Since March this year, several small and medium-sized banks such as Heilongjiang Friendship Rural Commercial Bank, Nanjing Pukou Jingfa Rural Bank, and Shanghai Huarui Bank have lowered their deposit interest rates. After this adjustment, the deposit interest rates of some small and medium-sized banks have entered the "1" prefix, and the interest rates of fixed deposits of all maturities are below 2%. Industry insiders say that the intensive reduction of deposit interest rates by small and medium-sized banks seems to be a change in interest rate figures, but behind it reflects a profound transformation in the development concept of China's banking industry. From "competing for interest rates and scale" to "controlling costs and improving efficiency", small and medium-sized banks are transforming towards reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and building a distinctive service system. Experts suggest that small and medium-sized banks should leverage their local advantages to gain a deeper understanding of regional industrial structure, business operations, and residents' financial needs, in order to provide customers with more accurate financial services. Several small and medium-sized banks have lowered their deposit interest rates as March approaches, including products such as demand deposits and time deposits. For example, Nanjing Pukou Jingfa Rural Bank announced that starting from March 2nd, the bank's three-year and five-year deposit interest rates for units and individuals will be adjusted from 2.2% to 1.88%. Shanghai Songjiang Fuming Rural Bank recently announced that from March 1st, the one-year fixed deposit interest rate of the bank will be adjusted to 1.85%; Starting from March 10th, the bank will adjust the seven day notice deposit interest rate to 1.30%. Shanghai Songjiang Fuming Rural Bank once lowered its deposit interest rate at the end of December 2025. Compared before and after, the adjustment in March this year lowered the one-year fixed deposit interest rate of the bank by 5 basis points from 1.90% to 1.85%; The seven day notice deposit interest rate has been reduced by 25 basis points from 1.55% to 1.30%. In addition, Heilongjiang Friendship Rural Commercial Bank, Yunnan Shiping Beiyin Rural Commercial Bank, Shanghai Huarui Bank and other rural commercial banks, rural banks, and private banks all lowered deposit interest rates in March. After adjustment, the fixed deposit interest rates of some banks for various maturities are all below 2%. For example, Heilongjiang Friendship Rural Commercial Bank will adjust the interest rates for current deposits, three-year and five-year fixed deposits from March 1st. After adjustment, the one-year, two-year, three-year, and five-year fixed deposit interest rates of the bank are 1.40%, 1.50%, 1.75%, and 1.60%, respectively. Industry insiders say that the competitive logic of the banking industry is undergoing fundamental changes. Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, believes that with the rapid development of financial technology and the deepening of digital transformation, the "popularity and geographical" advantages that small and medium-sized banks have long relied on are rapidly weakening. The original mission of small and medium-sized banks is to serve the local economy, small and medium-sized enterprises, and urban and rural residents. Small and medium-sized banks must abandon the impulse of blind expansion and cross-border operations, focus on the local market, and deeply cultivate segmented fields. ”Zeng Gang believed that the core of the differentiated development of small and medium-sized banks lies in differentiated competition, and the key to differentiation lies in identifying their own comparative advantages and building a unique service system. Zeng Gang stated that small and medium-sized banks should strengthen their customer-centric business philosophy and establish more flexible and efficient decision-making mechanisms and service processes. In product design, local industry characteristics should be combined to develop financial products with regional features; In terms of business model, we should explore the integration of "online+offline" service model, which not only strengthens digital construction and enhances online service capabilities, but also leverages the advantage of network proximity to customers to provide warm offline services. (New Society)