Wing makes cuts up to 3 percentage points
Launched in 2009 as a simple platform for domestic money transfers via mobile phones, Wing has transformed itself into a commercial bank. In an apparent bid to attract more customers, Wing Bank dramatically increased its fixed deposit rates by up to 2.00 percentage points last December. It also introduced record rates for long-term deposits (8.50% for 5-year terms with monthly withdrawals, and even 9.00% for withdrawals at maturity). These rates couldn’t last for long, and indeed, after modest cuts last month, Wing has now completely slashed its fixed deposit rates.
For 1 and 2 year maturities with monthly payouts in KHR, you’ll now get 1.75 percentage points less interest, for 3 and 4 year maturities the cut is 2 percentage points, and the 5 year rate (in both USD and KHR) has been slashed by no less than 2.50 percentage points. For deposits payable at maturity, the cuts are even more dramatic: up to 3 percentage points. Most rates are now below what Wing paid last December, as you can clearly see in our line chart comparison (best viewed on a desktop, laptop or tablet). We’ve highlighted Wing Bank in the screenshot below:
Wing Bank has made the biggest cuts, but it’s certainly not the only Cambodian financial institution to cut its rates. An overview:
Amk’s rates down by up to 1.65 pp
Amk‘s very modest cuts last month (just 0.10 percentage points) appeared to be a prelude to the microfinance institution’s cuts this month. Most of Amk’s interest rates on monthly fixed deposits are now between 0.75 and 1.25 percentage points lower. However, the cuts are as high as 1.65 percentage points for deposits paid at maturity.
Canadia joins the race for lower rates
Canadia Bank has never been in the upper echelon when it comes to interest rates, but at least its rates have been stable for a long time (apart from a small cut last February). This has now changed: Canadia has slashed its rates by as much as 1.45 percentage points. For a 1-year USD deposit with monthly withdrawals, Canadia now pays 4.50%, which is still slightly higher than the worst banks ACLEDA and ABA.
LOLC continues slide
In the last 7 months, LOLC has cut its interest rates no less than 6 times! Last month, rates were cut by 0.50 percentage points, and this month, in the latest round, they were cut by a modest 0.25 percentage points across the board. However, if you compare the interest rate with the monthly disbursement to October last year, the difference is 1.50 percentage points.
Woori now offers highest rates
Following LOLC’s latest cuts, Korean-owned Woori Bank now offers the highest rates. The interest rates they offer on 1 and 2 year maturities in USD with monthly payments are now 0.25 percentage points higher than LOLC’s. For a 3-year term, Woori offers 0.40 percentage points higher interest.
ABA misleading
ABA Bank has some misleading text on its website: “For a limited time, enjoy our higher promotional interest rates on term deposits in KHR and USD!” Under term deposits in USD, you can see some rates struck through and the “higher” rates in red. However, in the last 12 months we’ve never seen the strikethrough rates, in fact the “new higher” red rates are the lowest in that period. What a deceptive marketing gimmick!
Amret raised rates!
Remarkable at a time when most rates are falling: Amret has raised its rates by 0.25 to 0.55 percentage points. Now USD and KHR deposits have the same interest rates, whereas before the KHR rates were slightly lower.
Hattha: rates with quarterly payout
Comparing Hattha’s rates with last month’s, it would appear that they have also risen slightly. That’s not really the case, but Hattha now offers fixed-term deposits with a choice of monthly or quarterly payouts. The latter has slightly higher rates and we’ve decided to publish these from now on. This gives a slightly skewed comparison with the previous rates.