South Korea’s five major banks are intensifying deposit-rate competition as retail investors move funds away from domestic stock accounts amid market volatility and into higher-yielding term deposits. KB Kookmin raised the annual rate on its KB Star Term Deposit to 3.5% for maturities of one year to under two years on September 21, following an increase of up to 0.6 percentage points on September 14. Shinhan, NH Nonghyup, Woori and Hana also raised selected one-year deposit rates, with some preferential products offering up to 3.6%. Combined term-deposit balances at the five banks reached 1,010.3722 trillion Korean won on September 17, up 5.1403 trillion won from end-August. Over roughly the same period, investor deposits held in securities accounts for stock purchases fell from 139.6948 trillion won on June 4 to 97.4938 trillion won on September 17. However, domestic credit transaction loans rose from 28.935 trillion won at end-July to 33.073 trillion won on September 17, indicating that borrowing for stock investment increased even as available cash declined.