Even Large Savings Banks, Including SBI, OK, and Welcome, Lower Deposit Interest Rates

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] Savings banks are continuously lowering their deposit interest rates. This is due to the Bank of Korea's base rate cut, and even savings banks, which had been popular for offering relatively higher rates than commercial banks, are now reducing their rates, further narrowing the options for depositors.

According to the savings bank industry on the 12th, Welcome Savings Bank will lower the highest interest rate of its ‘Welcome Office Worker Love Regular Deposit’ from 2.5% per annum to 2.0% per annum, a 0.5 percentage point decrease, starting next month on the 1st.

While the base interest rate (0.5%) remains unchanged, the preferential conditions have been adjusted. This product is available to any office worker aged 19 or older. It previously offered a preferential interest rate of 2.0 percentage points within a limit of 10 million KRW, but from next month, it will only provide 1.5 percentage points.

The preferential benefit for salary transfers of 1 million KRW or more will be reduced from 1 percentage point to 0.5 percentage points. A 0.5 percentage point benefit is given if at least one CMS or automatic payment transaction is fulfilled, and another 0.5 percentage point can be received if marketing consent and membership subscription maintenance conditions are met.

Welcome Savings Bank’s ‘Welcome Boss Love Regular Deposit’ interest rate will also be lowered to a maximum of 2.0% by reducing preferential benefits. The interest rate for ‘Welcome Plus Regular Deposit,’ which anyone can join regardless of occupation, will change from 2.0% to 1.8%.

Non-face-to-face product interest rates will also be lowered. The ‘Welcome Non-face-to-face Regular Deposit’ interest rate will decrease by 0.1 percentage points from 1.7% to 1.6% for balances up to 50 million KRW starting next month on the 1st. The 0.5% interest on balances exceeding 50 million KRW will be maintained.

OK Savings Bank also lowered deposit interest rates on the 8th. OK Savings Bank reduced the 1-year maturity rate of ‘OK Fixed Deposit’ from 1.8% to 1.7%, and the 3-year maturity rate of ‘Early Withdrawal OK Fixed Deposit’ from 1.5% to 1.3%. The interest rate for the Individual Savings Account (ISA) fixed deposit was also lowered from 1.8% to 1.7%. This is an additional cut just one month after lowering rates by 0.2 percentage points last month.

SBI Savings Bank lowered the interest rate of ‘SBI Special (Compound) Fixed Deposit’ from 1.8% to 1.65%. Additionally, since the 1st of this month, the interest rate for the mobile financial application Cider Bank’s ‘Deposit and Withdrawal Account’ was reduced by 0.3 percentage points from 2.0% to 1.7%.

According to the Korea Federation of Savings Banks on the same day, the average interest rate for 1-year fixed deposits at 79 savings banks fell to 1.88%, the lowest level ever recorded. This is about 0.5 percentage points lower compared to the previous year. The 6-month maturity rate is 1.48%, and the 2-3 year maturity rate is 1.90%, also at historic lows.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.