'Up to 12% Interest Rate' Goes Viral... Savings Account Craze Among Yongtti Moms [1mm Financial Talk]

#Office worker Lee Jeong-min (36) recently signed up for Saemaeul Geumgo's Yongyong Savings for his newborn daughter. Although he had only used commercial banks until now, he was attracted to this product offering an interest rate in the 10% range, which has become hard to find these days. Among mothers expecting babies in the Year of the Blue Dragon, Saemaeul Geumgo's Yongyong Savings is gaining popularity through word of mouth.

According to Saemaeul Geumgo on the 17th, Yongyong Savings sold 14,000 accounts (as of the 16th) within a month and a half of its launch, consuming 28% of the total quota (50,000 accounts). This is faster than the usual savings account sales pace, and Saemaeul Geumgo expects the quota to be fully used up by around autumn.

Launched on the 1st of last month, Yongyong Savings is a one-year fixed-term savings account with a base interest rate of 10%. For a second child, the rate is 11%, and for a third child or more, 12%. Eligible applicants are those with children born from December 2023 to 2024, and the subscription limit is between 50,000 KRW and 200,000 KRW per month. In regions with declining populations, a 12% interest rate is offered regardless of the number of children. Considering that recent major commercial banks offer savings interest rates of 3-4% (based on 12 months), this is nearly three times higher.

Additionally, Saemaeul Geumgo provides a birth congratulatory gift of up to 200,000 KRW per child for newborns opening their first-ever bank account. According to Saemaeul Geumgo, a total of 7.8 billion KRW in interest is expected to be paid out next year when Yongyong Savings matures.

Having experienced a bank run crisis last year, Saemaeul Geumgo is gradually recovering its deposit balance by introducing various high-interest products like this, along with efforts to improve its image. According to the Bank of Korea's statistics system, Saemaeul Geumgo's deposit balance at the end of March was 260.0811 trillion KRW, an increase of 1.7351 trillion KRW compared to the previous month, and 18.2252 trillion KRW higher than in July last year.

Not only Saemaeul Geumgo but also other banks are launching various children’s bank account services to secure future customers. Toss Bank introduced a children's savings product with an annual interest rate of up to 5.5%, and Hana Bank launched the first-ever non-face-to-face 'Create My Child’s Account' service via an application (app) last year. Woori Bank's 'Woori Child Happiness Account' is popular for featuring characters loved by young children, such as Pinkfong and Baby Shark, on the passbook.