The maximum decrease is 35 basis points! The "good start" has ended as multiple banks cut deposit listing interest rates, with short-term products becoming the focus of downward pressure.

AI Q&A · Why have short-term deposit interest rates become a focus of adjustment after the “Opening Red” at the start?

Cailian Press, April 1st (Reporter Zou Juntao) At the beginning of the second quarter, multiple banks once again adjusted their RMB deposit benchmark interest rates, with short-term deposit products becoming the focus of this round of adjustments.

Cailian Press reporters noted that several banks, including Jilin Bank, Xiamen Bank, and Fujian Haixia Bank, have recently issued announcements one after another stating that, starting from April 1st, they will lower the benchmark interest rates for certain term deposits. Unlike previous rounds of adjustments, this round mainly targets short-term products in the form of one-day and seven-day notice deposits, with the cut size reaching as much as 35 basis points in some cases, and some banks making two rate cuts within a week for certain products.

Bank insiders interviewed said that at the start of the year, to chase the “Opening Red,” banks generally temporarily suppressed the decline in deposit interest rates; as the campaign winds down, the industry is returning to more normalized interest-rate management, and the pace of deposit rate adjustments will gradually resume.

Short-term deposit interest rates show obvious “catch-up” cuts, with some products cut twice within a week

Xiamen Bank announced on March 31st that, starting from April 1st, the bank will lower the benchmark interest rates for personal one-day and seven-day notice deposits by 5 basis points each, bringing them down to annualized 0.6% and 0.9%, respectively. At the same time, the benchmark rates for corporate notice deposits with one-day and seven-day terms are cut by even larger margins—30 basis points and 35 basis points, respectively—down to annualized 0.35% and 0.6%.

Fujian Haixia Bank also recently announced that it will adjust the benchmark interest rates for negotiated deposits and one-day notice deposits starting March 27th, and starting April 1st will adjust the benchmark interest rate for seven-day notice deposits, while keeping the interest rates for other terms unchanged. After the adjustment, the benchmark rates for negotiated deposits, one-day notice deposits, and seven-day notice deposits were lowered by 5 basis points, 10 basis points, and 20 basis points, respectively, compared with the beginning of this January.

Jilin Bank, meanwhile, announced on April 1st that it would adjust its RMB deposit benchmark interest rates, but only for three-year fixed-deposit products: reducing the annualized rate from 1.75% to 1.70%, a 5-basis-point cut. After the adjustment, the inversion between its three-year and five-year fixed-deposit rates narrowed from 15 basis points to 10 basis points.

What is worth noting is that Xiamen Bank had already lowered the benchmark interest rates for personal one-year, three-year, five-year deposits and one-day notice deposits on March 27th, with reductions of 10 basis points, 20 basis points, 20 basis points, and 5 basis points, respectively. Combined with this round of adjustments, the interest rates on the bank’s deposit products have nearly moved down across the board. Among them, the benchmark interest rate for personal one-day notice deposits was cut twice within less than a week, for a total reduction of 10 basis points.

In addition, the bank had originally planned to lower the benchmark interest rate for personal seven-day notice deposits by 15 basis points to 1.1% starting April 1st; however, in actual implementation it was further lowered to 0.9%, meaning this product was cut twice within less than a week, for an actual cumulative reduction of 20 basis points.

Xiamen Bank’s 2025 interim report shows that, as of the end of the reporting period, the bank’s net interest margin was 1.08%, up 4 basis points from the previous quarter, but still below the industry average net interest margin of 1.42% under the same regulatory 기준. In the report, the bank said that in the second half of 2025 it will “continue to optimize its asset structure and strengthen cost management on the liability side.”

“Opening Red” recedes, banks refocus on liability cost control

For the concentrated downward cuts to interest rates on short-term deposit products, industry participants generally believe this reflects banks’ renewed focus on liability cost control after the “Opening Red” sprint.

A relevant person from a city commercial bank in East China told Cailian Press that, as the “Opening Red” ends, the industry is refocusing on liability cost control. The person noted that actively reducing deposit costs and optimizing maturity structure are choices commonly made by most banks; “Previously, everyone prioritized cutting the cost of long-term high-interest deposit products, but now it is necessary to cut both long- and short-term deposit rates.”

A person from a listed city commercial bank also told Cailian Press that, “During the ‘Opening Red’ period, some mid-sized and small banks increased deposit rates for a short-term surge in deposit scale. Now that the ‘Opening Red’ is over, banks are back to the objectives of net interest margin management and long-term liability cost optimization.”

Cailian Press reporters noted that recently, many listed banks have mentioned in their earnings briefings or annual reports that the net interest margin in 2026 is expected to stabilize but will still face significant pressure. Multiple bank executives stated that in the future they will continue to reduce liability costs and promote optimization of deposit structure.

Analysts pointed out that, against the backdrop of continued declines in loan interest rates and pressure on asset yields, falling deposit interest rates remains the main path for banks to ease net interest margin pressure. As the industry enters a normalized operating phase in the second quarter, more banks are expected to follow by adjusting their deposit benchmark interest rates.

(Cailian Press, Reporter Zou Juntao)