Wave of widespread acceleration in early April
A survey at nearly 30 banks shows that the market is witnessing a strong shift in idle cash flow. The biggest difference in this period is that banks are not only stopping at adjusting the interest rate schedule periodically but choosing to "reward" directly into the actual received interest rate to increase competitiveness.
Currently, the listed interest rate without conditions is commonly above 7%/year at many banks such as PGBank, BVBank, OCB or Bac A Bank.
Notably, banks with strengths in technology and digital banking are leading this wave by offering special incentives for online channels. Typically, at Vikki Bank, this bank confirmed the implementation of an official program with actual interest rates reaching 9.3%/year.
This is currently the "top" interest rate for individual customers depositing money through the application with a balance of 200 million VND or more for terms of 12 and 13 months. Even for shorter terms from 6 to 11 months, the actual receipt rate here has also reached the threshold of 9.2%/year.
Cake by VPBank digital bank currently lists a 6-month term interest rate at 7.7%/year but offers an additional 1% for customers depositing from 5 million VND, bringing the actual received interest rate to 8.7%/year.
For longer terms, the actual receipt level at this unit jumped to the threshold of 9%/year.
The market also recorded special interest rate packages at extremely high levels, ranging from 9% to 10%/year but accompanied by strict conditions on balance.
Specifically, PVcomBank is applying a rate of 10%/year for terms of 12 and 13 months with the condition of maintaining VND 2,000 billion. MSB and HDBank also listed rates of 9%/year and 8.1%/year respectively for deposits from VND 500 billion or more.
For the general customer segment, banks such as PGBank or MBV still maintain their attractiveness with interest rates from 7.1% to 7.5%/year for terms from 6 to 36 months without requiring too large deposits.
Tighten discipline to stabilize the monetary market
Amidst the context of an interest rate race showing signs of excessive heating up, the State Bank issued Official Dispatch No. 2342 requesting credit institutions to maintain a stable interest rate level.
The management agency requires banks to strictly implement the listing of deposit interest rates, and at the same time strengthen internal control activities to rectify violations. The transparent announcement of average lending interest rates and interest rate differences is also a mandatory requirement for people and businesses to easily access capital.
The State Bank emphasized that credit institutions need to balance capital sources and use capital to ensure liquidity, avoiding disrupting the market interest rate level.
State Bank branches in localities are assigned the task of closely monitoring developments and organizing surprise inspection teams. Violations or causing instability will be strictly handled in order to maintain macroeconomic stability and support sustainable growth.
Real pressure from wholesale capital costs
The reason for the tug-of-war between management direction and actual developments is due to pressure from the interbank market that is anchored at a high level. The strong increase in VND transactions in the past week has pushed lending interest rates between banks for overnight terms to 9.57%/year (applied on March 31, 2026).
When wholesale cost is expensive, banks are forced to turn to the residential market, using attractive interest rates to ensure capital for credit activities.
Experts predict that in the short term, deposit interest rates may remain high before establishing a new, more stable level according to the State Bank's orientation. Depositors can take advantage of existing preferential programs but need to carefully consider the conditions on the minimum deposit amount and the applicable term to optimize profits for their accumulation.
