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The story
Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui, and Mizuho — Japan’s three megabanks — have announced they will raise their ordinary savings interest rate from 0.4% to 0.5% per year, effective November 2. The move comes as the Bank of Japan’s policy rate has climbed to 1.25%. On 5ch, the news drew sarcastic remarks like “even with 100 million yen deposited, after tax you’re only looking at a few million yen,” grumbling over the gap between the policy rate and deposit rates, and nostalgic reminiscing about the high interest rates of the bubble era. Many also argued that people should move their money into individual JGBs or NISA accounts, turning what started as a simple rate-hike report into a broader debate.
September 18, 2026, 7:11 PM, Kyodo News
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, and Mizuho Bank — Japan’s three megabanks — announced on the 18th that they will raise their ordinary savings interest rate from the current 0.4% to 0.5% per year. All three will apply the change from November 2.
Source: 47news.jp / Original article here
What people said
No way that's true
20.315% tax, though
Didn't get much of a bite, huh (´・ω・｀)
Currency exchange, in this day and age? lol
Don't tell me you still use cash?
Just buy the 10-year variable-rate JGB for individuals
Does that mean the other half just disappears into their pocket?
That's the banks' famous "skimming" (nakanuki — taking a cut off the top)
US banks only pay 0.01% on ordinary savings, you know?
Exactly, banks are raking it in
while charging way more % when they lend
If ordinary deposits are 0.5%, time deposits should be 1% for a year, you jerks
Enough with the one-year-only bait campaigns lol
Rakuten's MRF is better
Apparently from the 20th you'll be able to buy stocks directly from your MRF balance (MRF = money reserve fund)
Inflation's at 2%, so that's a 1.5% real loss
just makes banks richer
prices sure aren't going to drop because of it
Are the people yelling "raise rates, raise rates"
bank employees or something?
Maybe it'll at least put a brake on rising real estate prices?
Well if prices dropped while rates stayed below inflation, that'd be backwards and scary lol
So the yen's going to weaken from here?
But it's got nothing to do with you guys since you have no savings lol!
Everyone on Newsplus claims to have a 100-million-yen balance (self-reported, obviously)
Going with savings instead
Trade stocks and the stress makes you go bald
Stick with time deposits and keep a full head of hair
When you've got about 25 million invested, there are days three months' salary swings in a single day, lol lol 🤣🤣🤣
Even though my annual salary is 2 million yen lol
Hope they hurry up with that
Would be even happier if they allowed US bonds too
Current inflation rate is 1.9%.
Conversely, a low-interest loan shrinks in real terms too.
People with mortgages made the right call
Buying bonds gets you a better rate, but
the thing is you're stuck if you suddenly need cash
Apparently some places offered 8%
My mom said she made more off that than from working part-time
Background and Key Points of This Story
The Bank of Japan has been raising interest rates in stages in recent years, pushing the policy rate up to 1.25%. Even so, city banks’ ordinary savings rates remain at just 0.5%, prompting questions on the thread about where the difference with the policy rate disappears to. This gap exists because banks maintain a margin between their funding costs and lending rates — the policy rate isn’t simply passed straight through to deposit rates, a point that’s often misunderstood. It’s also easy to overlook that interest is subject to a flat 20.315% withholding tax, so the stated rate doesn’t translate directly into take-home earnings. On the thread, many argued it would be more advantageous to move money into individual JGBs, NISA accounts, or foreign-currency MMFs, and opinion was split between viewing this rate hike as a drop in the bucket and seeing it as better than nothing.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Newsplus) thread “[Breaking] 3 Megabanks Raise Ordinary Savings Rate to 0.5%.”
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