More than 20 banks cut deposit rates across the board, with Agribank, Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV and other major banks joining the move

After a meeting between the State Bank of Vietnam and credit institutions on April 9, a wave of deposit rate cuts spread across the banking system.

More than 20 banks cut savings rates

According to an author’s tally, as of this morning more than 20 banks had reduced savings rates, including BIDV, VietinBank, OCB, ACB, MB, VPBank, SeABank, Vietcombank, BVBank, Techcombank, Sacombank, Eximbank, LPBank, SHB, TPBank, ABBank, KienlongBank, BaoViet Bank, Nam A Bank, NCB, Viet A Bank, and Agribank.

Rate reductions across banks ranged from 0.1% to 0.5% per year. In particular, Vietcombank cut 0.5% per year for a 24-month term; VietinBank, BIDV and Agribank cut 0.5% per year for deposits of 24 months or longer.

Techcombank trimmed 0.1% per year for short-term 3–5 months and up to 0.5% per year for terms 6–36 months. Sacombank reduced 0.3% per year for 6–11 months and 0.5% per year for 12–18 months.

Eximbank cut 0.5% per year for longer terms 18–36 months, while LPBank posted the steepest market cut, up to 1% per year for 36–60 month terms.

Among other banks, adjustments commonly ranged from 0.1–0.5% per year. SHB cut 0.2–0.4% for 6–36 months; TPBank cut 0.1–0.2%; ABBank cut up to 0.5% for some longer terms; and KienlongBank fell about 0.2% across the board.

BaoViet Bank trimmed about 0.3% per year; Nam A Bank cut 0.1–0.2%; NCB cut 0.1% per year; and Viet A Bank cut up to 0.5% per year in some terms.

New deposit rate floors set quickly

After the adjustments, new deposit rate floors were quickly established. Short-term deposits are commonly around 4–4.7% per year; 6–12 month terms hover around 6–7% per year; and rates above 7% per year now appear only at some banks with longer maturities.

Previously, the deposit rate level had heated up since late last year and continued rising in the early months of this year. Before the wave of reductions, most banks had raised savings rates by about 1–3% per year compared with year-end.

In the past month, many private banks also advertised deposit products with rates up to 9% per year for hundreds of millions of dong.

Regulator’s guidance and banks’ rationale

Bank representatives said the rate cuts aim to implement guidance to reduce the rate level, helping enterprises and people access capital at lower costs.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Nguyen Hung, General Director of TPBank, said the bank supports the policy of stabilizing the rate level as directed by the State Bank of Vietnam.

He added that the reduction in rates will impact the bank’s net interest margin (NIM) in the short term, but banks have prepared proactively through digitization to optimize operating costs and by improving the funding structure to reduce input costs.

State Bank to monitor and enforce

At the recent meeting, the State Bank of Vietnam said it will continue to monitor rate movements and requires credit institutions to publish rates transparently on their websites. The regulator also affirmed readiness to provide liquidity as needed and will strengthen inspection, supervision, and enforcement against violations in mobilization and lending activities.