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Techcombank also increased interest rates by 0.1 to 0.2% for short-term accounts and by 0.2-0.4% for long-term accounts. Many other banks including TPBank, VPBank, VIB Bank and SEABank also raised the interest rates. Some mid and long-term accounts have interest rates raised by 1-1.4%.
Vietcombank, Vietinbank, Agribank and BIDV also started raising interest rates. The 12-month term's rate at Vietcombank increased to 6.5% and the BIDV increased the rate to 4.3% for one and two-month terms. BIDV 13-month term's rate is now 6.8%.
Several banks also launched promotion programmes to attract more customers. Interest rates also increased on the interbank market.
Experts claimed the moves were due to the banks having to balance their funds so that the maximum ratio of short-term funds used for medium and long-term loans would be 45% in 2018 and 40% in 2019. It is predicted that inflation rate this year will be high so customers were expecting higher interest rates.
The US Federal Reserve also signalled a September interest rate hike. Deposit rates for VND accounts would need to be increased to prevent customers from withdrawing and turning to USD accounts since the value of the US dollar has been increasing.
Can Van Luc, director of BIDV Training School, said since the loans were on the rise, banks must find ways to call in more funds. Deposit rates will continue to rise but not much.
Some firms are worried that the banks may also increase lending rates since some small commercial banks are reaching their credit limits.
