Banks raise deposit rates as stock rally accelerates cash exodus

A woman surnamed Park in her 60s living in Seoul's Yangcheon District closed two time deposit accounts worth a combined 50 million won ($33,000) last month and invested the money in shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Korea's two chipmaking giants. "I've never really been into stocks and usually stick to safer savings products," she said. "But lately, everyone around me has been talking about making money in the stock market, so I decided to close the deposit accounts I had opened just a few months earlier at KakaoBank and NH NongHyup Bank." She added, "Stock prices have been a little volatile recently, but I still think the returns will be much higher than deposit interest rates, so I don't regret the decision." An office worker in her 30s surnamed Choi also recently canceled an installment savings account at KakaoBank to invest in stocks. "I had been automatically putting 500,000 won into the account every month, but with rates in the low-3 percent range, there's little to gain after taxes," Choi said. "I thought I'd rather put the money into stocks instead." Park and Choi are a