As the year-end “customer acquisition season” approaches in mainland China, the previously popular 3-year and 5-year fixed-term deposit products are quietly disappearing from the market. Recently, several small and medium-sized banks have successively canceled, removed, and even sold out their 5-year fixed-term deposit products, prompting widespread attention from depositors. This collective action highlights the significant cost pressures that banks are facing in the current financial environment.
The wave of withdrawal of long-term deposit products covers various levels including rural banks, private banks, and national commercial banks.
In early November, the Tu Right Banner Mengyin Rural Bank announced on its WeChat public account that it would adjust the RMB fixed-term deposit interest rates starting from November 5, 2025, officially canceling the 5-year fixed-term deposit product. This is the first commercial bank in the industry to publicly announce the cancellation of this term product.
According to reports from the First Financial, although many rural banks have not issued announcements, they have also “quietly removed” the 5-year deposit products. For example, after adjusting the deposit interest rates on November 3, the Kundulun Mengyin Rural Bank no longer displays the 5-year product on its official website; and the Hubei Jingmen Rural Commercial Bank did not provide the 5-year special deposit product “Fuman Cun” when it lowered rates on November 12.
Among private banks, incomplete statistics show that 7 banks have removed the 5-year fixed deposit, including Bank of Kunlun, Bank of Internet Business, Bank of Suzhou, Zhongguancun Bank, Yilink Bank, Huarui Bank, and Xin’an Bank. Among them, Zhongguancun Bank, Yilink Bank, and Bank of Suzhou even simultaneously removed the 3-year term products.
In addition, although Blue Ocean Bank and Huatong Bank still display 5-year deposit products, they are already “sold out.”
At the same time, in the nationwide commercial banking system, large-denomination 5-year time deposits have almost disappeared.
Reports mention that checking the online channels of 6 state-owned major banks and several joint-stock banks, no entry for the sale of large-denomination 5-year time deposits can be found. Some city commercial banks categorize them as “limited sales products” exclusively for new customers or private banking customers.
It is widely believed within the industry that the fundamental reason for the collective removal of 5-year term deposits by banks is the continued narrowing of the net interest margin (NIM).
Data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) shows that in the second quarter of 2025, the net interest margin of commercial banks was 1.42%, a decrease of 0.01 percentage points from the first quarter and a 0.1 percentage point decrease from the beginning of the year. This figure has been declining for several years in a row, approaching the low levels of the past decade.
Ai Yawen, senior analyst at Rong360 Digital Technology Research Institute, analyzed that at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, some banks had phased out their 5-year term deposits, and this trend has become more pronounced in the latter half of this year. Especially during the peak season for customer acquisition at the year-end, banks are finding it increasingly challenging to strike a balance between “customer deposit attraction” and “cost control.”