Ak Bars Bank raises My Choice deposit rate to 13.7%

The best rate applies to a 121-day deposit and is available only to pensioners and salary clients who also have the bank’s “Premium” subscription, with those customers getting a 1 percentage point bonus over the base rate. Ak Bars says the deposit can be opened for amounts from 10,000 rubles to 15 million rubles, with terms of three, four, six months or one year; it does not allow early withdrawal, top-ups or automatic rollover.

The pricing comes as the broader market for savings remains competitive. Traditional deposit rates are generally below 8% in some markets, but institutions are still pushing higher offers to defend funding bases, a sign that savers are willing to move money toward the richest short-term yields.

For investors, higher deposit pricing can be a double-edged sword: it supports liquidity and deposit growth, but it can also squeeze net interest margins if lending rates do not reprice as quickly. The dynamic is especially relevant for Russian banks trying to balance customer acquisition with profitability as the rate environment shifts.

With the bank not disclosing how much new money it expects from the product, the key watchpoint is whether other lenders match the offer or leave Ak Bars to absorb the funding cost alone. The next round of deposit repricing across the sector will show how long banks are willing to keep paying up for retail cash.