Ecobank Cuts SuperSavers Rates as MPR Reset Reaches Nigerian Savers

Ecobank Nigeria has reduced the interest rates it pays on its SuperSavers savings product, with the new rates taking effect on October 16, in the latest sign that the Central Bank of Nigeria's September rate reset is filtering through to depositors faster than to borrowers.

The adjustment covers four deposit tiers. Customers saving between N1 million and N19.99 million will earn 8.00% a year, down from 10.18%. Balances of N20 million to N99.99 million fall to 9.00% from 11.00%. The N100 million to N199.99 million bracket drops to 10.00% from 13.18%, while deposits of N200 million and above ease to 12.00% from 13.18%.

The bank linked the change to the Central Bank of Nigeria's review of the Monetary Policy Rate. The MPC reset the MPR to 23% from 26.5% at its September meeting, the largest single cut on record, and recalibrated the standing facilities corridor to +50/-300 basis points around the new rate. The September meeting was widely read as the start of an easing cycle after two years of tightening.

The arithmetic of the floor

Nigeria's minimum savings rate is pegged at 30% of the MPR. At 26.5%, that floor was 7.95% a year; at 23%, it is 6.90%. Ecobank had already moved its All Savings Account to 6.90% from 7.95% with effect from September 24, and cut its Save-As-You-Spend, MyFirst and Target Savings products from 8.95% to 7.90%.

Stanbic IBTC has said it will reprice every product contractually tied to the MPR downwards, while other lenders have been quieter. One senior official at a large bank said there were no immediate plans to lower loan rates, a split that defines the current transmission: savings repricing is mechanical, loan repricing is optional.

What savers are left with

With inflation around 15% and withholding tax of 10% deducted from interest, a 6.90% savings rate is deeply negative in real terms. On a N2 million balance at the old floor, annual interest falls from roughly N159,000 to N138,000 after the cut, before tax.

The practical response for savers is the same one banks expect: move balances that will not be touched into fixed deposits or higher-yielding instruments, and treat transactional savings as a cost of access rather than a return. Fixed deposits already running keep their agreed rates until maturity, but renewal offers are likely to be lower. Fixed deposits already running keep their agreed rates until maturity, but renewal offers are likely to be lower.

The next reset opportunity comes at the MPC meeting on November 23 and 24. For now, the cut has done more to lower what savers earn than what most borrowers pay, a pattern the CBN's new lending-rate disclosures will be tested against in the coming months.