Deposit from 100 million to enjoy high interest rate
According to a survey by VietNamNet at a number of bank branches and transaction offices in Hanoi, the deposit interest rate is generally very low. However, there are still some banks that apply actual deposit interest rates higher than announced.
According to the online deposit interest rate table announced by SeABank, the 6-month term interest rate is only 4.8%/year, and the 12-18 month term is 5.1%/year. Customers who deposit money online can receive the highest interest rate of 5.2%/year with a term of 36 months.
However, at SeABank's transaction offices, the deposit interest rate sign inviting customers is much higher, up to 6.1%/year.
Posing as a customer interested in interest rates, VietNamNet reporter was told by an employee of a SeABank transaction office: "There are times when online savings will have higher interest rates than at the counter, but at this time it is the opposite."
When asked about the 6.1%/year interest rate printed on the sign outside the branch, this employee said that this interest rate is real. The condition to enjoy the 6.1%/year interest rate is that customers only need to deposit 100 million VND or more with a deposit term of 12 months. For a 6-month term with an amount of 100 million VND or more, the interest rate paid is 5.6%/year.
The above interest rates are all much higher than the rates announced by the bank, the highest online interest rate is 5.2%.
At Construction Bank (CBBank), the website lists the highest online deposit interest rate at 6.4%/year for deposits of 13 months or more. The interest rate for 12-month deposits is currently 6.3%/year.
However, outside CBBank's transaction office, there is a sign inviting deposits with interest rates up to 6.6%/year (0.2%/year higher than the highest announced interest rate).
CBBank staff in Cau Giay district said that the interest rate of 6.6%/year is applied to customers depositing money at the counter with the condition that customers commit not to withdraw money before maturity and the minimum deposit amount is 2 billion VND.
“This is currently the highest interest rate of CBBank but there are conditions attached. You can only come back to receive the principal and interest after 12 months. Customers are not allowed to make any transactions, including early withdrawal or changing the book, changing the term, etc.,” said this employee.
Notably, at a Techcombank branch, a bank employee said that the interest rate for 6-month over-the-counter deposits is currently 4.85%/year. For new customers who have never deposited money at Techcombank, the interest rate will increase by 0.3 percentage points, up to 5.15%/year (the online deposit interest rate announced by the bank is currently 4.95%/year).
The staff said that if you save online, it can still be higher. The interest rate for a 3-month term at the counter is currently 3.55%/year, but if you save online at Bao Loc, it will be 4.75%/year.
Surprisingly, even though customers asked about savings interest rates, Techcombank transaction staff continuously directed customers to pay attention to bonds.
“In addition to saving money at the counter and online, we have other forms of savings with higher interest rates such as bonds. We only have 6-month and 12-month bonds, which are currently “hot” so the 6-month codes will quickly run out. The interest rate for this term is 6.4%/year, while the 12-month bond is 6.7%/year,” said the employee.
When reporters expressed concerns about the level of risk when buying bonds, Techcombank staff affirmed that there was definitely no risk because the bank only distributed "bonds of a large real estate corporation, this is a reputable enterprise so you can rest assured".
Paradox of real interest rates... lower than announced
At a branch of Bac A Bank, the bank invites customers to deposit savings with interest rates of up to 6.3% per year. However, bank staff said that this is the interest rate for customers with deposits of VND1 billion or more, with a term of 3 months or more.
The interest rate at the counter introduced by Bac A Bank staff, if the deposit amount is less than 1 billion VND, the 6-month term is only 5.5%/year, the 12-month term is 5.7%/year. This interest rate is 0.2 - 0.25 percentage points lower than the official announcement on Bac A's website.
Regarding online deposit interest rates, Bac A Bank staff said that they add 0.1%/year compared to at the counter, which is 0.1 - 0.15 percentage points lower than the bank's announcement.
At SCB Bank, at the transaction counter on Nguyen Thi Dinh Street, the bank staff said that the actual deposit interest rate at the counter is the same as the official announcement on the bank's website.
The same thing happened with banks such as Agribank, BIDV, Eximbank, MB,... According to VietNamNet's survey at Agribank Le Van Luong and BIDV Hoang Dao Thuy, the actual interest rate at the counter was confirmed by transaction staff to be exactly equal to the announced rate.
Accordingly, Agribank and BIDV both listed the interest rate at the counter for 6-11 month term at 4.3%/year, and for 12-24 month term at 5.3%/year.
At Eximbank, the highest interest rate announced by staff for 6-12 month deposits is 5.2-5.6%/year for online deposits and 5-5.5%/year for counter deposits. This interest rate remains unchanged from the one publicly announced on the website.
At TPBank, the actual interest rate at the counter has not changed compared to the announcement. Accordingly, the interest rate for 6-12 month term online deposits is 5-5.55%/year respectively.
TPBank still applies the highest interest rate of up to 6.3%/year for long terms from 24 - 36 months.
"This is the general interest rate, regardless of how much or how little you deposit, you will still receive this interest rate," said a TPBank employee about the interest rate for 24-36 month terms.
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