"Large-amount certificates of deposit start at 200,000 yuan, with a 3-year annualized interest rate of 2.7%, guaranteed principal and interest, you can buy and cherish it, the quota is limited, and several banks have suspended sales. On April 16, at a city commercial bank branch in Hangzhou, the account manager said this to Mr. Sun, a customer who came to buy a large amount of certificates of deposit. Mr. Sun told Chao News reporters, "Five banks have left, and three banks said that they have suspended the sale of three-year large-value certificates of deposit products." ”
Recently, large-value certificates of deposit have aroused public concern, and a number of readers in Hangzhou broke the news to Chao News reporters: several banks no longer have 3-year and 5-year large-amount certificates of deposit to buy.
Why are some of the bank's large-value certificates of deposit products "out of stock"?
In an interview with Chao News reporters, industry experts said that the main reason behind the current "delisting tide" of medium and long-term large-amount certificates of deposit is that banks' net interest margins are still under pressure, and banks have taken the initiative to reduce deposit interest rates to reduce debt costs. In the future, banks may still take the initiative to optimize the liability structure and control the issuance of some high-interest deposit products at a low level.
China Merchants Bank no longer sells 3-year and 5-year certificates of deposit?
The bank responded
Recently, the news that "China Merchants Bank will no longer sell 3-year and 5-year large-value certificates of deposit" has attracted the attention of many Hangzhou citizens.
When Mr. Sun saw the news, he went to a branch of China Merchants Bank in Hangzhou, and the account manager told him that there was indeed no 3-year or 5-year large-value certificates of deposit to buy for the time being.
On April 16, the Chao News reporter contacted the customer service of the official website of China Merchants Bank, and the customer service replied: "At present, our bank has suspended the sale of 3-year and 5-year large-value certificates of deposit." As for whether it will be released in the future, the customer service said, "I can't say at the moment, not necessarily, I have to wait for the notice."
Subsequently, the Chao News reporter contacted the Hangzhou branch of China Merchants Bank, and the relevant person of the bank said: "We are not no longer issuing large-value certificates of deposit, but limiting the supply." At present, the bank's APP shows that the 3-year and 5-year large-value certificate of deposit products have been temporarily removed from the shelves. At the same time, China Merchants Bank has a normal supply of 3-year and 5-year time deposits.
The picture shows a screenshot of the large-value certificate of deposit product of China Merchants Bank
Sold out, taken off shelves, suspended
Some banks in Hangzhou are "out of stock" of large-value certificates of deposit
In the past two days, the Chao News reporter visited and inquired about a number of banks, and found that the current new 5-year large-amount certificate of deposit products issued by various banks have been very rare, and the quota of large-amount certificates of deposit of many banks is tight, and some banks have suspended the sale of 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year large-amount certificate of deposit products.
On April 16, when the Chao News reporter inquired about the ICBC APP, there was a quota for large-amount certificates of deposit from 3 months to 5 years. However, on the morning of April 18, it was found that the bank's 5-year large-value certificate of deposit product had been removed from the shelves, and among the 3-year large-amount certificate of deposit products, the product with a minimum deposit of 200,000 yuan and an annual interest rate of 2.35% had been sold out.
The ICBC app shows that this product is sold out
The Bank of China APP also shows that the large-amount certificates of deposit are relatively tight, and the Chao News reporter clicked on the bank's 2-year and 3-year large-amount certificates of deposit products, and the prompts of the remaining amount of the products were insufficient.
The picture shows the reminder of Bank of China's 2-year and 3-year large-value certificates of deposit products
Among joint-stock banks, banking apps such as China CITIC Bank do not display large-denomination certificates of deposit products with a maturity of more than 2 years. According to the IB APP, the bank's large-value certificates of deposit from 3-month to 3-year are all sold out, and the 5-year large-value products are not currently on sale.
According to the IB APP, the bank's certificates of deposit with maturities ranging from 3 months to 3 years have been sold out
In terms of city commercial banks, the account manager of the Hangzhou branch of the Bank of Nanjing told reporters that there are no three-year large-amount certificates of deposit for the time being, and now there are only one-year and two-year certificates. The Bank of Jiangsu APP also shows that there are no products with a term of 3 years or more available for purchase.
According to the APP of Bank of Jiangsu, the bank does not have a large-value certificate of deposit product with a maturity of 3 years or more
In the large deposit column of the APP of another provincial urban commercial bank, the list of new products is no longer displayed. On April 17, a customer manager of the bank's Hangzhou branch told a Chao News reporter: "If you want to buy, you have to make an appointment with the account manager before you can buy. She further said: "Recently, many banks have taken off the shelves of large-value certificates of deposit, and we have a limit of more than 100 million yuan for three-year large-amount certificates of deposit in the whole bank, which will be removed from the shelves after being sold out, and it will be very soon, so we must buy it quickly." ”
"Buy and cherish"
Banks will continue to reduce the size of high-interest deposits and reduce deposit rates
Photo by Wu Enhui
"I originally thought that the interest rate was low, but now I can buy it is a great luck, and I really want to buy and cherish it as the account manager said!" As of press time, Mr. Sun, who is mentioned above, has not yet purchased a large-amount certificate of deposit, but the bank account manager has told him that the quota is very tight.
Looking back at this time last year, the interest rate of large certificates of deposit of several urban commercial banks in Hangzhou was as high as 3.3%, attracting special deposit personnel from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places. Nowadays, as a kind of deposit product with the advantage of high interest rates, large-denomination certificates of deposit have become a "burden" on the liability side for many banks at a time when bank profits are declining.
Industry insiders generally believe that the main reason why banks are suspending the addition of 3-year and 5-year large-denomination certificates of deposit quota is that banks are compressing the cost of funds to cope with the pressure on net interest margins.
Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of Zhaolian, said in an interview with Chao News reporters that in recent years, commercial banks have increased fee reductions and concessions to the real economy, and revenue, profit growth and interest margins have declined.
According to the 2023 Main Regulatory Indicators of Commercial Banks (Quarterly) released by the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the net interest margin of mainland commercial banks has dropped to 1.69%, falling below the 1.7% mark for the first time.
"In 2024, the net interest margin of banks may also decline while promoting a steady and moderate decline in the cost of comprehensive financing for society. Under such circumstances, lowering deposit interest rates and reducing debt costs have become the common choice of commercial banks. However, due to different factors such as market competition, customer positioning, and liability structure, different banks have different rhythms and magnitudes of adjustment. Dong Ximiao said.
"At present, the proportion of fixed deposit liabilities in the banking system is still significantly higher than the average level. Zhou Maohua, a macro researcher at the financial market department of Everbright Bank, pointed out to Chao News reporters that as long as the current pressure on bank debt costs and net interest margins does not decrease, banks still need to continue to optimize the asset-liability structure to alleviate the rising cost of debt and the pressure of narrowing net interest margins, and the issuance of some high-interest deposit products will be controlled at a low level.
In line with this, a number of senior executives of listed banks have also revealed at their earnings conferences that they will optimize their asset-liability structure. For example, Zhang Yi, deputy governor of the Bank of China, said that looking forward to 2024, net interest margin will still face greater pressure. On the liability side, the bank will continue to promote the reduction of debt costs and promote the proportion of low-cost settlement funds to rise. At the same time, the pressure on high-cost deposits, including agreement deposits, structured deposits, and large-denomination certificates of deposit with a maturity of more than three years, has been strengthened.
A number of senior bank figures in Hangzhou told Chao News reporters that this year, for the banking industry, reducing the scale of high-interest deposits and continuing to reduce deposit interest rates will still be the "main theme".
A person from a large state-owned bank in the province believes that "after the deposit interest rate has been lowered in two rounds, there are now few large-amount certificate of deposit products of more than 3%, and then, in the context of the narrowing of the bank's net interest margin, the reduction of the deposit interest rate will continue this year, and the issuance scale of large-amount certificate of deposit products will continue to be controlled." ”
Source: Chao News client