Vietnam Banks Cut Deposit and Lending Rates: VCB, BID, MBB in Focus

Overview

All 46 commercial banks in Vietnam have now cut quoted deposit rates by 0.5-0.7 percentage points per year for terms of six months or more, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), setting the base for a broad reduction in lending rates. Vietcombank (VCB, HOSE) cut lending rates by as much as 3%/year in priority sectors, and Agribank repriced roughly VND 200,000B of existing loans. The move affects listed lenders including VCB, BID and MBB and lowers funding costs across the banking sector.

Key Facts

• 46 of 46 commercial banks have reduced quoted deposit rates by 0.5-0.7%/year for terms of six months or more, per the SBV.
• In late October 2026, average newly booked deposit rates fell about 0.4%/year and new lending rates fell about 0.2-0.5%/year versus mid-month.
• More than 20 banks have announced preferential credit programmes with rate cuts of 1.5-2%/year.
• Vietcombank cut deposit rates by 0.5% from 20 October 2026 and launched a priority-sector credit programme running from 19 October to end-2026 with cuts of 1.5-2%/year.
• Vietcombank cut up to 3%/year for consumer trade and petroleum trade; about 17,000 borrowers (over 3,000 corporates and nearly 14,000 individuals and household businesses) have drawn roughly VND 100,000B under the programme.
• Agribank reduced rates on approximately VND 200,000B of existing loans, per Deputy General Director Phùng Thị Bình.
• Tôn Thép Việt Pháp cited a roughly 1.5% rate cut, bringing its loan rate to about 6.1%/year and saving hundreds of millions of dong per month.

What Happened

The SBV confirmed that every commercial bank has lowered deposit rates, creating room to reduce lending rates. Deputy Governor Phạm Thanh Hà has pushed aggressive implementation of measures to lower the overall rate level. Bạch Thành Long, Deputy General Director of Vietcombank, said the bank acted immediately after direction from the Prime Minister and the SBV, cutting deposit rates by 0.5% from 20 October 2026 and rolling out a credit programme for priority sectors from 19 October through the end of 2026. He said some sectors, including consumer trade and petroleum trade, received cuts of up to 3%/year, with nearly 17,000 customers and about VND 100,000B disbursed so far.

At Agribank, Phùng Thị Bình said the bank stabilised deposit rates and trimmed costs from early 2026 under the SBV Governor’s Directive 01, then passed the savings through to borrowers, including on existing loans. The article, citing company and bank statements rather than a single regulatory filing, frames the cuts as a system-wide pass-through from funding costs to lending rates, arriving as year-end corporate credit demand rises.

Market Context

VCB closed at VND 54,800 on 4 November 2026, with BID at VND 32,450 and MBB at VND 19,250, all on HOSE. The banking sector is the largest weight in the VN-Index, so a coordinated rate cut cycle is a sector-wide earnings and margin story rather than a single-stock event. Lower deposit rates support net interest margin only if lending yields hold; the aggressive priority-sector cuts at VCB signal that asset yields are compressing faster than funding costs in targeted segments.

Strategic Significance

The policy push reframes Vietnamese bank earnings around volume and credit quality rather than rate spreads. VCB’s willingness to cut up to 3%/year in consumer and petroleum trade, and Agribank’s repricing of VND 200,000B of legacy loans, indicate that state-directed lending concessions are now a core part of the operating model for the largest banks. For long-term holders of VCB, BID and MBB, the key question is whether faster credit growth and improved borrower repayment capacity offset thinner margins, particularly as preferential programmes carry below-market pricing.

What to Watch

• Q4 2026 and full-year 2026 net interest margin disclosures from VCB, BID and MBB.
• SBV credit growth quotas and any further deposit-rate adjustments in November-December 2026.
• Take-up data on the 20-plus preferential credit programmes and whether they expand beyond priority sectors.
• Foreign-ownership and block-trade filings for VCB, BID and MBB.
• Year-end corporate credit demand and any rise in restructured or overdue loans.