Deposit Pricing

At the highest level, the deposits manager’s core business problem is managing an efficient value exchange with deposits customers over time. This value exchange between banks and deposits customers isn’t one of customers simply placing incremental savings within deposits products in exchange for rate; the bank’s deposits businesses play deeper, more nuanced roles depending on the conditions surrounding why customers save. Deposits managers’ use of value levers such as rate should be aligned with the reasons savings flow in and out of their portfolios, otherwise they are using rate to solve a problem that doesn’t revolve around financial value. When viewed across many customers in a deposit portfolio or market, the reasons for shifts in savings behaviors may be linked to broader macroeconomic conditions affecting saving behaviors, with different elements of the macroeconomy potentially having distinct roles on saving.

Amid the current macroeconomic global uncertainty and margin pressure, banks remained locked in intense battles for deposits growth and balance sheet stability. Combinations of rate offers in liquid and short-term products, cash offers for relationship deepening, and bundling across retail offerings were the traditional explicit levers employed, with banks experiencing varying degrees of success with their chosen levers. With this new backdrop as margin pressures tighten and become less certain, how should banks’ value exchange with customers evolve?
To help answer this question, FICO commissioned a survey of deposits customers in Canada and the US to learn more about customer savings behavior.