Shinsei Bank to raise interest rate tenfold on 6-month deposits

Nikkei -- May 31

Japan's Shinsei Bank will raise the interest rate on six-month deposits tenfold to 0.1% from Wednesday, shifting to a strategy of chasing savings after becoming a subsidiary of financial conglomerate SBI Holdings.

The strategy bucks the trend of domestic banks, which have been lowering deposit rates due to the prolonged negative interest rate policy of the Bank of Japan. Shinsei is also aiming to increase loans and investment income to offset a higher interest rate burden.

The offer is open to online deposits only, which account for more than 90% of time deposit. The annual deposit rate for six-month and three-month time deposits of 300,000 yen ($2,350) or more will be 0.1%, 50 times that of major banks.

The rate for one-month deposits will be 0.2%, as Shinsei hopes to attract customers to try out such accounts. The annual deposit rate for one-year deposits of 1 million yen or more will rise to 0.15% if the accounts are also used to receive salaries.

For foreign currency deposits, the one-year U.S. dollar deposit rate will be raised to 3% per annum, up from 2%, which was already raised from 1% in April. ...continue reading

May 31 (TBS NEWS) - 新生銀行は6月から定期預金の金利を10倍に引き上げ0.1%にすることを決めました。  ...continue reading