Deposit interest rates have been lowered, large-amount certificates of deposit products have become popular, and "deposit moving" should be clear about the risks and returns

Reporter of this newspaper Pan Fuda

At the beginning of the new year, many citizens are concerned about how to allocate their money. Recently, banks have intensively lowered the interest rate on deposits, which has opened up space for loan repricing and the downward trend of financing costs of real enterprises in 2024, and has also affected residents' pocketbooks.

Under the downward trend of deposit interest rates, many users have begun to look for products with higher returns, further promoting "deposit moving". Large-denomination certificates of deposit, structured deposits, and insurance products have become the new favorites of low-risk investors, and some products are in short supply. A number of industry insiders reminded users to rationally understand the risk-return relationship.

Large-value certificates of deposit in banks are "slow and slow"

As soon as he received the year-end bonus, Mr. Yang was thinking about saving the money for a year, and was ready to choose a large certificate of deposit or structured deposit with a slightly higher interest rate. "I didn't expect that I had to rob every money saved this year!" A number of bank outlets sold out of large-amount certificates of deposit products, and he bought a large-amount certificate of deposit with a one-year interest rate of 2.1% from a city commercial bank for the first time on his mobile bank.

The reporter consulted a number of banks as a depositor and learned that as a kind of deposit product, large-amount certificates of deposit have a relatively high level of return compared with ordinary time deposits, and they have been in a state of "slow hands" since the beginning of the year. "We have no quota for large-denomination certificates of deposit, so we recommend that you pay attention to time deposits or five-year insurance wealth management products. The account managers of the Agricultural Bank of China and the China Construction Bank both said that the three-year fixed deposit interest rate of the two banks is 2.35%.

According to the mobile app of Bank of Beijing, a minimum deposit of 20,1 yuan is required for large-value certificates of deposit, and the interest rates for 3 month, 6 months, 1 months and one year are 8.1%, 8.2%, 2% and 1.<>% respectively. "The two-year ones have been sold out. An account manager introduced.

The account managers of the branches of the Postal Savings Bank and China Merchants Bank both said that if customers purchase large-value certificates of deposit products, they need to "grab the quota" through mobile banking. According to a staff member of the Postal Savings Bank, the last time the bank sold large-value certificates of deposit was in December last year, and it will wait for a notice when it will be sold in January.

Three rounds of interest rate cuts began to "move" deposits

The popularity of large-denomination certificates of deposit products is closely related to the reduction of deposit interest rates. At the end of last year, the third round of deposit interest rate cuts in 2023 attracted widespread attention, and a number of large state-owned banks lowered deposit interest rates, adjusting deposit varieties involving call deposits, lump sum deposits, lump sum deposits, and principal deposits, among which the three-year and five-year tenors of regular lump sum deposits and lump sum withdrawals were reduced by 25 basis points, which means that the interest on 20,1500 yuan for three years will be reduced by <>,<> yuan. Subsequently, the deposit interest rates of joint-stock banks and small and medium-sized banks were also lowered.

"The one-year fixed deposit interest rate is 1.7%, two-year 1.9%, and three-year 2.35%, which is higher than the listed interest rate, with a minimum deposit of 1,<> yuan. At the outlets of ICBC and CCB, the account manager introduced that this is the latest deposit interest rate after the reduction.

The reason for this is that since last year, commercial banks have adopted various measures to reduce fees and make profits to the real economy, and the net interest margins of banks have narrowed markedly, and the growth rate of operating income and profits has declined. Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of Zhaolian, said that reducing the deposit interest rate will help banks better stabilize net interest margins, promote the reduction of financing costs for the real economy, and continue to support the real economy.

After the deposit interest rate was lowered, the interest income brought by the money deposited in the bank was reduced, and the phenomenon of "deposit moving" gradually appeared. Many people try to buy live money or other low-risk financial products. "The fixed deposit period is long and the interest rate is getting lower and lower, so I transferred some of my deposits to small and medium-sized banks with higher interest rates, and at the same time allocated medium and low-risk bond funds and money market funds, and the returns are not bad. Ms. Shi, a white-collar worker in Beijing who is engaged in the financial industry, said.

According to the wealth managers of a number of bank outlets, many depositors tend to switch to some insurance products with relatively high interest rates, such as savings insurance represented by increased whole life insurance and participating insurance. "Recently, the five-year insurance product has been selling very well, and if you want to buy it, you have to make an appointment in advance. The wealth manager of a CCB branch near Wangjing, Chaoyang District, said that the bank currently has no bancassurance products with a term of less than five years on sale.

Interest rates are falling, and investment allocation needs to be rational

The Central Economic Work Conference emphasized that "promoting the steady and moderate reduction of comprehensive social financing costs". With the continuous decline in the interest rates of new and existing loans, banks will still reduce costs on the capital side, so it has become a consensus in the industry that there is still room for deposit interest rates to be lowered.

Ming Ming, chief economist of CITIC Securities, believes that because residents' risk appetite is still low in the short term, even if the deposit interest rate is lowered, the scale of deposits is expected to maintain an upward trend. However, from a medium- to long-term perspective, the phenomenon of "deposit moving" may be strengthened, and low-risk asset management products such as bank wealth management are expected to usher in incremental funds.

Under the general trend of continuous downward trend of deposit interest rates, how should residents take care of their money bags? A number of bank wealth management managers reminded users to rationally allocate according to their needs, and that wealth management products with higher yields may have net value fluctuations, and users should rationally understand the relationship between risk and return.

Dong Ximiao suggested that if investors have relatively little experience and low risk appetite, they can allocate some money market funds, cash management wealth management products, and savings treasury bonds in addition to deposits, which can increase some returns and be relatively stable; if the investment risk appetite is relatively high and the investment ability is relatively strong, investors can appropriately increase the allocation of stocks and funds, but they should allocate according to their own investment ability, risk appetite, and investment experience. (Beijing Daily)