Flood of Special Savings and Deposit Offers... Should You Open an Account with 10% High Interest?

Sangsangin Savings Bank Launches Special Fixed Deposit with 11% Annual Interest
OK Savings Bank Offers 2.5% Annual Interest on Deposits
Base Deposit Rates Also Raised by 0.2~0.3 Percentage Points

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] High-interest special promotions on time and installment savings, which had disappeared, are reappearing one after another ahead of Chuseok. This is because secondary financial institutions such as medium and large savings banks have started to attract customers with high interest rates to retain market funds. Unlike past special promotions that required strict conditions like card usage performance, it is now easier to meet the requirements, drawing the attention of financial consumers.

According to the industry on the 11th, the product offering the highest interest rate currently is SangSangIn Savings Bank’s ‘BangBangBang 1+1=11% Fixed Installment Savings.’ It is an exclusive product for their app BangBangBang, with an annual interest rate of up to 11%. There are no additional preferential conditions for first-time BangBangBang customers. The term is 6 months, and the monthly deposit amount ranges from a minimum of 10,000 KRW to a maximum of 200,000 KRW.

Applications are accepted through the app from today until the 30th. Interest benefits are given to a total of 22,220 people over 20 days, with 1,111 people each day.

OK Savings Bank introduced a special fixed deposit promotion to commemorate the ‘11th OK Savings Bank Park Seri Invitational.’ The ‘OK Eut Shot Fixed Deposit,’ a 6-month fixed deposit product, offers an annual interest rate of 2.5%. The minimum deposit amount is 100,000 KRW. Interest can be received monthly or at maturity. The supply limit is 200 billion KRW.

KB Savings Bank launched the ‘Plus Kiwi Installment Savings,’ offering about a 5% interest benefit, limited to 10,000 accounts. The basic interest rate for a 1-year term is 2% per annum, but an additional 1 percentage point is added upon completion of automatic transfers. Furthermore, if the customer agrees to marketing alerts and meets additional conditions, they receive interest equivalent to 2% per annum in points. Points can be used like cash.

Woori Comprehensive Financial also released the ‘High Fixed Installment Savings’ with a maximum annual interest rate of 10%. The basic interest rate is 2.0% per annum, but new customers receive a 4 percentage point preferential rate. Additionally, consenting to marketing communications grants 1 percentage point, and depending on the average balance of the ‘CMA Note,’ up to 3 percentage points of preferential interest are provided.

This product is available to individual customers through Woori Comprehensive Financial’s smart banking. The term is 12 months, with monthly deposits ranging from 10,000 KRW to 100,000 KRW.

Basic deposit interest rates also rising continuously... "For loan-to-deposit ratio management"

Basic deposit interest rates are also rising daily. SBI Savings Bank raised the interest rate on 1-year fixed deposits by 0.3 percentage points from 2.2% earlier this month. The interest rates for fixed deposits and free installment savings within Cider Bank also increased by 0.3 percentage points to 2.6%.

OK Savings Bank also raised interest rates on some deposit products. The OK Fixed Deposit (1-3 year term) increased from 2.0% to 2.2%, and the OK Safe Fixed Deposit (variable rate) rose from 2.1% to 2.3% for a 3-year term.

Welcome Savings Bank adjusted the 1-year fixed deposit interest rate up by 0.25 percentage points to 2.4%. If subscribed via mobile or internet, an additional preferential rate of 0.2 percentage points is granted without conditions.

Secondary financial institutions often conduct special promotions at the end or beginning of the year to retain funds whose terms have ended and to manage the loan-to-deposit ratio. Industry insiders explain that these promotions are carried out to adjust internal liquidity amid tightening loan regulations.

This can also be seen as a move to maintain fairness. When large secondary financial institutions raise interest rates or launch special promotions, other companies often follow suit. In fact, after SBI Savings Bank, the industry leader, announced the interest rate hike first, other savings banks began to join in.