Credit Suisse offers higher deposit rates in Asia to woo the wealthy: Sources
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The Swiss bank is offering a 6.5 per cent annual rate on new three-month deposits of $6.7 million or above.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG – Credit Suisse is offering higher deposit rates than its rivals to attract new funds from wealthy clients in Asia, people with knowledge of the matter said, as the embattled private bank seeks to stem outflows and stop its bankers from leaving.
The Swiss bank is offering a 6.5 per cent annual rate on new three-month deposits of US$5 million (S$6.7 million) or above, said three sources with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Credit Suisse is also offering a rate of as high as 7 per cent for one-year deposits, the sources said.
“The banking sector has been responding to global rate hikes with higher rates and Credit Suisse is fully focused on providing our clients with differentiated advice and competitive solutions,” said a Credit Suisse spokesman.
The offers are roughly 100 to 200 basis points higher than those of major rivals in the region such as JPMorgan, UBS and Citigroup, two of the sources and a senior wealth manager said.
Citigroup and UBS declined to comment. JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The new deposit rates are higher than Credit Suisse’s lending rates in Asia, one of the two sources said, adding that it raises concerns about how the business can sustain such a funding gap.
The third source said the offers are valid until the end of this quarter and apply only to new cash deposits, not to existing portfolios.
Total assets at Credit Suisse’s wealth division, which was hit by worse-than-expected 92.7 billion Swiss franc (S$133 billion) outflows in the fourth quarter, fell to 540.5 billion Swiss francs by the end of 2022 from 742.6 billion Swiss francs a year earlier. REUTERS
