Individual customers' bank savings hit record high

A bank teller counts money at a branch in Hà Nội. Long-term interest rates exceed the 6 per cent threshold per year at many banks. Photo thoibaonganhang.vn

HÀ NỘI - Individual customers' banking deposits hit a record high of more than VNĐ6.83 quadrillion as of the end of July 2024, newly released data from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) shows.

The value of the deposits increased by VNĐ305.67 trillion, or 4.68 per cent, compared to the end of 2023.

Deposits from individual customers at banks have increased for nearly the past two years, despite record low interest rates in 2023. According to experts, the economy still faces difficulties in supplying capital for production and business, while other investment channels, such as stocks and real estate, have more potential risks. Meanwhile, savings interest rates have shown signs of increasing again since April 2024, which could be one reason bank deposits are attractive to customers.

In September, many banks - including Đông Á Bank, OceanBank, VietBank, GPBank, Agribank, Bắc Á Bank, NCB, OCB, BVBank, PGBank and Nam Á Bank - raised their savings interest rates, mainly for short-term deposits. Before that, in July, about 20 banks increased their deposit interest rates and 15 banks raised their interest rates in August.

Compared to the beginning of this year, deposit interest rates at many banks have increased by up to one percentage point per year. Long-term interest rates exceed the 6 per cent threshold per year at many banks.

NCB is leading the market with an interest rate of 6.15 per cent per year over a 36-month term. OceanBank, Saigonbank, SHB and Dong A Bank are all offering an interest rate of 6.1 per cent per year over the same term.

For an 18-month term, Đông Á Bank, HDBank and OceanBank currently offer the highest interest rate of 6.1 per cent per year. Bắc Á Bank comes in second, with an interest rate of 6.05 per cent per year. Saigonbank and BaovietBank both offer a slightly lower rate at 6.0 per cent per year.

Meanwhile, State-owned banks have offered stable interest rates for several months. The highest deposit interest rate at VietinBank is 4.8 per cent per year, applied to terms of 24 months or more. VietinBank offers a rate of 4.7 per cent per year for terms of 12 to 23 months and a rate of 3 per cent for terms of six to under 12 months.

Interest rates at State-owned Vietcombank have also remained unchanged over the past few months. The rates for terms of six and nine months at the bank are 2.9 per cent per year, with a 4.6 per cent rate for 12-month deposits and a rate of 4.7 per cent per year for 24 months or more.

Phan Lê Thành Long, CEO of accounting, auditing and finance research and education firm AFA Group said that in a period with many uncertain factors, smart money chooses to return to banks to wait, which causes bank savings to peak. Many experts expected low lending interest rates would stimulate cash flow into real estate, but in reality, that is not the case. Housing prices are too high while the liquidity of the real estate market is low.

Meanwhile, the stock market, which has failed to surpass the 1,300 point mark several times, has also discouraged investors from buying into the stock market, Long said, adding that AFA Group recommends investors increase the proportion of money deposited in banks.