By Sui-Lee Wee and Samuel Shen
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Eight small Chinese banks have raised their one-year deposit rates to the 3.3 percent maximum allowed after China's central bank cut its interest rates and allowed greater deposit flexibility last week.
Bank analysts say the moves are a sign that a fight for savers has begun among Chinese lenders as the economy slides to its slowest growth in nearly a quarter of a century.
The new rates were announced by Bank of Jiangsu [BNKJS.UL], Bank of Nanjing, Bank of Suzhou, Bank of Ningbo, Zijin Agricultural Bank, Ping An Bank, Evergrowing Bank [EGRBK.UL] and the Chaozhou Commercial Bank on their websites on Saturday.
The rates apply to their fixed-term accounts.
Deposits have been falling for China's lenders as competition has increased from online money-market funds.
China's interest rate cut is set to dent the profitability of domestic lenders, especially mid-sized banks, which are already suffering from higher bad loans and a slowdown in profit growth.
(Additional reporting by Clark Li in Beijing and Engen Tham and Samuel Shen in Shanghai; Editing by Jon Boyle)