PROGRES.ID – While benchmark interest rates remain high in Indonesia until the third quarter of 2023, some banks offer quite enticing deposit interest rates for depositors. However, the liquidity of banks in the country remains relatively secure, and banks do not seem to be competing to attract Indonesian customers with higher interest rates.
Interestingly, several banks have offered special rate deposits that are quite advantageous. Special rate deposits are a type of savings account that provides interest rates above the Deposit Insurance Rate (TBP) set by the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS). These deposits are usually offered directly to depositors with a large amount of funds.
“Banks do not yet feel the need to attract Indonesian customers’ funds, so liquidity trends are still quite good,” said Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Chairman of the LPS Board of Commissioners, in a press conference in Jakarta on Friday (29/9/2023), as quoted from CNBC Indonesia.
In the current special rate deposit offerings, there are groups of banks based on their core capital (KBMI) that offer the highest interest rates. They offer special rates of around 5.46%, which is much higher than other bank groups. Meanwhile, KBMI 4 banks offer the lowest interest rates at around 3.2%, and KBMI 3 banks offer around 4.49%. The average special rate offered by the banking industry today is approximately 4.18%.
Although special rate deposits offer higher interest rates than the TBP set by the LPS, these special rates are still below the LPS insurance interest rates. Therefore, banks do not appear to feel the need to raise their TBP rates.
KBMI 2 banks, which currently offer the highest deposit interest rates, are generally occupied by large digital-based banks such as Bank Jago, Allo Bank, and Bank Raya. However, there are also several conventional banks such as Bank Mayapada, Bank Bukopin, Bank Sinarmas, and Bank BJB that belong to the KBMI 2 group.
Furthermore, the LPS has decided to maintain the insurance interest rates for commercial banks and rural economy banks (BPR). With this decision, the deposit interest rates will be 2.25% for foreign exchange (forex), 4.25% for commercial banks, and 6.75% for BPRs. This decision will be in effect from October 1, 2023, to January 31, 2024.
LPS routinely sets the insurance interest rates three times a year, in January, May, and September. Despite the high benchmark interest rates, depositors in Indonesia can still find attractive options to optimize the returns on their savings in various banks that offer enticing special rate deposits.
