FD Rates at 5 Big Banks: Are You Getting 7.1%?

SBI, HDFC, ICICI, PNB, and Bank of Baroda are all offering FD rates up to 7.1%, especially for senior citizens. If your money is sitting in a savings account, you could be leaving thousands of rupees on the table every year.

Here's what happened: Five major banks — SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, PNB, and Bank of Baroda — are currently offering fixed deposit rates ranging from around 6.5% to 7.1% per annum depending on tenure.. Senior citizens typically receive an additional 0.25% to 0.50% over the regular rate, pushing their effective returns even higher on the same deposit amount.. Rates vary significantly by tenure — the highest rates are usually offered on specific tenures like 1–3 years, not on the shortest or longest lock-in periods..

What you should do: Compare the exact tenure-wise FD rates on each bank's official website before booking — the difference between tenures can be as high as 0.75% on your returns.. If you or a family member is a senior citizen, ask specifically for the senior citizen FD rate — you are legally entitled to the higher rate and must request it at booking.. Avoid auto-renewing old FDs without checking current rates — banks renew at the prevailing rate on renewal date, which may be lower than what new customers are being offered today..

Ladder your FDs across 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year tenures instead of locking everything into one. This gives you liquidity every year while still capturing higher long-term rates.