Toasters and cheap freebies do not cut it anymore for Chinese depositors who find other places besides banks to park their money. One bank in China's capital, Beijing, brought out the big guns in a scramble to sign in more deposits -- a choice between a high-end iPhone or a flashy Mercedes-Benz -- as giveaways.

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Shenzhen-based Ping An Bank started the iPhone promotion in October at a Beijing branch. The bank gives away a 128-gigabyte iPhone 6 Plus as an advance on interests of a CNY38,000 deposit for five years.

For a CNY903,000 placement also for five years, depositors can drive home one of several Mercedes-Benz models. Investors who pick a Mercedes A180, which is worth CNY252,000, can get the equivalent of a yearly return of nearly 7 percent, almost double the state rate of 4 percent on five-year deposits.

Phones and cars are just the tip of the iceberg. Banks are engaging in a competition war with overseas trips, outright cash incentives, sky high interest rates and even fresh vegetables vegetables for opening savings acccounts.

Analysts said the competition is intense because Chinese banks are losing deposits. They noted steps taken to get the business of savers are driving up costs and it is an uphill battle for lenders.

Experts blame bigger returns from Internet savings and investment instruments such as trusts, coupled with the rising prices of stock market shares for the deposit drain in China. Collectively, banks lost about CNY950 billion worth of deposits in ninety days through September, the first since 1999.

From January to November, new savings account were about a fourths lower than in the same period in 2013, based on government data.

The offers keep coming. An Industrial Bank branch in the province of Shanxi is dangling a gold pendant for a 12-month deposit of CNY10,000. In the same place, Beijing-based Citic Bank promises a daily supply fresh of eggs and vegetables for elderly clients during a 21-day promotion for CNY10,000 of deposits.

In the US, savers are usually offered toasters, other household appliances and casserole dishes as an incentive for their business.

TagsChinese banks, iPhone, mercedes benz, incentive, bank deposit, Ping An Bank