'Alone on a horse', Agribank is leaving the Big 4 group far behind in terms of deposit interest rates

The Agricultural and Rural Development Bank ( Agribank ) has repeatedly surprised everyone by being the sole provider in increasing deposit interest rates for four consecutive months, becoming the champion among the Big4 banks across many maturities.

Agribank has just increased deposit interest rates for all maturities, becoming the only commercial bank to have raised interest rates twice since the beginning of November.

Accordingly, Agribank continues to adjust deposit interest rates upwards for various maturities, with an increase of 0.2%/year for 1-5 month terms and 0.1%/year for 6-36 month terms.

According to the online deposit interest rate chart published by Agribank on November 15th, the interest rate for 1-2 month terms increased to 2.4%/year, and for 3-5 month terms increased to 2.9%/year.

Interest rates for online deposits at Agribank have increased to 3.6%/year for terms of 6-9 months, 4.8%/year for terms of 12-18 months, and 4.9%/year for terms of 24 months. These are the highest deposit interest rates at Agribank since the beginning of 2024.

Looking back at Agribank's interest rate hikes, since August, the bank has increased rates by 0.2%/year for 1-2 month terms, 0.3%/year for 3-5 month terms, and 0.1%/year for 24-month terms.

In September, Agribank increased interest rates by 0.2% per year for deposits with terms of 1-2 months and by 0.3% per year for deposits with terms of 3-5 months.

In October, Agribank continued to increase deposit interest rates by 0.2% per year for terms from 1-5 months, while decreasing them by 0.1% per year for terms from 6-11 months.

In November, on November 7th, this major bank increased interest rates by 0.3% per year for terms of 6-9 months. Following that, on November 15th, Agribank adjusted rates upwards across all terms as mentioned above.

While Agribank has increased deposit interest rates for the past four consecutive months (but only in the most recent increase did it apply to all maturities), the other three banks in the Big4 group – VietinBank, BIDV , and Vietcombank – have maintained their interest rate schedules.

This has caused the gap in deposit interest rates at Agribank to widen further compared to the other three banks, especially for terms under 24 months.

ONLINE DEPOSIT INTEREST RATES AT 4 STATE-OWNED COMMERCIAL BANKS ON NOVEMBER 16 (%/YEAR)
TERM	AGRIBANK	VIETINBANK	MB	VIETCOMBANK
1-2 months	2.4	2	2	1.6
3-5 months	2.9	2.3	2.3	1.9
6-9 months	3.6	3.3	3.3	2.9
12-18 months	4.8	4.7	4.7	4.6
24-36 months	4.9	5	4.9	4.7

The interest rate differential for deposits with maturities under 6 months between Agribank and BIDV and VietinBank is 0.4%/year, while the interest rate differential compared to Vietcombank has reached 0.8-1%/year.

The interest rate spread for 6-9 month term deposits between Agribank and BIDV and VietinBank is 0.3%/year, while compared to Vietcombank's interest rate for the same term, the spread is as high as 0.7%/year.

However, because interest rates for long-term savings deposits rarely change, the current interest rates for 12-36 month savings deposits at Agribank are only 0.1% and 0.2% higher per year, respectively, than the rates for the same terms at BIDV and Vietcombank.

Regarding interest rates for deposits with a term of 24 months or more, VietinBank remains unrivaled, offering 5% per year, while Agribank and BIDV offer 4.9% per year, and Vietcombank offers 4.7% per year.

Nine banks have increased deposit interest rates since the beginning of November, including: Nam A Bank, IVB, Viet A Bank, VIB, MB, Agribank, Techcombank, ABBank, and VietBank. Of these, Agribank is the only bank to have increased interest rates twice since the beginning of the month.

ONLINE DEPOSIT INTEREST RATE CHART FOR REMAINING BANKS ON NOVEMBER 16 (%/YEAR)
BANK	1 MONTH	3 MONTHS	6 MONTHS	9 MONTHS	12 MONTHS	18 MONTHS
ABBANK	3.2	3.9	5.5	5,6	5.9	6.2
ACB	3.1	3.5	4.2	4.3	4.9
BAC A BANK	3.95	4.25	5.4	5.5	5.8	6.15
BAOVIETBANK	3.3	4	5.2	5.4	5.8	6
BVBANK	3.8	4	5.2	5.5	5.8	6
CBBANK	3.8	4	5.5	5.45	5.65	5.8
DONG A BANK	3.9	4.1	5.55	5.7	5.8	6.1
EXIMBANK	3.9	4.3	5.2	4.5	5.2	5.8
GPBank	3.2	3.72	5.05	5.4	5.75	5.85
HDBANK	3.85	3.95	5.1	4.7	5.5	6.1
IVB	3.8	4.1	5.1	5.1	5.8	6.1
KIENLONGBANK	3.7	3.7	5.2	5.3	5,6	5.7
LPBANK	3.6	3.8	5	5	5.4	5.7
MB	3.5	3.9	4.5	4.5	5.1	5.1
MSB	3.9	3.9	4.8	4.8	5,6	5,6
NAM A BANK	4.5	4.7	5	5.2	5,6	5.7
NCB	3.9	4.2	5.55	5.65	5.8	5.8
OCB	3.9	4.1	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.4
OCEANBANK	4.1	4.4	5.4	5.5	5.8	6.1
PGBANK	3.4	3.8	5	5	5.5	5.8
PVCOMBANK	3.3	3.6	4.5	4.7	5.1	5.8
SACOMBANK	3.3	3.6	4.9	4.9	5.4	5,6
SAIGONBANK	3.3	3.6	4.8	4.9	5.8	6
SEABANK	2.95	3.45	3.95	4.15	4.7	5.45
SHB	3.5	3.8	5	5.1	5.5	5.8
TECHCOMBANK	3.35	3.65	4.55	4.55	4.85	4.85
TPBANK	3.5	3.8	4.7		5.2	5.4
VIB	3.5	3.8	4.8	4.8		5.3
VIET A BANK	3.7	4	5.2	5.4	5.7	5.9
VIETBANK	3.9	4.1	5.2	5	5,6	5.9
VPBANK	3.6	3.8	4.8	4.8	5.3	5.3