Savings Banks Slightly Raise Deposit Interest Rates... Efforts to Attract Idle Funds

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Savings banks are increasingly raising interest rates on fixed deposits. Typically, interest is significantly reduced if a deposit is withdrawn early, but recently, products offering the contracted maturity interest rate even upon early withdrawal are being sold. This is interpreted as an effort to attract funds waiting to be invested in real estate or stocks.

According to the savings bank industry on the 15th, OK Savings Bank raised the interest rate on its existing product 'Early Withdrawal OK Fixed Deposit 369' by 0.3 percentage points to an annual 1.8% and launched a special sale this month.

According to OK Savings Bank, the balance of this fixed deposit increased by 55 billion KRW from the beginning of this month to the 13th. Although the maturity is long at 3 years, the feature is that the contracted interest rate is fully applied even if withdrawn the day after subscription.

The subscription amount ranges from 1 million to 3 billion KRW, and the contracted interest rate is variable every 3 months. If the interest rate drops, investors can withdraw immediately, reducing the time their funds are locked in. OK Savings Bank promoted this special sale as a product for holding refund money from public offering subscriptions.

Sangsangin Savings Bank raised its fixed deposit interest rate this month from 1.65% to 1.95%, a 0.30 percentage point increase, and Welcome Savings Bank also raised the interest rates on its major fixed deposit products by 0.20 percentage points the day before. By subscribing through online or mobile channels, investors can earn up to 2.1% interest.

An industry official said, "The continuous boom in the public offering market has visibly caused funds to flow out, so increasing deposit amounts is an unavoidable choice."

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