ACLEDA up to a full percentage point lower
Remember last December when Wing Bank raised its interest rates on fixed deposits by 1.5 to a whopping 2 percentage points? Well, things are now moving quickly in the opposite direction. The drastic cuts last June (1.75 to 3 percentage points) were apparently not enough, as Wing has cut its rates again. Monthly deposits with a maturity of 1 or 2 years have been cut by 1.25 percentage points, while those with a maturity of 3, 4 or 5 years have been cut by 1.75 percentage points. This means that, in just a few months, Wing Bank has cut its rates for 1 and 2 year deposits by 3.25 percentage points, and for 3 years by no less than 3.75 percentage points. For a 5-year term, the cuts are even more dramatic: a total of 4.25 percentage points. We’ve never seen such dramatic rate cuts by any financial institution in Cambodia and it seems to be a worrying sign.
Wing’s top rate vanished
By the way, last month we noticed that Wing Bank was offering an un altra high rent on fixed deposits with a term of 10 years: 8.75%. Today, this offer is nowhere to be found on their website, the longest possible term is now 5 years, the highest rent is 4% (monthly payout) or 5.5% (maturity payout). When it comes to interest rates on fixed deposits, Wing is now in the lower league together with ACLEDA and ABA. The extraordinary rate cuts are clear in our line graph comparison:
ACLEDA also makes drastic cuts
ACLEDA has also made drastic cuts of up to a full percentage point. For fixed deposits in Khmer riel with monthly payouts, the cuts range from 0.6 percentage points (1-year maturity) to 0.8 percentage points (5-year maturity). For the same maturities in US dollars, the cuts range from 0.65 percentage points to a full percentage point. Hattha Bank and Woori Bank also cut their rates, but by a more modest 0.25 percentage points.
LOLC raises interest rates
Interestingly, microfinance institution LOLC raised its interest rates slightly. All fixed deposits, whether monthly or at maturity and whether in Khmer riel or US dollars, were raised by 0.25 percentage points. We suspect this move was made in an attempt to get back up the rankings. Where Korean Woori Bank took the top spot a few months ago, it’s now LOLC that pays the highest interest rates for fixed deposits in US dollars with terms of 1 or 2 years. For 3-year dollar deposits with monthly payouts, LOLC is on a par with Woori, while the latter offers slightly more for the same deposit term in Khmer Riel.
