Besides reducing transaction fees and rescheduling loans, local banks have begun to cut deposit rates as part of a broader plan to lower lending rates in the future to help businesses cushion the impact of Covid-19.

VPBank on March 2 cut rates of long tenors from 13 months upward compared with those announced on February 7. The 13-month deposit rate has been reduced by 0.2 percentage points per year; for 15 months, it is down 0.4 percentage points; 18 months, down 0.3 percentage points; 24 months, down 0.2 percentage points; and 36 months, down 0.1 percentage points.

On February 24, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) slashed preferential rates for elderly customers by 0.03 to 0.02 percentage points per year. The rates also declined by 0.15 to 0.1 percentage points for Diamond clients, 0.1 to 0.05 percentage points for Ruby customers and 0.05 to 0.02 percentage points for those in Sapphire group.

Besides this, SCB cut the rates of certificates of deposit with a 469-day term from 8.9% to 8.75% per year.

LienVietPostBank since February 24 has lowered deposit rates from 0.1 to 0.6 percentage points for tenors from nine to 48 months. A nine-month rate is 6.1% per year, down 0.1 percentage points, while the 48-month tenor saw the steepest decline by 0.6 percentage points at 6.9% per year.

At BacABank, staff at its Thai Ha branch lowered deposit rates for the six-month term from 7.7% to 7.55% per year; for nine months, from 7.8% to 7.6% per year; and for 12 months, from 8% to 7.8% per year.

As for VIB, the lender now adds 0.1-0.2 percentage points to its fixed rates depending on sum and tenor, instead of 0.1-0.3 percentage points as before.

Since February 26, Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Bank (SHB) has cut deposit rates from 0.1 to 0.2 percentage point for tenors from six to 36 months. Meanwhile, VietABank has reduced the seven-month rate from 8.3% to 8.2% per year and the 13-month rate from 8.75% to 8.6% per year.

Speaking to Dau tu Chung khoan newspaper, Le Thi Thanh Nga, deputy general director of LienVietPostBank, noted that the lender had decided to lower rates in the wake of lower-than-expected credit growth resulting from the Covid-19 epidemic. Further, the bank plans to cut lending rates in the coming days.

Nguyen Van Le, general director of SHB, stated that the lender is supporting customers in tandem with the Government’s and the State Bank of Vietnam’s directive to support Covid-19-hit businesses.

SCB’s deputy general director, Hoang Minh Hoan, said that citizens and enterprises have suspended their business plans and banks now have strong liquidity. Therefore, SCB has revised down its deposit rates to reduce operating costs and lending rates, as encouraged by the central bank.