Many banks have
stopped mobilizing capital and lending in gold, but they still keep gold for
clients. Some other banks have become more hesitant in mobilizing capital and
considering lowering the interest rates to zero percent.

Eximbank
was one of the first banks which announced the service of keeping gold for
clients, starting from May 4. People, who have the demand for the service, can
leave gold with the bank, at least 0.1 tael of SJC 9999 gold. The bank does not
collect fee for the keeping service, but it also does not pay interest rates to
clients. Those people, who only leave gold at bank overnight, or take back gold
within two days, will have to pay the fee of 1000 dong per tael and 20,000 dong
at least.

Since May
1, Eximbank has completely stopped the capital mobilization in gold by issuing
gold certificates.

The Asia
Commercial Bank (ACB) has also provided the service of keeping gold for
clients, but it collects fee. ACB now charges the fee of 0.05 percent of the
assets’ values, while the minimum fee is 20.000 dong.

Tran Trong
Quoc Khanh, Director of ACB’s Gold
Center said that the new
service should be seen as a good thing. “It would be unsafe for people to keep
gold at home. Therefore, the appearance of the new service could be seen as a
good service,” he said.

Besides, he
thinks that keeping gold for people when banks stop accepting gold deposits is
a good way for banks to know exactly the volumes of gold that people have. This
also serves as the good information source for the State to consider, so as to
use the domestic sources in the most effective way.

At first,
banks can offer preferences to clients by applying the keeping fee at zero
percent. The director stressed that there is a difference between the “keeping
fee at zero percent” and the “fee exemption”. In the former case, banks collect
fee, and the fee at zero percent. It does not mean banks exempt fees. If so,
two scenarios will occur when banks do not want to keep gold for clients any
more: either they will have to refuse to keep gold for people, or they will
impose guarantee fees.

The problem
is that if keeping gold for people, banks will have to build stores and pay
money to ensure security for the people’s assets. Meanwhile, they can use the
sums of money for other purposes.

When asked
if the service of keeping gold would become a tendency, Khanh said this would
still depend on many factors, including the bank’s competition and the
satisfaction of clients.

Meanwhile,
Huynh Buu Son, a well known economist in Vietnam, said keeping gold is not a
new kind of service at all. In the past, commercial banks once leased safes to
clients, so that clients can keep any valuable assets, including gold. Son also
said that this is a kind of popular services which are provided in any country
in the world. In Vietnam,
this would become a growing tendency in the time to come, when the State Bank’s
circular on prohibiting gold mobilization and lending takes effects.

However,
Son also thinks that this may happen that once people cannot deposit gold at
banks, they would not try to keep gold any more, but would sell gold for Vietnam dong to
deposit the dong at banks. Besides, they would prefer keeping gold at home
instead of leaving gold with banks for which they have to pay fee.

ACB is now
paying 0.6-0.7 percent per annum for 11-month term gold deposit certificates
for SJC and ACB gold, respectively. Meanwhile, the lowest interest rates are
0.1-0.15 percent, respectively, applied to one-month term deposit certificates.

Other
banks, such as Dong A, ACB and Viet A have eased the gold deposit interest
rates to 0.1-1 percent per annum since May 5. Meanwhile, Sacombank is now
offering 0.01 percent only for all terms of deposits, applied since late April.

Nguyen Thi
Kim Xuyen, Deputy General Director of Dong A Bank, said that the gold mobilized
at low interest rates can help ensure the liquidity for banks.

Also, in
order to ensure liquidity, some banks have begun purchasing gold from people at
the prices higher than the quoted prices.

Source: VnExpress