Time deposits at South Korea’s five largest commercial banks reached 1,010.3722 trillion won (about $729.5 billion) as of the 17th, extending their monthly growth streak to four months. The balance rose 5.1403 trillion won from the end of the previous month after deposits surged by 35.5401 trillion won in July and pushed above 1,000 trillion won for the first time. Higher rates are driving the shift: the Bank of Korea’s base rate stands at 3.00%, while major banks offer one-year deposit rates as high as 3.89% including preferential terms. A time deposit (fixed-term bank savings account) offers a return without principal-loss risk, helping attract money that had flowed into equities during the stock-market boom. Analysts say the migration could accelerate if rates continue rising. KB Securities analyst Ryu Jin-yi estimates that about 84.7 trillion won ($61.2 billion) could move into short-term savings deposits if their share of household cash and deposits returns to 2022 levels. The Bank of Korea has already raised rates by 0.25 percentage points at both its July and August Monetary Policy Board meetings, and expectations for additional increases have grown after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first rate hike in more than three years.