A batch of banks lowered their deposit listing interest rates in March, with the highest decrease reaching 30 basis points.

Our reporter, Xiong Yue

Starting in March, a group of banks lowered their posted deposit interest rates. According to our review, these banks are mainly regional small and medium-sized banks in Yunnan, Shandong, Xinjiang, and other areas. The affected deposit products include both short-term and long-term maturities, with a focus on long-term deposits. The rate cuts reached up to 30 basis points.

Specifically, recently, Xinjiang Bank Co., Ltd. announced an adjustment to its posted RMB deposit rates. The bank has been adjusting its RMB deposit rates since March 10. This adjustment involves fixed-term deposit products with terms of three months, six months, one year, two years, three years, and five years, with rate reductions ranging from 10 to 15 basis points.

Yuanjiang Beiyin Village Bank Co., Ltd. in Yunnan announced that starting March 1, 2026, it would adjust the interest rates on some deposit products. These include demand deposits, three-year fixed deposits, and five-year fixed deposits. The largest cut was for the five-year fixed deposit, which decreased by 30 basis points, from 2.2% to 1.9%. As a result, all fixed-term deposit rates at this bank have moved below the “2%” mark.

Additionally, several other rural commercial banks and village banks, such as Chiping Hunan Rural Commercial Bank, Heilongjiang Youyi Rural Commercial Bank (hereinafter “Heilongjiang Youyi Rural Commercial Bank”), and Pukou Jingfa Village Bank in Nanjing, have also adjusted their posted deposit rates since March, generally lowering rates for long-term fixed deposits.

After the rate adjustments, some banks’ fixed deposit products have experienced “inverted” rates. For example, Heilongjiang Youyi Rural Commercial Bank has adjusted the rates for demand deposits, three-year fixed deposits, and five-year fixed deposits starting March 1, 2026. The three-year fixed deposit rate was increased by 5 basis points, while the five-year fixed deposit rate was decreased by 10 basis points. Post-adjustment, the rates are 1.75% for three years and 1.60% for five years.

Our reporter notes that, unlike the previous pattern where large state-owned banks led rate adjustments, small and medium-sized banks have been more proactive this year, adjusting deposit rates more frequently.

Lou Feipeng, a researcher at China Postal Savings Bank, told Securities Daily that since March, many small and medium-sized banks have lowered deposit rates, with some products showing inverted rates. This reflects banks’ response to net interest margin pressures, shifting focus from expanding scale to controlling costs. When high-interest deposits mature and are re-priced, banks lower posted rates to reduce liability costs and ease profit pressures.

Tian Lihui, a finance professor at Nankai University, told us that in the future, deposit rates at small and medium-sized banks will generally trend downward with structural differentiation. The overall decline will continue but at a slower pace. Low interest rates will become the norm, with three-year fixed deposit rates generally staying in the “1” percent range, and some short-term products even dropping into the “0” percent range. Depositors should view the rate decline rationally and diversify their assets to cope with the era of low interest rates.

Lou Feipeng believes that the downward trend in deposit rates at small and medium-sized banks will continue, but the decline may be smaller and more refined in its adjustments.

(Edited by: Wen Jing)

Keywords: Bank Interest Rate