Recently, private banks have frequently announced interest rate cuts. On [specific date], Xishang Bank lowered the interest rates on several mobile bank deposit products, reducing the one-year, two-year, three-year, and five-year fixed deposit rates to .%, .%, .%, and .%, respectively. The two-year and three-year deposit rates were the main focus of this adjustment. Previously, the bank's three-year deposit rate was as high as .%.

Zhongguancun Bank announced on a certain date that it would lower its two-year deposit interest rate to .% starting from a specified date. Currently, the bank's one-year deposit interest rate stands at .%. Xin'an Bank adjusted the interest rates for savings deposit products available on its mobile banking app, mini-program, and official account starting from a certain date. Among the changes, the three-year deposit rate was reduced from .% to .%. Sanxiang Bank also cut its five-year deposit interest rate from .% to .% effective from a certain date. After the adjustment, the three-year and five-year deposit rates are now the same, both at .%.

Additionally, according to insiders at SuShang Bank, the bank will also lower its deposit interest rates starting from the end of this month, though an official announcement has yet to be made. Statistics show that since the beginning of this month, at least several private banks have either reduced or are in the process of reducing their deposit rates. Notably, most of the banks adjusting their rates downward in this round were previously seen by depositors as high-interest banks. After these adjustments, Huatong Bank's three-year fixed deposit is the only one left offering an interest rate that can reach up to .%.

In the context of generally declining interest rates, a group of depositors known as "deposit commandos" are actively seeking out "high-interest deposit" products across different cities for cross-city deposits. For a long time, private banks have been the favorite among these "deposit commandos." However, since last year, private banks have begun to accelerate the reduction of deposit rates, and the interest rate gap with other types of small and medium-sized banks is gradually narrowing.

According to the recent disclosure by the National Financial Regulatory Administration on the main indicators of commercial banks by institution type, the average net interest margin of private banks at the end of each quarter last year was .%, .%, .%, and .%, showing a rapid downward trend, but still significantly higher than the overall level of commercial banks.

Xue Hongyan, Deputy Director of the Star Map Financial Research Institute, analyzed that a higher interest rate spread corresponds to a "high in, high out" pricing strategy. As overall market interest rates decline, private banks have attracted a large influx of funds due to their deposit rate advantages, but this has also brought challenges in loan distribution. With weak financing demand from the real economy and rising risks in consumer loans and micro loans, private banks face difficulties in finding quality borrowers. Therefore, following industry trends and lowering deposit rates has become a way to alleviate loan pressure.

On [Month] [Day], the People's Bank of China authorized the National Interbank Funding Center to announce the latest Loan Prime Rate (LPR), which has remained unchanged for [number] consecutive months since its decline in [Year] [Month]. Industry insiders predict that the window for interest rate cuts may open around the end of the first quarter, and with the LPR's further decline, a new wave of widespread deposit rate reductions is on the way.