FD rates up to 9.5%: These 8 banks offer over 9% interest rate on fixed deposits for senior citizens

The fixed deposit (FD) is a popular investment option among many senior citizens. This is because of the safety of principal of the investment, and the option for periodic interest payout, thus ensuring a steady income stream during retirement. Added to this, senior citizens are offered a higher rate of interest rate on FDs compared to those offered on general citizen FDs

Also read: FD interest rate up to 9.25%: These 3 banks have revised fixed deposit rates in March 2024

Here's a look at small finance banks that provide higher interest rates on senior citizen fixed deposits

Senior Citizen Fixed Deposit Rates
Bank Name	Interest Rates (p.a.)
	Highest slab		1-year tenure (%)	3-year tenure (%)	5-year tenure (%)
	%	Tenure
SMALL FINANCE BANKS
AU Small Finance Bank	8.50	18 months	7.25	8.00	7.75
Equitas Small Finance Bank	9.00	444 days	8.70	8.50	7.75
ESAF Small Finance Bank	8.75	2 years to less than 3 years	6.50	7.25	6.75
Fincare Small Finance Bank	9.21	750 days	8.25	8.71	8.60
Jana Small Finance Bank	9.00	365 days	9.00	7.75	7.75
NorthEast Small Finance Bank	9.25	555 days; 1111 days	8.50	8.75	7.00
Suryoday Small Finance Bank	9.25	2 years and 1 month	7.35	9.10	8.75
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank	9.00	15 months	8.75	7.70	7.70
Unity Small Finance Bank	9.50	1001 days	8.35	8.65	8.65
Utkarsh Small Finance Bank	9.10	2 years to 3 years	8.60	9.10	8.10

Source: Paisabazaar.com
Interest rates as of 20th March 2024

Also read: Income tax saving ideas: With 8.2% interest, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) is a better bet to save tax than tax-saver FDs

List of Scheduled Small Finance Banks

1. Au Small Finance Bank Limited
2. Capital Small Finance Bank Limited
3. Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited
4. Suryoday Small Finance Bank Limited
5. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited
6. Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Limited
7. ESAF Small Finance Bank Limited
8. Fincare Small Finance Bank Limited
9. Jana Small Finance Bank Limited
10. North East Small Finance Bank Limited
11. Shivalik Small Finance Bank Limited
12. Unity Small Finance Bank Limited

According to the RBI operating guidelines for Small Finance Banks, “All RBI and BR Act provisions and RBI directions relating to minimum balance, inoperative accounts, unclaimed deposits including transfer of such deposits to the Depositors Education and Awareness Fund maintained by RBI on regular basis, nominations, cheques/drafts, etc., will be applicable to the SFBs.

• Small Finance Banks can issue passbooks for the deposit accounts;
• SFBs should give written/printed proof of the first time deposit, in addition to the electronic confirmation of the deposit;
• SFBs should send statement of accounts once in six months to the registered address free of cost, if passbooks have not been issued;
• SFBs may provide statement of account in paper form on request on chargeable basis or otherwise, if passbooks have not been issued;
• SFBs may provide account information through multiple user friendly modes such as SMS and/or internet banking; and
• SFBs should provide electronic confirmation through SMS/e-mail/printed proof for each account transaction.

(Owing to their business model, small finance banks cannot be kept on par with other scheduled commercial banks. Hence FDs from small finance banks are also not comparable in terms of risk profile to full-service banks. However, when it comes to insurance, do keep in mind that deposits in small finance banks are also insured by the Deposit Insurance Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) to the tune of Rs 5 lakh. Most of the experts advise layman retail investors to keep their exposure limited in FDs of small finance banks so that it is well within DICGC cover of Rs 5 lakh including principal and interest.)