Against a backdrop of industry-wide falling deposit rates, smaller banks show
divergent deposit pricing: some have raised deposit rates while others have cut
mid‑to‑long‑term fixed deposits, with isolated term‑rate inversions and
inconsistent tenor adjustments within the same banks. Zeng Gang, head of Tianfu
Liyan Financial Research Institute, says these are largely stage‑specific,
structural liability‑management moves and do not indicate a broad deposit‑rate
hiking cycle. He expects deposit rates overall are most likely to remain on a
steady‑to‑lower path, with greater cross‑institution and cross‑tenor dispersion;
competition will shift from pure rate battles toward improving client service,
expanding settlement balances, optimizing product mix and lowering aggregate
funding costs.
