Conservative investors can avail an option of earning a higher interest on term deposits if they keep the money locked for slightly longer duration. Although most banks offer interest at the rate of 5.5-6.5 percent on their term deposits, there are some specific deposit schemes which give interest at a higher rate. Some of these schemes include the following:
1. Bank of India’s super 777 deposit: This scheme allows depositors to earn an interest of 7.75 percent per annum on a scheme for 777 days. This means if you deposit the money for a period of 777 days, you are entitled to earn an annualised interest of 7.75 percent per annum.
2. IDBI Bank: Just as Bank of India, IDBI Bank also offers 7.5 percent per annum on its term deposits of 700-day tenor. This means the depositors who keep their deposits locked for a 700-day period are entitled to earn an interest of 7.5 per annum.
3. Bandhan Bank: Even Bandhan Bank also offers a similarly high interest-yielding scheme offering 7.5% on 600-day deposit. This means the depositors are entitled to earn an income of 7.5 percent per annum on deposits of 600-day tenor.
| Bank | Interest (%) | Tenor (days) |
| Bank of India | 7.75 | 775 |
| IDBI Bank | 7.5 | 700 |
| Bandhan Bank | 7.5 | 600 |
For specific tenor only
It is interesting to note that these high rates are given only for a specific duration. In case of Bank of India, 7.25 percent is offered on deposits of 777 days. If the deposit is made for a day less or more, the rate of interest offered by the bank will be 5.75 percent per annum, i.e., the rate offered for a time period between two and three years.
Likewise, in case of IDBI Bank, the interest rate for a time period between two and three years is 6.25 percent whereas 7.5 percent is given specifically for 700 days, and 6.5 percent for 555 days.
The same trend is seen in case of Bandhan Bank too. When a deposit is made for 600 days, the rate of interest offered is 7.5 percent. But when the deposit is made for a day less or more, the interest rate would be 7 percent.
Interest rates on a rise
It is worth mentioning that HDFC Bank raised its term deposit interest rates with effect from October 26, 2022. Prior to HDFC Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) also raised interest rates two times in one week.
Other banks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank and Axis Bank also raised their FD rates recently.
Also, ICICI Bank raised interest rates on its term deposit on the last day of September. Now, it offers 6.10 percent, 6.15 percent and 6.20 percent on its one-year, two-year and three-year deposits, respectively.
A number of banks raised fixed deposit (FD) rates in August alone after the banking regulator raised repo rates to 5.4 percent on August 5. These banks were Canara Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, DBS Bank, Fincare SFB and IDBI Bank.
