a stable capital base.

Deposit rates are expected to rise by 0.5% to 1% by the year-end, depending on the terms and policies of each bank, according to experts.

Special interest rates above 7%

In a further sign of intense competition, several banks are offering special deposit rates in the range of 6-9.5% per annum, based on various deposit conditions.

The highest rates are being offered by PVcomBank, with an exceptional 9.5% per year for new deposits from VND2 trillion ($78.7 million).

HDBank has introduced special rates of 7.7% for 12-month deposits and 8.1% for 13-month, with a minimum deposit of VND500 billion ($19.7 million) each.

DongABank is offering 7.5% per year for 13 months or more, with a minimum deposit of VND200 billion ($7.87 million) for a 365-day term.

Maritime Bank (MSB) is also posting competitive rates, with a special 7% per year for new or auto-renewing deposits of 12 to 13 months and those amounting to VND500 billion or more.