If you want to make the most of the high interest rates which prevail in the current market, you may consider locking some of your savings into fixed deposits. Meanwhile, equity markets are declining on foreign investors’ selling spree, and Nifty50 is already 8 percent down from its all-time high.
So, relying on fixed income instruments is not a bad idea in the current scheme of things. Here, we list out the highest interest rates offered by the top banks across tenures. Some banks offer their highest interest on 2-3 year tenure whereas others give high rates on long-tenure term deposits.
(Source: Banks’ websites)
As we can see in the table above, HDFC Bank offers its highest interest of 7.4 percent to general citizens when the tenure is anywhere between 4 years 7 months to 55 months. Senior citizens are offered an extra 50 basis points as per the rates which were announced on July 24 this year.
ICICI Bank’s highest interest of 7.25 percent is offered on a tenure between 15 to 18 months. Senior citizens, meanwhile, are entitled to receive an extra 50 basis points. At the same time, Kotak Mahindra Bank offers the highest rate of 7.4 percent (7.9 percent for senior citizens) on 390-391 day tenure as per the rate card announced on June 14 this year.
Federal Bank offers 7.4 and 7.9 percent (for senior citizens) as the highest interest rates on two tenures — 777 days and 50 months. These rates came into force on October 16.
State lenders
State Bank of India (SBI) offers 7 percent (7.5 per cent for senior citizens) on 2-3 year tenure as per the latest rates which came into force on June 15. Another state lender Bank of Baroda offers 7.15 percent (7.65 percent for senior citizens) on 2-3 year fixed deposit according to the rates which came into force on October 14.
Union Bank of India offers relatively higher interest rate of 7.4 percent (and 7.9 percent for senior citizens) on 333-day tenure as per the rate chart announced on August 2, 2024.