Credit Suisse offers higher deposit rates in Asia in order to attract wealthier customers.
Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) is providing higher deposit rates than its competitors to attract fresh funds from wealthy Asian clients, according to people familiar with the situation, as the troubled private bank strives to stem withdrawals and prevent its bankers from leaving.
The Swiss bank is giving a 6.5% annual interest rate on new three-month deposits of at least $5 million, according to three unnamed persons with knowledge of the situation who were not authorised to speak to the media.
Credit Suisse is also offering rates for one-year deposits that go as high as 7%.
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“The banking industry has raised rates in response to global rate hikes, and Credit Suisse is fully committed to giving our clients innovative advice and competitive solutions,” a representative from Credit Suisse said.
According to two individuals and a senior wealth manager, the offers are 100 to 200 basis points higher than those of big competitors in the region, such as JPMorgan (JPM.N), UBS (UBSG.S), and Citi Group (C.N).
Citi and UBS both refused to comment. JPMorgan did not reply to demands for comment immediately.
One of the two sources said that the new deposit rates are higher than Credit Suisse’s lending rates in Asia. This makes people wonder if the company can handle such an imbalance in its financing.
A third source says that the offers are only good for new cash deposits and don’t apply to portfolios that are already set up.
The wealth division of Credit Suisse saw its total assets decline to 540.5 billion Swiss francs ($575 billion) at the end of 2017 from 742.6 billion francs a year earlier due to worse-than-anticipated 92.7 billion franc outflows in the fourth quarter.