Last weekend, savings accounts of 1,905,484 clients of Otbasy Bank (a subsidiary of the Baiterek Holding) received a state bonus. In total, 75 billion tenge was credited to people’s deposits at the end of 2022.
The deposit base at Otbasy Bank is consistently expanding, a testament to the confidence people have in its housing and construction savings system. Over the past three years, this base has surged from 1 trillion tenge to 2.1 trillion tenge, with a record 618,000 new deposits opened last year alone, bringing the total number of savings accounts to 2.5 million.
The state premium payout has also increased. At the end of 2021, 1.7 million depositors received it, totaling 61.7 billion tenge. As mandated by law, the state guarantees payment of these bonuses to bank customers, enabling citizens to save more efficiently and secure housing under favorable conditions.
The ages of savings account holders are diverse. At Otbasy Bank, for instance, 8,716 deposits have been opened for children ranging from newborns to 1-year-olds. The bank also has a depositor who is 96 years old. Additionally, some accounts were opened in 2003, from the bank's inception, and remain active to this day.
Opening deposits for children or elderly parents under the Family Package Program is an effective option because the state premium is applied to each deposit opened for close relatives. Once the necessary funds are accumulated, all accounts can be consolidated to purchase a home through a housing loan.
It is important to note that the state premium is only applied to savings that have not been previously incentivized. In other words, the calculation for the state premium takes into account both savings made in the current year and the balance of savings that may have gone unincentivized in the previous year. If the deposit balance, which is eligible for incentives, exceeded 200 MCI in the previous year, the remaining difference will be considered for the calculation of this year's state premium.
If a depositor holds multiple deposits with the bank, the state premium will only be credited to one of them. If the depositor of Otbasy Bank chooses to withdraw their savings and close a deposit that is less than three years old, the accrued state premium will be returned to the budget.
The maximum state premium at the end of 2022 was 122,520 tenge. As per the law on housing construction savings in Kazakhstan, the premium is only applied to an amount that does not exceed 200 MCI. Last year, this amount was 612,600 tenge.
By the end of 2023, the maximum state premium will be 138,000 tenge. To receive this, an investor must accumulate at least 690,000 tenge (200 MCI) in an Otbasy Bank account. To achieve this, investors need to deposit about 57,000 tenge per month. With the bank's interest and the state's accrued premium, the annual effective rate on deposits with Otbasy Bank can reach 14% annually.
***
Otbasy Bank is the country’s only financial institution that implements the housing construction savings system. It is a member of the European Federation of Construction Savings Banks and the International Housing Finance Union. Otbasy Bank is fully owned by Baiterek National Managing Holding.
