Breaking through 3 percent! The deposit interest rates of some banks have been raised in stages, and some small and medium-sized banks are not rich in deposits

"The three-year fixed interest rate of 3.15% is far ahead of the industry. On December 14, a customer manager of a village bank in northeastern Zhejiang Province told the China Times reporter that during the bank's good start from December to March, the deposit interest rate was raised in the short term, there was no minimum deposit threshold, and there were gifts.

Since the beginning of this year, bank deposit interest rates have continued to adjust, and most banks have followed the downward trend, but the "China Times" reporter noticed that there are still many small and medium-sized banks that maintain higher interest rates, especially under the pressure of "sprint at the end of the year" and "good start", some urban commercial banks, rural commercial banks, and village and township banks have even raised deposit interest rates against the trend and increased their efforts to attract deposits, with an increase of up to 0.15%.

Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of Zhaolian, told the China Times that the above-mentioned contrarian rise in deposit interest rates is a phased and seasonal phenomenon and is a promotional means for banks. In addition, the Central Economic Work Conference called for a steady decline in the cost of comprehensive social financing, and at the same time, bank interest margins have fallen to a historic low in the third quarter of this year, so on the whole, deposit rates will continue to fall in 2024.

Deposit rates rose "against the trend".

Since the beginning of this year, with many declines, the deposit rate has entered the "2" era.

Taking the state-owned banks as an example, after the adjustment on September 1, the listed interest rates of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank and the Bank of Communications were 2.2% and 2.25% respectively.

However, at the end of the year and during the good start, some banks raised interest rates against the trend, and many bank deposit products exceeded 3%. The "China Times" reporter also noticed that most of the banks that attract depositors with higher interest rates are urban commercial banks, rural commercial banks and local village banks.

"From the end of the year to March next year, the interest rate on three-year fixed deposits is 3.45 percent, and the five-year rate is 3.65 percent. On December 13, a staff member of Haikou Sunan Village Bank told the "China Times" reporter that although there are not many outlets, it has been rooted in Haikou for 14 years, and the deposit is absolutely safe and reliable.

At the same time, the above-mentioned staff also said that even if you don't handle any business, you can go to the bank to find a customer manager to learn about financial management and other products, and you will have the opportunity to get gifts.

In addition, depositors in Shandong Province reported that Weifang Bank showed on a leaflet in a branch in Yantai that the maximum interest rate of three-year and five-year fixed deposits could reach 3.2%.

The "China Times" reporter called for verification and learned from the bank's account manager that the annualized interest rate of 50,000 yuan for three years and five years is indeed 3.2%, and in addition, the interest rate for three years and five years for 10,000 yuan can also reach 3.1%.

Jilin City Commercial Bank launched a special deposit product "Jixiang Deposit B", in which the three-year execution interest rate is 3%, which is 0.1% higher than the interest rate of the whole deposit.

In addition, Henan Huaibin Rural Commercial Bank recently announced that the bank will raise the interest rate of the new individual lump sum deposit and fixed deposit in stages from December 12, 2023.

Specifically, depositors with a minimum deposit amount of more than 10,000 yuan can implement the new interest rate, of which the annualized rates of 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, 2-year and 3-year fixed deposits are 1.5%, 1.7%, 1.95%, 2.15% and 2.4% respectively, with a maximum increase of 0.15%.

Liu Yinping, an analyst at the Rong 360 Digital Technology Research Institute, said that small and medium-sized banks are inferior to large banks in terms of branch coverage, number of customers, and social credibility, with relatively poor deposit stability and relatively single source of debt, which often attract depositors through more advantageous interest rates.

In this regard, CITIC Securities Chief Economist Ming Ming mentioned that the increase in deposit interest rates is mainly the strengthening of the phenomenon of "deposit moving" of individual banks, for small and medium-sized banks, limited by geographical limitations and the degree of security is not as good as large banks, the pressure to collect deposits is greater, and near the end of the year, in the case of increased assessment pressure, small and medium-sized banks need to increase deposit interest rates to enhance the attractiveness of depositors.

Small and medium-sized banks are under pressure on the liability side

Small and medium-sized banks have a large number of but uneven development, and are in a weak position in terms of outlets, scale and brand, and are also in a weak position in terms of access to savings funds. In particular, under the influence of the inability of Henan village and town banks to withdraw money, local banks fell into a credit crisis, and deposits gradually "became large".

At present, despite the repeated cuts in deposit rates by large banks, the size of deposits still maintains double-digit rapid growth. As of the end of September this year, the total assets of the six major banks reached 181.94 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.94 percent, and the total deposits reached 134.15 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.98 percent. Among them, the Agricultural Bank of China had the highest growth rate of deposits, reaching 15.71%.

However, some small and medium-sized banks are still facing the problem of "collecting deposits", and the competition for deposits between banks is also extremely fierce. Some urban commercial banks and rural commercial banks have attracted depositors, not only offering deposit products with higher interest rates, but also transferring funds from other banks to obtain additional rewards by exchanging points for gifts and sending shopping coupons for deposits.

"In the past few years of the epidemic, the income of many migrant workers has decreased, and the growth rate of savings has also been affected. It is more difficult to market our bank deposit products. A customer manager of a rural commercial bank told a reporter from the China Times.

The China Times reporter noticed that a number of village and township banks have interpreted the "Deposit Insurance Regulations" through official channels in the form of cartoons and illustrations to gain the trust of depositors.

In addition, since December, the interest rates on short-term and long-term interbank certificates of deposit have continued to invert. According to the results of the issuance of interbank certificates of deposit on December 12, the interest rate of one-year certificates of deposit reached 2.95%, and the three-month, six-month and nine-month interest rates reached 2.88%, 2.90% and 2.90% respectively, and most of the issuers were local small and medium-sized banks.

On the day, China's 10-year government bond yield fluctuated in a narrow range of 2.68%, but the interbank CD rate for all maturities was higher than the yield on government bonds.

A number of market institutions believe that it is related to the short-term contradiction between supply and demand of interbank certificates of deposit. On December 11, the fixed income team of GF Securities issued a report that the reason for the rise in short-term interest rates was the impact on the immediate liquidity of small and medium-sized banks. Recently, the level of net lending in the banking system has been contrary to that of large banks, from 4.92 trillion yuan to 4.32 trillion yuan, mainly because small and medium-sized banks as a whole have shifted from financing to integration, among which joint-stock banks have turned into integrated parties, and the demand of urban commercial banks is also expanding, and small and medium-sized banks may still have a funding gap.

Some bank practitioners revealed that bank funds are usually tight at the end of the year, and the banking system should prepare for a good start, and the increase in liabilities at the beginning of next year can alleviate some pressure.

Regarding the higher deposit interest rates of some small and medium-sized banks, Liu Yinping believes that individual banks can easily drive other banks to follow the price because of liquidity gaps or the pursuit of scale to raise deposit interest rates, but the competition for deposits between banks is not a long-term solution. As the pressure on interest rate spreads continues to narrow, banks themselves also have the need to reduce costs, and at the same time, the regulator will also restrict bank deposit rates.

"If commercial banks do not improve their ability to help customers allocate wealth, it will be difficult for them to continue to accumulate low-cost deposits from the retail side. The pressure on the debt side will also be there forever. Ma Xiangyun, chief banking analyst at Soochow Securities, said.

In this regard, Dong Ximiao believes that small and medium-sized banks should rationally expand their deposit business according to their own assets and liabilities, not only to maintain an appropriate growth in deposits, but also to keep the cost of liabilities within a reasonable range, otherwise there may be an imbalance between assets and liabilities. It is suggested that small and medium-sized banks should rationally collect savings and abandon the scale complex and speed complex.

Editor-in-charge: Meng Junlian Editor-in-chief: Zhang Zhiwei