As usual, last Monday we checked the fixed deposit rates offered by the 10 financial institutions in Cambodia we follow, including Wing Bank. We didn’t notice any changes at any of the banks and MFIs, so we left the tables of current rates unchanged. And then our attention was drawn to a sponsored article in Tuesday’s Phnom Penh Post headlined “Wing Bank unveils highest ever term deposit interest rate”. Huh? We checked again and couldn’t find the new rates on the term deposit page of their website. It turns out that Wing has a new page with their term deposit rates, but they forgot to remove the old page and redirect visitors to the new one. Hey Wing Bank, that’s basic website maintenance!
Anyway, yes, they have raised their rates significantly across the board, both for payouts at maturity and monthly. For Khmer Riel deposits, the increases are mostly a full percentage point, for USD 0.75 percentage points. However, there is one term that has seen an increase of a whopping 2 percentage points: the 1-year term deposit. Whether denominated in KHR or USD, and whether paid at maturity or monthly, they are all 2 percentage points higher. The increases for 2 years are not far behind: all are 1.50 percentage points higher.
Previously, Wing Bank didn’t offer rates for 4 and 5 year terms. Now they do, and interestingly the highest rates for deposits in KHR and USD are the same: 8.50% for monthly payout and 9.00% for payout at maturity. Wing now offers the highest rate for 5-year deposits with payout at maturity in USD, but for deposits in KHR, Woori Bank already offers 9% for a 3-year term. For 5-year deposits with monthly payouts, Wing Bank pays 8.50% for both KHR and USD. It’s the highest rate available for the greenback, but again Woori Bank is better for KHR: 8.75% for a 3-year term.