TMB backtracks on zero interest rate for savings accounts

[snoop1130]

TMB backtracks on zero interest rate for savings accounts

BANGKOK -- The Thai Military Bank made an about-turn today (Friday) regarding its recent decision to cut the interest rate for savings accounts to zero percent from 0.125 percent effective as of June 1.

The abrupt reversal was announced after the bank came under heavy criticisms from netizens, many of them believed to be the bank’s customers, questioning the bank’s rationality to bring the rate to zero which was unprecedented.

In the announcement, the bank said that the interest rate cutback for savings accounts was intended to bring about the utmost benefits for its customers in the management of their deposits.

However, since there are customers who are not ready yet to accept the bank’s new form of financial management, the bank decided to reverse to the old interest rate for savings accounts which is 0.125 percent.

All customers who have savings accounts with the bank are entitled to interest rate for their deposits with the bank, said the announcement.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/165941

-- Thai PBS 2016-06-03

[ukrules]

I guess the prospect of losing all of their customers in a very short period of time made them use their brains for once.

[AlexRRR]

No bank in Aussie land would reverse a decision, there made it a privilege for you to deposit with them.

[elgordo38]

Wow .125. Bangkok Bank gives me .50. I was wondering how long this will last. Its the old race to the bottom and I imagine they are all flush with cash as they are tightening their loan lending practices and people are overloaded with debt. The Military bank does give 1.6% though for a savings account that you do not touch. Seems like the best game in town. Is it??

[JohnDodd]

There will be more of this Bank's screwing saver's worldwide in the near future.

[kotsak]

This coming week my fixed deposit savings are due with a 3% interest p.a. I don't think I'll see that percentage offer any time soon

[otherstuff1957]

The customers think the they are being treated unfairly by the bank??

Just wait until the era of negative interest and a cashless economy arrive!!

The complaining customers will look back and wish they they had that zero interest back!

[novo58]

at zero interest ...................why put money in a bank at all .

Take it out and keep it under the mattress ..................that way also the govt has no idea of how much you have.

Just put it back 3 months before extension to stay is due for re-newal.

[wabothai]

weasels !!

[bangkapi]

It isn't the Thai Bankers fault. Don't blame them.

The entire world's financial system is holding on by a fine thread. (And actually has broken down in some countries such as Venezuela)

This is why consumer interest rates are testing uncharted negative rate waters.

The main problem is the fractional reserve debt based paper currency system we are forced to use by the central bankers who own almost every countries' leaders.

Even the baht you have in your pocket is brought into existence and printed by the profiteer owners of the Thai Central Bank, some of whom are the same people who own the right to print the British Pound and the US Dollar.

People need to wake up to end the globalist system of serfdom and endless global wars based on the social engineering brought on by the central banker currency conjurers.

We all need sound currencies that are backed by more than debt.

[elgordo38]

There will be more of this Bank's screwing saver's worldwide in the near future.

Amen brother we are getting shafted left and right. Big pension schemes in the US have to cut benefits in half or go broke. If you want to watch screwing on a large scale watch the new movie "Money Monster"

[elgordo38]

at zero interest ...................why put money in a bank at all .

Take it out and keep it under the mattress ..................that way also the govt has no idea of how much you have.

Just put it back 3 months before extension to stay is due for re-newal.

I think we just saw Emperoress Yellen laid bare with no clothes. All this dovish hawkish Fed speak turned out to be so much BS. The paltry job figure bumped gold $30 an ounce from the git go. I only do gold today nothing else. I watched my gold investments pop during the first 10 minutes after the market opened. I was surprised the Dow did not drop 300 or 400 points but I guess the shorts were diving in with both hands to cover before the weekend. The yen is strengthening much to the chagrin of the Japanese government and strengthened more after the dollar dived. Draghi is beating "the economy is improving" drum. Watch the new movie "Money Monster" It kind of gives you a small window perspective of what is happening in the naked greedy world we live in. The following statement made by

Sol Palha, senior financial analyst at Tactical Investor: is the best description of what is happening today.

"We live in a world where the main driving force behind this illusory economic recovery is hot money. Cut this supply and the economic recovery comes to an end. Central bankers are aware of this, and that is why they are embracing negative rates as it’s the only way to maintain this illusion. But, the million dollar question is for how long?" Palha says.

[elgordo38]

It isn't the Thai Bankers fault. Don't blame them.

The entire world's financial system is holding on by a fine thread. (And actually has broken down in some countries such as Venezuela)

This is why consumer interest rates are testing uncharted negative rate waters.

The main problem is the fractional reserve debt based paper currency system we are forced to use by the central bankers who own almost every countries' leaders.

Even the baht you have in your pocket is brought into existence and printed by the profiteer owners of the Thai Central Bank, some of whom are the same people who own the right to print the British Pound and the US Dollar.

People need to wake up to end the globalist system of serfdom and endless global wars based on the social engineering brought on by the central banker currency conjurers.

We all need sound currencies that are backed by more than debt.

You deserve at least one like. Greece and Brazil are on very thin ice. Greece is seeming to look like a terrible day at the race track. Italy Portugal Spain and France are waiting in the wings.

Edited June 4, 2016 by elgordo38

[Pib]

In the announcement, the bank said that the interest rate cutback for savings accounts was intended to bring about the utmost benefits for its customers in the management of their deposits.

However, since there are customers who are not ready yet to accept the bank’s new form of financial management, the bank decided to reverse to the old interest rate for savings accounts which is 0.125 percent.

Yes, yes, receiving a lower interest rate brings the utmost benefits...earning more money on a person's deposit can cause a real problem in the management of your funds....like what to do with all that extra cash earned from a 0.125% interest rate.

In the Bangkok Post yesterday it said that what the TMB meant by new form of financial management for customers was in exchange for earning 0% interest the customers would be exempt for fees for money transfers and payments. Of course if you are the type of person who didn't do bank transfers or payments you were definitely getting boned by not being able to take advantage of those reduced fees and your deposits earning less.

By the way, the Ministry of Finance is the largest TMB shareholder owning 26% of the shares. Wouldn't surprise me that the board member(s) representing the Finance Ministry probably supported the interest rate change up until it blew-up in their face with the public.

The Finance Ministry said the change which got reversed was to help TMB manage their excess liquidity---I think that is banker talk for having too much money in bank reserve not being put to work like for making loans....basically, cash held by a bank above the usual requirement for that bank. Ah, bankster talk hurts my head.

[elgordo38]

In the announcement, the bank said that the interest rate cutback for savings accounts was intended to bring about the utmost benefits for its customers in the management of their deposits.

However, since there are customers who are not ready yet to accept the bank’s new form of financial management, the bank decided to reverse to the old interest rate for savings accounts which is 0.125 percent.

Yes, yes, receiving a lower interest rate brings the utmost benefits...earning more money on a person's deposit can cause a real problem in the management of your funds....like what to do with all that extra cash earned from a 0.125% interest rate.

In the Bangkok Post yesterday it said that what the TMB meant by new form of financial management for customers was in exchange for earning 0% interest the customers would be exempt for fees for money transfers and payments. Of course if you are the type of person who didn't do bank transfers or payments you were definitely getting boned by not being able to take advantage of those reduced fees and your deposits earning less.

By the way, the Ministry of Finance is the largest TMB shareholder owning 26% of the shares. Wouldn't surprise me that the board member(s) representing the Finance Ministry probably supported the interest rate change up until it blew-up in their face with the public.

The Finance Ministry said the change which got reversed was to help TMB manage their excess liquidity---I think that is banker talk for having too much money in bank reserve not being put to work like for making loans....basically, cash held by a bank above the usual requirement for that bank. Ah, bankster talk hurts my head.

They have excess liquidity because their lending requirements have tightened up and also people are financially tapped out. The economy at present is not one conducive to putting money to work. Its one where you nick the savers interest rates and cut out all of the fat in the system. The next phase is either up or down I am betting on down.

[elgordo38]

In the announcement, the bank said that the interest rate cutback for savings accounts was intended to bring about the utmost benefits for its customers in the management of their deposits.

However, since there are customers who are not ready yet to accept the bank’s new form of financial management, the bank decided to reverse to the old interest rate for savings accounts which is 0.125 percent.

Yes, yes, receiving a lower interest rate brings the utmost benefits...earning more money on a person's deposit can cause a real problem in the management of your funds....like what to do with all that extra cash earned from a 0.125% interest rate.

In the Bangkok Post yesterday it said that what the TMB meant by new form of financial management for customers was in exchange for earning 0% interest the customers would be exempt for fees for money transfers and payments. Of course if you are the type of person who didn't do bank transfers or payments you were definitely getting boned by not being able to take advantage of those reduced fees and your deposits earning less.

By the way, the Ministry of Finance is the largest TMB shareholder owning 26% of the shares. Wouldn't surprise me that the board member(s) representing the Finance Ministry probably supported the interest rate change up until it blew-up in their face with the public.

The Finance Ministry said the change which got reversed was to help TMB manage their excess liquidity---I think that is banker talk for having too much money in bank reserve not being put to work like for making loans....basically, cash held by a bank above the usual requirement for that bank. Ah, bankster talk hurts my head.

Banksters at work proceed with caution.

[worgeordie]

Wow .125. Bangkok Bank gives me .50. I was wondering how long this will last. Its the old race to the bottom and I imagine they are all flush with cash as they are tightening their loan lending practices and people are overloaded with debt. The Military bank does give 1.6% though for a savings account that you do not touch. Seems like the best game in town. Is it??

Islamic Bank is giving 2.5 %,if you dare put your money there,massive bad debts,

When I first came here I could get up to 18% interest on 3 months fixed,cash

was king,at the end of every 3 months,i used to hawk my money around to get

the best rates,you always got to see the Manager,and maybe .50-1% more than

the advertised rates.that was the good times.

Then after the bubble burst,moved the money into property,as the interest rates

began to freefall, (to what we have today),now the Banks are not interested in

your money,all the rates are the same (shit).

It seems to me the only people that benefit from rock bottom rates are people,or

countries that are in debt,people who work hard,manage their assets,save,are

given the shit end of the stick,because interest rates don't even cover inflation.

and it does not look like it's going to move into positive area anytime soon.

regards worgeordie

[bazza40]

Has anyone tried Ratesetter.com? Peer-to-peer lending, interest rates go from low to high depending on length of term.

[elgordo38]

Wow .125. Bangkok Bank gives me .50. I was wondering how long this will last. Its the old race to the bottom and I imagine they are all flush with cash as they are tightening their loan lending practices and people are overloaded with debt. The Military bank does give 1.6% though for a savings account that you do not touch. Seems like the best game in town. Is it??

Islamic Bank is giving 2.5 %,if you dare put your money there,massive bad debts,

When I first came here I could get up to 18% interest on 3 months fixed,cash

was king,at the end of every 3 months,i used to hawk my money around to get

the best rates,you always got to see the Manager,and maybe .50-1% more than

the advertised rates.that was the good times.

Then after the bubble burst,moved the money into property,as the interest rates

began to freefall, (to what we have today),now the Banks are not interested in

your money,all the rates are the same (shit).

It seems to me the only people that benefit from rock bottom rates are people,or

countries that are in debt,people who work hard,manage their assets,save,are

given the shit end of the stick,because interest rates don't even cover inflation.

and it does not look like it's going to move into positive area anytime soon.

regards worgeordie

Your as close to the truth as it gets. Everything about them governments, banks, politicians, Wall Street is a pack of lies, inflation rates cost of living you name it its all a lie. Yellen yesterday was finally caught with her pants down and naked. The 38,000 job creation is just the beginning of the iceberg to show people truly just how bad things are. Its the looking glass of the trouble to come. She and her ilk with all their Fed double talk/speak dovish one day hawkish the next have finally been exposed. They can now wrap up all this rate increase double talk crap they have spouted and throw it into the dustbin of history of failed policies. I was rather shocked when the Dow didn't tank. Should be an interesting week coming up.

Edited June 4, 2016 by elgordo38

[Asiantravel]

The customers think the they are being treated unfairly by the bank??

Just wait until the era of negative interest and a cashless economy arrive!!

The complaining customers will look back and wish they they had that zero interest back!

agreed the thin end of the wedge.

It's already arrived at the Singapore branch of Bank Julius Baer

Julius Baer's Singapore branch to impose negative interest rates on some deposits

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/julius-baers-singapore-branch-to-impose-negative-interest-rates-on-some-deposits

[JaseTheBass]

Wow .125. Bangkok Bank gives me .50. I was wondering how long this will last. Its the old race to the bottom and I imagine they are all flush with cash as they are tightening their loan lending practices and people are overloaded with debt. The Military bank does give 1.6% though for a savings account that you do not touch. Seems like the best game in town. Is it??

I get around 2% (they vary from when the account was started) with a Kasikorn fixed deposit account.

Note that this is 2% on the total after depositing 5k to 25k a month for 2 years.

I have a few of these as it ensures I don't waste all my money on stuff I don't really need. It's all good until after 2 years I have a lump of around 650k burning a hole in my pocket.

[elgordo38]

Wow .125. Bangkok Bank gives me .50. I was wondering how long this will last. Its the old race to the bottom and I imagine they are all flush with cash as they are tightening their loan lending practices and people are overloaded with debt. The Military bank does give 1.6% though for a savings account that you do not touch. Seems like the best game in town. Is it??

I get around 2% (they vary from when the account was started) with a Kasikorn fixed deposit account.

Note that this is 2% on the total after depositing 5k to 25k a month for 2 years.

I have a few of these as it ensures I don't waste all my money on stuff I don't really need. It's all good until after 2 years I have a lump of around 650k burning a hole in my pocket.

Is the 2% current? If so PM me I would like to diversify away from the TMB and I just have money coming in this week. Sometimes looking at the current situation I wonder if this is wise. The baht and the SET are strengthening daily but that is no guarantee of anything

[JaseTheBass]

Wow .125. Bangkok Bank gives me .50. I was wondering how long this will last. Its the old race to the bottom and I imagine they are all flush with cash as they are tightening their loan lending practices and people are overloaded with debt. The Military bank does give 1.6% though for a savings account that you do not touch. Seems like the best game in town. Is it??

I get around 2% (they vary from when the account was started) with a Kasikorn fixed deposit account.

Note that this is 2% on the total after depositing 5k to 25k a month for 2 years.

I have a few of these as it ensures I don't waste all my money on stuff I don't really need. It's all good until after 2 years I have a lump of around 650k burning a hole in my pocket.

Is the 2% current? If so PM me I would like to diversify away from the TMB and I just have money coming in this week. Sometimes looking at the current situation I wonder if this is wise. The baht and the SET are strengthening daily but that is no guarantee of anything

It's been just over or just under 2% for the last 4 or 5 years. I think Americans get a lower rate because of their meddling govt.

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/Personal/BankAccounts/Fixed/Pages/TaweesupSpecialFixedDeposit.aspx

[MissAndry]

First Direct Regular Savers account in the UK gives 4% interest.

You are limited to saving a maximum of 300gbp/month.

At the end of the year they pay all the savings and interest into your normal account.

[fletchsmile]

I get around 2% (they vary from when the account was started) with a Kasikorn fixed deposit account.

Note that this is 2% on the total after depositing 5k to 25k a month for 2 years.

I have a few of these as it ensures I don't waste all my money on stuff I don't really need. It's all good until after 2 years I have a lump of around 650k burning a hole in my pocket.

Sorry to be on thread a little TMB have one of those as well. Similar to Kasikorn but with a bit more interest, via an extra bonus of 0.5% p.a. on the first 6 months.

Called a "Dream Savings Account". Deposit from 500 baht to 25k a month. 2.5% interest p.a. on first 6 months and 2% p.a. after that. You can transfer back to a normal account at any time free of charge and without penalty. (should you want to take advantage of their 0% or 0.125% interest rates on the transactional deposit accounts that is).

Dream Savings Account can also be opened on line. Reasonable account for regular savings of small amounts with decent relative interest rate.

This is part of what TMB should have communicated to account holders much better to avoid their recent bad press.

i.e they'd introduced accounts with little or no fees - but these also pay very little interest. The no/very little interest got highlighted but not the fees element of why you'd use it. On the other hand their higher interest rate accounts like No Fixed, ME, Dream Savings pay some of the best rates in the Thai market, as elgordo mentioned

So an educated consumer could use TMB's no interest no fee accounts for day to day transactions (where other banks charge fees of say 20 baht a time e.g. transfers etc). This would save money overall for people with low balances that incur fees. For example: The difference in interest between 0% and 0.5% on say THB 10,000 is 50 baht a year which would easily be paid for by savings on a couple of transactions fees avoided.

On the other hand for larger amounts/ real savings you could stick it in their "higher interest" accounts like ME and No Fixed and get 1.8% and 1.4% including bonuses. Up to 2.5% on small amounts in Dream Saver regular savings. Then use internet banking to move your money between them all.

Unfortunately for TMB the way they did presented it, the focus has been on the headline grabbing 0%

Also doesn't help rates the world over are poor for us savers, have been for the last few years, and looks set to be that way for the next few. Does mean though people need to be a bit more savvy in which accounts they choose and how they use them if they want to maximise what they get.

Edited June 7, 2016 by fletchsmile

[elgordo38]

It isn't the Thai Bankers fault. Don't blame them.

The entire world's financial system is holding on by a fine thread. (And actually has broken down in some countries such as Venezuela)

This is why consumer interest rates are testing uncharted negative rate waters.

The main problem is the fractional reserve debt based paper currency system we are forced to use by the central bankers who own almost every countries' leaders.

Even the baht you have in your pocket is brought into existence and printed by the profiteer owners of the Thai Central Bank, some of whom are the same people who own the right to print the British Pound and the US Dollar.

People need to wake up to end the globalist system of serfdom and endless global wars based on the social engineering brought on by the central banker currency conjurers.

We all need sound currencies that are backed by more than debt.

You deserve at least one like. Greece and Brazil are on very thin ice. Greece is seeming to look like a terrible day at the race track. Italy Portugal Spain and France are waiting in the wings.

Thanks Wanderer 555 with the sad state of affairs in the world it truly amazes me that the stock markets around the world go up up up ever higher. Something is rotten in Denmark