We have to come up with different “goodies”
At the beginning of June, large Russian banks began to raise deposit rates: today you can find offers to invest money at 20% per annum. This is happening despite the monetary policy of the Central Bank, which has kept the key rate at 16%. The situation is clearly non-standard, paradoxical in many respects, and the experts interviewed by MK give different explanations for it.
Most banks provide maximum rates for short periods (6-9 months) and mainly on “new money” — on the depositor’s funds, which he did not previously keep in a credit institution. According to a number of analysts, banks took into account the Central Bank's rhetoric on tightening monetary policy and decided to act proactively in order to maintain high profitability for their clients. Others find a different explanation for what is happening.
“I don’t think that banks are anticipating the regulator’s next rate increase in this way,” says financial analyst Sergei Drozdov. “They just want to retain customers who have large amounts of free money. Let me remind you that from May 1, 2024, the Central Bank has permanently abolished the commission for transfers to oneself up to 30 million rubles per month using the fast payment system (SBP). On the one hand, this measure significantly increases the mobility of client funds, but it creates a certain headache for banks: they will now have to come up with various “goodies” to keep depositors from transferring funds to banks with more attractive conditions.”
At recent meetings of the Central Bank, different scenarios for increasing the key rate were discussed. This can happen unplanned, and the market always prepares for such a turn in advance, notes Maria Tatarintseva, product manager “Deposits” of the financial marketplace Compare. In addition, the expert recalls, most often clients open deposits for 3 or 6 months, reviewing the conditions at the end of each cycle — usually in March, June and September. In turn, banks strive to keep them with high rates.
“There are situations when banks attract liquidity to obtain funds, which are then used to issue loans at higher interest rates,” says Denis Astafiev, founder of the investment company SharesPro. . — This usually leads to a liquidity crisis. Most likely, this is the main reason for this behavior of banks. A similar picture was observed in the 1990s.”