The top 3 are far ahead of the rest.

According to the Q4 2024 financial reports of 27 listed banks, as many as 16 banks recorded positive CASA growth.

Among them, the 5 banks with the strongest breakthroughs in CASA ratio in 2024 are: SeABank with a CASA ratio of 19.2% as of December 31, 2024, an increase of 8 percentage points compared to the beginning of the year; NCB increased by 3.4 percentage points, CASA reached 9.7%;OCB increased by 2.5 percentage points, CASA reached 14.7%; Vietcombank increased by 1.9 percentage points, CASA reached 35.8%; and VietinBank increased by 1.8 percentage points, CASA reached 24.2%.

Conversely, 11 banks recorded a decrease in CASA over the past year. Despite the decline in CASA, MB, BIDV , MSB, and Sacombank still ranked among the top 10 banks in terms of this ratio last year.

More specifically, the top 10 banks with the highest CASA ratios are: Techcombank (40.9%); MB (39.1%); Vietcombank (35.8%); MSB (26%); VietinBank (24.2%); ACB (23%); TPBank (22.2%); BIDV (19.7%); SeABank (19.2%); and Sacombank (18.1%).

In recent years, Techcombank has emerged as a phenomenon in terms of CASA balance. Before 2020, the top 3 banks leading the market in CASA were usually the familiar names Vietcombank, MB, and Techcombank, with CASA ratios of around 30%.

However, by 2020, Techcombank had surged ahead of its two direct competitors, with a CASA ratio of 46.1% (far surpassing MB in second place with 39% and Vietcombank with 30%).

Since then, the CASA deposit balance has always been a highlight that Techcombank proudly displays whenever it announces its business results. The peak was a record 50.5% increase in 2021 when the bank capitalized on Covid-19 to boost cashless payments.

According to Mr. Jens Lottner, CEO of Techcombank, data-driven solutions such as automated interest generation, the Techcombank Rewards loyalty program, and many new features for retailers (merchants) have contributed to a 27% increase in demand deposit balances in 2024, reaching a record high of nearly VND 231 trillion, raising the CASA ratio to 40.9% at the end of Q4 2024.

In addition to the above solutions, according to SHS Research, becoming a sponsor of the hit concert "Brother Overcoming a Thousand Obstacles" in 2024 also attracted more Gen Z customers, thereby contributing to increasing Techcombank's CASA deposit balance, helping the bank lower its cost of capital and strengthen its competitive advantage.

Excluding balances deposited in automatic interest-bearing accounts, Techcombank's CASA ratio is 37.4%, ranking behind MB (39.1%) and ahead of Vietcombank (35.8%).

This shows that Techcombank, MB, and Vietcombank are still very closely competing with each other in terms of CASA ratio. Besides these three "giants," no other bank has ever achieved a CASA ratio above 30%.

To attract CASA (Current Account Savings Account), several banks such as Techcombank, LPBank, and VIB have been implementing an "automatic profit generation" feature. This feature combines flexible payment options with optimized returns on customers' idle funds, helping to optimize idle cash flow and increase income for customers.

For example, at LPBank, the balance in a customer's current account automatically earns interest at a rate of up to 4.3% per year. This is more than 40 times higher than the interest rate of regular current accounts on the market.

However, the automatic profit-generating feature was only implemented by LPBank from the end of November 2024, so it has not yet been clearly reflected in CASA in 2024.

LPBank's CASA ratio at the end of 2024 was 9.8%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the beginning of the year.

The competition for CASA

CASA (current account deposits) play a crucial role in banking operations, providing a stable and inexpensive source of funding for banks to offer credit products to customers. CASA is also a tool for assessing liquidity, ensuring stability and reliability in banking operations.

Compared to time deposits, CASA typically offers significantly lower interest rates, ranging from 0.1% to 0.5% per year depending on the bank. Therefore, banks are constantly competing to expand the number of individual customer accounts to take advantage of this low-cost funding source.

Looking at the CASA ratios of currently listed banks, the group of banks with the lowest CASA ratios includes Bac A Bank, Viet A Bank, VietBank, Nam A Bank, and KienlongBank. Four out of five of these banks saw a decrease in their CASA ratio last year.

There are no specific regulations regarding the CASA ratio for banks. While a high CASA ratio is considered good for a bank, the degree of "goodness" can vary between banks, depending on their size and unique business model.

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SeABank achieved the highest CASA growth rate in the banking system. Photo: Hoang Ha.

The race for CASA (Current Account Savings Account) among banks is becoming increasingly fierce. In this competition, banks are compelled to invest heavily in technology and digital transformation if they hope to take the lead.

ACB is a bank that has shown great ambition in this race. The bank's total mobilization in 2024, including customer deposits and securities, reached VND 639 trillion, an increase of 19.4% compared to 2023. The CASA ratio improved from 22.9% in 2023 to 23.3% in 2024.

By investing heavily in digital transformation during the 2019-2024 period, ACB has developed ACB ONE Digital Bank into a key business channel alongside its traditional banking services.

As a result, ACB has expanded its deposit channels and attracted new customers, increasing its market share. ACB also achieved compound annual growth with a 98% increase in the number of online transactions and a 75% increase in the value of online transactions during this period.

Similarly, while deposit growth across the entire banking system remains low, VIB's customer deposits have maintained outstanding growth, exceeding 17% since the beginning of the year, bringing the bank's total customer deposit balance to VND 276,000 billion.

Of that total, deposits from individual customers reached nearly VND 200,000 billion, an increase of 14%. Notably, low-cost funding sources (CASA and foreign currency) increased by more than 35% compared to the beginning of the year, contributing to the strategy of optimizing capital costs, helping VIB's interest expenses in 2024 to decrease by up to 14% compared to the same period.

CASA RATIO AT BANKS AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2024 (%)
No. BANK December 31, 2024 December 31, 2023
1 TECHCOMBANK 40.9% 40%
2 MB 39.1% 39.6%
3 VIETCOMBANK 35.8% 33.9%
4 MSB 26% 26.3%
5 VIETINBANK 24.2% 22.4%
6 ACB 23.3% 22.9%
7 TPBANK 22.2% 21.9%
8 MB 19.7% 20%
9 SEABANK 19.2% 11.2%
10 SACOMBANK 18.1% 18.4%
11 OCB 14.7% 12.2%
12 EXIMBANK 14.7% 16.1%
13 PGBANK 14.6% 17.2%
14 VIB 14.1% 13.3%
15 VPBANK 14.1% 17.4%
16 ABBANK 12.6% 11.6%
17 HDBANK 11.9% 11.1%
18 LPBANK 9.8% 9.7%
19 NCB 9.7% 6.3%
20 SAIGONBANK 7.9% 7.3%
21 SHB 7.8% 10.1%
22 BVBANK 6.7% 5.8%
23 KIENLONGBANK 6.4% 6%
24 NAM A BANK 6.3% 7.1%
25 VIETBANK 4.9% 8.3%
26 VIET A BANK 4.1% 5%
27 BAC A BANK 3% 4%