Deposits linked to Central Bank key rate will appear on market

Since August last year, wealthy clients have sought to diversify their ruble assets by placing funds in instruments with fixed and variable returns. The latter allows Russians to receive a predictable income despite fluctuations in market conditions, which makes them especially in demand in the current conditions.

“Against the backdrop of tightening monetary policy, we note interest in defensive strategies based on financial instruments with yields tied to the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. For qualified investors, we already offer three-year bonds with a floating monthly coupon. And now we are going to expand our line of savings products. Considering that the key rate remained high in February, we decided to launch it on the market very shortly. The conditions for a floater deposit best meet the preferences of wealthy clients: flexibility of terms, set of options, and interest payment scheme. Subsequently, this product will become available to all depositors, allowing them to preserve and increase savings even in changing economic realities,” said Dmitry Breitenbikher.

Deposits linked to the key rate for individuals have existed in Russia for a long time but remain a niche product - most often, they appear in the banks’ lineups when the key rate is high. Vedomosti wrote about this in November 2023 regarding Alexey Voylukov, vice-president of the Association of Banks of Russia.

This, however, “is not about social contributions for people with low incomes, which the authorities have been talking about for the last few years - the new product is currently being offered only to a limited circle of wealthy clients in the Private segment.” Medium-sized banks such as St. Petersburg and Novikombank have similar deposits for all categories of clients, as well as smaller players such as SDM Bank and Kuban Credit.

For citizens, the benefit from floating deposits is obvious - the need to transfer money at new rates is reduced, experts noted, and besides, the rate on such deposits is usually slightly higher than on those for which it is fixed.