Standard Chartered Plc is offering short-term deposit rates of as high as 10% as the lender seeks to attract Chinese customers.

Select customers that are part of the Wealth Management Connect programme can exchange yuan to US dollars with funds equivalent to HK$100,000 or more and earn a preferential rate of 10% per annum for a one-month time deposit, according to a statement.

The Hong Kong units of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp, two of the largest state-controlled Chinese banks, in February also offered rates of more than 7% for for one-month time deposits as part of a promotion for wealth connect customers.

Lenders in Hong Kong are ramping up efforts to woo deposits from mainland China and solidify the city’s status as a wealth hub. Since the border reopening last year, mainlanders have been flocking to Hong Kong to open accounts and invest in offshore products including deposits and insurance.

The yuan along with other Asia currencies have been under pressure and China this week reiterated the need to prevent one-sided moves in the yuan.

Hong Kong and Chinese authorities expanded the Wealth Connect programme earlier this year, allowing individual investments to be raised to three million yuan from one million yuan, and making more funds eligible. Under the wealth link, mainland investors in the Greater Bay Area are allowed to move money out of China in a closed loop system.

Standard Chartered is also offering rates as high as 13.8% for time deposits in Hong Kong for flexible tenors of seven or 14 days, according to its website, while HSBC Holdings Plc is offering up to 13.5% per annum for one-week time deposits provided customers exchange currencies.

  - Bloomberg