Rates on ruble deposits stopped falling

At the end of March, the trend that conservative private investors had been waiting for so long was formed – interest rates on ruble deposits, the most popular savings instrument, finally stopped falling. How long will the depositors’ banquet last?

Since the beginning of the year, the maximum rates on ruble deposits in the largest banks have been gradually reduced. According to the Central Bank, from January to the end of March, they decreased from 8.13% to 7.68% per annum. The average market indicators, of course, were even lower. However, in mid-March, the downward movement of rates stopped. Maintaining the key rate of the Central Bank at the level of 7.5% per annum, on which the profitability of deposits depends, only strengthened the new trend.

An interesting point: if last year Russian banks offered more favorable terms on deposits for three months, now the focus has shifted to long-term products. It is on them that the most favorable conditions are offered today. As MK was told in the press service of Russian Standard Bank, now rates on “short” ruble deposits vary in the range of 6.5–8%, and on deposits for long periods (more than a year) – in the region of 8.5– 10%.

At the same time, banks offer customers several options for receiving interest on a deposit: at the end of the term, monthly capitalization (adding to the deposit amount) and monthly payment of interest to an account or card. The last one is the most beneficial. You can use the money earned in this way immediately, without waiting for the end of the deposit. These monthly receipts can be used to pay current bills automatically. Auto payment in Internet or mobile banks is easy to set up for regular remote payment for utilities, mobile communications, Internet provider, etc.

The interest of Russians in savings accounts is not decreasing. Recall that this perpetual hybrid of a current account and a deposit, which allows you to freely dispose of money at your discretion, is also protected in the deposit insurance system for up to 1.4 million rubles. inclusive.

According to Natalia Vashchelyuk, chief analyst at Sovcombank, interest rates on savings accounts differ depending on the method of calculating interest (on a minimum or daily balance, balance at the end of the month, etc.), monthly expenses, etc. Many banks offer higher rates for new customers on the first few months. If you open a savings account under standard conditions, you can focus on an interest rate of 4-5%. Maximum rates can reach 10%, but a number of conditions must be met, incl. on monthly expenses.

“Despite the increased profitability of long-term deposits, most depositors are not yet in a hurry to place money on them,” said Natalya Tuchkova, head of the Savings department at VTB. “Firstly, clients are not expanding their planning horizon because of the uncertainty in the economy. Secondly, the slowdown in inflation and the abundance of holidays in the first quarter stimulated the growth of consumer spending, which reduced the propensity to “long” savings. Thirdly, there are practically no long-term savings savings instruments with a high guaranteed return on the market that would allow investors to start saving for long-term purposes,” Tuchkova explained.

Recently, many initiatives have appeared on the deposit market designed to lengthen savings. Thus, the Bank of Russia proposed to work out the concept of irrevocable deposits with increased insurance protection. “Over the years of its existence, the deposit insurance system has not given rise to doubts about its reliability. Therefore, with full insurance coverage, an irrevocable deposit will make it possible to receive both an attractive income from the placement of household funds in the banking sector and will give people confidence in their safety,” the press service of Home Credit Bank noted.

A draft law has been prepared for low-income families, according to which, from July 1, 2024, systemically important banks will be obliged to open social deposits (yield on them will not be lower than the key rate of the Central Bank + 1%, banks will be prohibited from charging a commission for opening or maintaining a deposit and account, as well as for account transactions, if they do not exceed 15 thousand rubles).

“One of the solutions to the problem can be “children’s” deposits, the period of which can be set individually, for example, until the child comes of age,” Tuchkova believes. – At the same time, it is necessary to provide for early termination of the deposit agreement, subject to the targeted use of funds in the interests of the child. It is advisable to link the rate on such a deposit to a market indicator, which will make it possible to hedge the profitability of savings. When children are born, the state could contribute a certain amount to a deposit opened in the name of the child and further replenish it in addition to parental contributions.”

“Most of these initiatives are aimed at creating long-term money in the economy. The ideas are generally good, but they require additional budget expenditures and it is unlikely that such tools will be widely used. For the steady development of long-term financing, it is more important to reduce the level of uncertainty in the economy,” Vashchelyuk is sure.

Another curious trend is that the share of deposits in euros and US dollars continues to decline. Deposits in yuan are not yet so popular with Russians. As Maxim Timoshenko, director of financial markets operations at Russian Standard Bank, explained: “The yuan remains the currency of developing countries and has a fairly high volatility against the dollar. In addition, there are not many opportunities for banks to place yuan, so there is no massive active promotion of yuan deposits with attractive rates yet.”

Many citizens who have dollar deposits are in no hurry to close them, incl. due to restrictions on the transfer of dollars from banks due to infrastructural difficulties with dollar transfers (and sanctioned banks do not have such opportunities at all). “Yes, and getting cash dollars when closing a deposit is not easy and not profitable (no more than $ 10 thousand due to legislative restrictions). Therefore, depositors prefer to renew contracts, rather than take rubles at the exchange rate. On a longer horizon, as the economy switches to yuan in external settlements, the number and variety of yuan instruments, including deposits, will grow,” Tymoshenko concluded.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29008 dated April 11, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Investors cheered up