Late on 19/10, Thanh Huong, an employee at a bank branch on Le Van Viet street in Ho Chi Minh City, was still on her phone. "Today is the last day we are offering a 9.2% preferential rate for a six-month term; if you are interested, take advantage and deposit before interest rates drop," she told a customer.

Huong could not count how many messages and calls she had made on that Monday. In the morning, she spread promotional posts for savings deposits across Facebook and Zalo groups. By the afternoon, she messaged old customers and those who had contacted her but had not yet finalized an account.

Huong mentioned that her colleagues were also busy finding customers all day, as the branch was still far from its capital mobilization target for the month. The impending interest rate reduction became a key argument to persuade hesitant customers.

Since late last week, posts like Huong's, announcing "the last day for preferential interest rates," have flooded Facebook groups. Most cited information that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) required banks to reduce deposit interest rates by at least 0.5 percentage points for terms of six months or more, or face tightened credit growth targets.

"Only a few hours left before interest rates drop, contact us immediately to receive a 3.5% promotional code," wrote Thuy, an employee at a bank under mandatory transfer, headquartered in Hanoi. She advised customers to open an account immediately, as lower interest rate schedules would soon take effect.

From early June until now, Thuy's bank has not adjusted its listed interest rate schedule, only changing the additional preferential rates. On the listed schedule, a 12-month term receives an upfront interest of 5.7%, while interest at maturity is 6.1%. However, when applying a promotional code adding 2-3.5%, depending on the program, the actual received rate is significantly higher. For deposits starting from several billion VND, she noted that she could "ask management" for better rates.

The SBV's directive to reduce deposit interest rates came as mobilization rates remained high for many consecutive months. According to the regulator's statistics, the highest listed deposit interest rate for six- to 12-month terms reached 8% in August, an increase of 2.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

Actual transaction rates were even higher, as banks applied additional interest for new customers or during weekends, holidays, and special dates like 10/10. An early this week survey by VnExpress showed that six-month term interest rates currently range from 8.5-9.2% per year. 12-month and 24-month terms could offer 9.3% and 9.8% respectively. Most banks did not require a minimum deposit, while others set a condition of at least 20 million VND to qualify for preferential rates.

"Mobilization interest rates are one of the most significant components of capital costs. If banks continue to push up mobilization rates, it will be difficult to have a basis for reducing lending rates," Governor Pham Duc An stated during a meeting with credit institutions on 19/10.

A bank employee's post to attract savings deposits before interest rates decrease. Photo: Phuong Dong

In addition to directing lower mobilization rates, the SBV also prohibited banks from engaging in unfair competition that could destabilize the monetary market. Non-compliant organizations would face a review of their remaining credit limits for this year, lower targets for next year, or be required to apply higher safety ratios.

Following this directive, some banks, including BVBank, LPBank, and Vietbank, announced new deposit interest rate schedules. These focused on reducing rates by 0.5 percentage points for terms of six months or more, bringing listed rates below 7% per year.

However, from the perspective of analytical organizations, reducing interest rates is complex, especially as credit demand tends to accelerate towards the year-end.

"In the short term, an immediate reversal of mobilization rates cannot be expected. However, this is already the peak, and rates may gradually decrease from early 2027," said Dinh Quang Hinh, Director of Macroeconomics and Market Strategy at VNDirect Securities Company, during a webinar late last month.

Concurring, in a report published early this week, Techcombank analysts predicted that the general level of mobilization rates would remain stable until the end of this year. This assessment is based on the significantly narrowed gap between credit growth and mobilization, coupled with the accelerated public investment disbursement in recent times, which is expected to continue in the final months of the year.

High interest rates primarily stem from an imbalance between credit growth and mobilization. This metric is showing positive changes, with the gap narrowing from nearly two quadrillion VND to under 1.5 quadrillion VND.

According to Hinh, system liquidity is improving thanks to the coordinated measures by the SBV, which are beginning to show effectiveness. Room for further monetary policy easing remains limited due to increasing domestic inflationary pressure and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) maintaining its tightening stance. Therefore, the momentum of liquidity improvement will depend more on fiscal policy, particularly the progress of public investment disbursement and budget spending in the final months of the year.

Phuong Dong