During the complicated Covid-19 pandemic, many banks have encouraged customers to deposit online by slightly raising deposit rates from 0.1 0.2 percent per annum. At the same time, many banks have added 0.1 0.3 percent per annum interest rates for short terms, while the increase for medium and long terms is more than one percent per annum.
According to survey of Nhip song Viet, on April 2nd, the deposit rates for terms from one to five months were commonly listed from 4.3 to 4.75 percent per annum. The difference between online savings rates and the rates at the counter for these terms is not significant due to the ceiling level regulated by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
A few banks see larger interest rate difference because they have raised their online savings rates significantly while their rates at the counter are listed at low levels, such as Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank, 0.45%), Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank, 0.4%), Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB, 0.25%) and Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV, 0.2%).
For terms from six months or more, the rates were raised by 0.1 0.3 percent per annum at some banks. The biggest interest rate difference between online and at the counter was recorded at 1.4 percent per annum.
In the group of state-owned banks, Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam (VietinBank) has added up to 0.3 percent per annum to the dong savings rate at the counter for customers depositing online via e-banking channel. At BIDV, online deposits are also given 0.2 percent per annum additional interest rate on all terms. Meanwhile, Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) so far has not made any announcement about raising interest rates.
In the group of private joint stock banks, Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) is applying the highest online deposit rates with six-month rate ranging from 8.03 to 8.21 percent per annum and 12-month rate ranging from 8.48 percent to 8.66 percent per annum, etc. Accordingly, the online deposit rates for terms of six months and 12-months are respectively 0.9 1.11 percentage points and 0.98 1.16 percentage points higher than the corresponding rates at the counter.
For six-month term, Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) lists online deposit rate at seven percent per annum. The bank has the biggest difference between savings rates at the counter and online rates among surveyed banks, which is 1.4 percent per annum.
The online savings rates of Techcombank and Viet Capital Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VietCapitalBank) are also much more attractive than traditional rates, with a gap ranging from 0.45 to 0.8 percentage point. VietCapitalBank particularly raised the online rates by 0.3 percent compared to the previous levels listed before April 1st 2020.
At Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB), Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank), SeABank, Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) or Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBBank), customers depositing capital via online channel also enjoy an interest rate promotion of 0.1 0.4 percent per annum compared to the rates at the counter. Meanwhile, Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank (KienlongBank) has added 0.2 0.5 percent per annum to online savings rates.
ACB has also increased six-month deposit rate by 0.2 percent and 0.05 percent for longer terms in order to attract deposits.
Six banks including Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VPBank), An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABBank), HCM City Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (HDBank), Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB), Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), and Viet A Commercial Joint Stock Banks (VietABank) have all raised online savings rates of all terms by 0.1 percentage point.
In addition, some banks have made no change to the rates of both channels, such as Lien Viet Post Commercial Joint Stock Bank (LienVietPostBank).
The Covid-19 has been causing negative effects to Vietnam’s economic activities, making the cash flows to tend to be poured into safe investment channels. Therefore, capital deposits, particularly online savings, should be more prioritised in this period, due to the attractive interest rates and high flexibility, because investors can quickly withdraw money to invest in other channels when there are opportunities.
