July 16, 2026: a 0.25 Percentage Point Rise
한국은행 (the Bank of Korea) raised the base rate from 2.50% to 2.75% per year on July 16, 2026. It had held 2.50% for fourteen months from May 2025 before changing direction.
The base rate is the reference rate the Bank of Korea uses in transactions with financial institutions. A change there passes through market rates into deposit and lending rates.
With this adjustment the base rate stands at 2.75% per year. It is the first move since May 2025.
Deposit Rates Moved Even While the Base Rate Stood Still
The average one-year time deposit rate on newly handled accounts at commercial banks shows a stretch where the two rates moved apart.
0.42 percentage points
How far the average one-year deposit rate rose while the base rate stayed fixed at 2.50% for six months.
한국은행 Economic Statistics System, on newly handled accounts. The July 2026 average is not yet published.
The base rate was 2.50% for six months straight, and the average time deposit rate rose 0.42 percentage points. Nor does a rise in the base rate mean every deposit rate follows by the same margin. Looking at the disclosed rate on a product you can open now is more accurate than the base rate figure.
The Average Rate and the Rate You Receive Are Different
Reading the average above as the rate on a product you will open goes wrong. The two figures are built differently.
The base rate is the rate 한국은행 applies in transactions with financial institutions. The deposit rate applied to customers is set and disclosed by each bank. The two often move in the same direction, but nothing requires them to move by the same value or the same margin.
The average one-year deposit rate published by 한국은행 is a weighted average. It bundles the rates on deposits newly handled that month across several banks by amount, so differences between banks and between products merge into one figure. An average of 3.26% sits alongside products both above and below it.
The phrase "newly handled accounts" is worth noting too. It gathers rates on deposits contracted that month rather than deposits already held. That is why it serves as a reference for someone opening an account now.
Parking Accounts and Savings Accounts React Differently
A parking account is instant-access. Where the bank changes the rate, the new rate can apply from the date of change. The percentage displayed now is not a structure that holds to maturity.
Ordinary fixed-rate installment savings accounts and time deposits differ. The contracted rate on the opening day carries through to maturity. If market rates fall later your rate stays, and if they rise it stays as well.
So what happens while you wait differs. Money in a parking account earns interest daily in the meantime. A fixed-rate maturity product is set by the rate on the day it was opened, so when you open it changes the amount received.
If You Are Opening One Now
금융감독원 (the Financial Supervisory Service) publishes a combined comparison of bank deposit and savings rates in one place. Figures quoted in articles may be out of date.
Base rates and maximum rates are read separately. A product near the top of a comparison table is sometimes there on a rate that requires meeting conditions. Whether you can meet those conditions changes the real ranking.
Splitting by when the money will be used is another approach. Money you may spend within a few months goes into a parking account such as the two types of 전북은행 씨드모아통장, and money you can lock up for twelve months goes into an installment savings account such as JB 다이렉트적금 or JB슈퍼씨드적금.
Dividing money across several opening dates divides the maturities too, so the whole sum is not tied to the rate on one date. How installment savings interest is calculated is in why the same monthly contribution produces different interest at maturity, and what a parking account actually pays is in parking account interest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current Bank of Korea base rate?
2.75% per year. It rose 0.25 percentage points from 2.50% on July 16, 2026.
Do deposit rates rise immediately when the base rate rises?
Not necessarily. The timing and the margin differ by product and by bank. While the base rate was fixed at 2.50% through the first half of 2026, the average one-year deposit rate moved from 2.84% to 3.26%.
If the average is 3.26%, can I open an account at that rate?
The average bundles deposits newly handled that month across several banks by amount. Depending on the bank and the product it runs both above and below, so the actual terms have to be checked in each bank's disclosure.
Is it better to open a savings account now or wait?
Fixed-rate savings accounts and time deposits carry the opening-day rate through to maturity. On a parking account, where the bank changes the rate, the new rate can apply from the date of change. The direction of rates cannot be settled in advance, so money without a fixed spending date can sit in a parking account while only money that can be left to maturity goes into savings.
Do parking account rates follow the base rate?
Where the bank changes the rate, the new rate can apply from the date of change. The rate at opening does not simply continue, so it is worth checking again after the money is in.
Sources and basis
- 한국은행 base rate — 2.75% per year, adjusted July 16, 2026
- Average one-year time deposit rate — weighted average on newly handled accounts at commercial banks, 한국은행 Economic Statistics System; the July 2026 figure is not yet published
- Product rates are on each bank's disclosure, pre-tax
Rates are subject to change. Please check through the official channel before opening an account.