Major banks are competing for customers with promotional offers, with Shinhan, NH NongHyup, Hana and Woori offering higher interest rates on savings accounts.
Woori Bank recently drew customers with a limited-time deposit offer capped at 1 trillion won (US$700 million), which sold out in just 10 days, attracting an average of roughly 100 billion won a day before hitting its sales limit on Aug. 12. The bank then raised the cap by another 1 trillion won and made it available through the end of this month.
Launched on Aug. 3 to mark Liberation Day and the 150th anniversary of independence fighter Kim Koo's birth, the offer allowed customers to park up to 100 million won per person for six or 12 months at initial annual interest rates ranging from 3.1 percent to 3.4 percent.
Shinhan Bank has also rolled out similar promotions, while NH NongHyup Bank is offering interest rates of up to 8.15 percent a year on an account limited to 10,000 customers. Hana Bank is providing rates of up to 7 percent available to 50,000 customers.
These promotions reflect a broader influx of cash into the country's banks. The amount customers have put into savings accounts at the country's five major lenders stood at 999.23 trillion won as of last week, up 14.29 trillion won since the start of this month.
By contrast, money held in brokerage accounts that is available for investment stood at 100.07 trillion won ($70 billion) as of Aug. 13, according to the latest data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. That was down 39.62 trillion won, or 28.4 percent, from a record 139.69 trillion won on June 4.
Rising interest rates are also driving this shift. The Bank of Korea recently raised its benchmark rate for the first time in three and a half years, giving banks more room to offer higher returns. At the same time, a recent stock market selloff has made investors more cautious, reducing their appetite for risk in search of higher returns.
AJP Takeaways:
• Woori Bank's 1 trillion won ($700 million) limited-time offer reached its sales cap on Aug. 12, 2026, just 10 days after its Aug. 3 launch, prompting the bank to add another 1 trillion won.
• Money placed in fixed-period savings accounts at South Korea's five major lenders reached 999.23 trillion won as of Aug. 13, 2026, up 14.29 trillion won from the start of the month.
• Shinhan Bank, NH NongHyup Bank and Hana Bank are offering promotional savings rates as high as 8.15 percent as competition for customers' cash intensifies.
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