Several banks raise FD rates in December, offer up to 8% interest

A slew of banks have raised the interest rates on fixed deposits in December. On Monday, Kotak Mahindra Bank raised fixed deposit (FD) interest rates by up to 85 basis points. Kotak Mahindra customers can now earn up to 7.80 per cent on senior citizen FDs with tenures ranging from 23 months to two years.

The announcement followed the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision last week to maintain the key repo rate at 6.5 per cent for the fifth consecutive time. Anticipating the continued repo rate pause, several banks, including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of India, and others, had already revised their FD rates earlier this month. Here's a glimpse of the updated rates from these banks:

ICICI Bank 

ICICI Bank has revised FD rates for deposits ranging from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore, with effect from December 13, 2023. The updated rates range from a minimum of 4.75 per cent for a tenure of seven to 14 days to 7.25 per cent for a period spanning from 390 days to 15 months. Here are the FD rates offered by ICICI Bank as of now: 

ICICI Bank website

HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank has also revised the interest rates for fixed deposits (FDs) exceeding Rs 5 crore effective December 13. The bank's FD rates range from 4.75 per cent for a tenure of seven to 14 days to 7.30 per cent for one year to 15 months. The latest update is for FDs exceeding Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore, the interest now stands at 7.30 per cent from 7.35 per cent earlier. 

HDFC Bank website

Kotak Mahindra Bank

On December 11, Kotak Mahindra Bank increased interest rates on FDs below Rs 2 crore by up to 85 basis points. FD rates for regular customers have also been raised by 50 basis points across various tenures. Senior citizens can now earn up to 7.80 per cent for tenures ranging from 23 months to two years. Regular customers investing less than Rs 2 crore will get 7.25 per cent interest for FDs with tenures of 23 months one day to less than two years

Kotak Mahindra Bank website

Bank on India

Bank of India was the first lender to raise the interest rate on FDs in December. The Bank revised its FD rates for domestic customers with deposits from Rs 2 crore and above to less than Rs 10 crore effective December 1, 2023. 

With this revision, the bank is now offering up to 7.25 per cent interest for a tenure of one year.

Bank of India website

Federal Bank 

Federal Bank also reviewed its deposit rates, now offering a 7.50 per cent rate for a 500-day tenure applicable to both resident and non-resident deposits. Senior citizens are offered an even more attractive rate of 8.15 per cent. 

Federal Bank website

DCB Bank

DCB Bank has also increased FD interest rates for deposits below Rs 2 crore. The bank is now offering the highest FD interest rate of 8 per cent on regular deposits and 8.60 per cent for senior citizens with a tenure of 25 months to 26 months after the revision effective December 13.

DCB Bank website

Currently, many small finance banks are offering FD interest as high as nine per cent while private and public banks are
offering FDs in the range of 7-7.5 per cent. Leading the pack is Unity Small Finance Bank, offering an interest rate of 9.5 per cent to senior citizens for a fixed deposit for 1001 days as of December 6, 2023. 

Here is a look at current FD interest rates offered by small finance banks complied by Paisabazaar as of December 6, 2023: