State Bank of India (SBI) has extended the last date for opening an account under SBI WeCare, a special fixed deposit (FD) scheme for senior citizens till September 30, 2022. SBI offers an attractive interest rate for investments made by senior citizens under the SBI WeCare scheme. On the official website, the state-owned lender noted that the SBI Wecare Deposit was introduced for Senior Citizens in the Retail TD segment. Under the scheme, higher interest rates has been offered to the senior citizens due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
‘We care’, SBI’s special FD for those aged 60 and above offers an additional 80 basis points (1 per cent =100 basis points) interest rate on deposits for a tenor of 5 years. For example, senior citizens can avail of an interest rate of 6.30 per cent on five years fixed deposit scheme under SBI WeCare, when the interest rate for the general public 5.50 per cent.
‘WECARE’ Older Citizens’ Scheme Interest Rates for Senior Citizens (effective from February 15, 2022)
7 days to 45 days – 3.40 per cent
46 days to 179 days – 4. 40 per cent
180 days to 210 days – 4.90 per cent
211 days to less than 1 year – 4.90 per cent
1 year to less than 2 years – 5.60 per cent
2 years to less than 3 years – 5.70 per cent
3 years to less than 5 years – 5.95 per cent
5 years and up to 10 years – 6.30 per cent
Eligibility for the Plan
Going by the bank’s website, only resident senior citizens aged 60 years and above can make a deposit in this scheme. The scheme is a domestic term deposit, therefore NRI senior citizens are not eligible to invest in the scheme.
Although keeping money in a plain vanilla bank Fixed Deposit (FD) is akin to losing money given the current low-interest rate and high inflation scenario, it still is the best bet if security is the only concern of investors, especially senior citizens and other risk-averse groups.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, several banks launched special FD schemes for senior citizens which provide higher than prevailing interest rate to those above aged 60 and above.
Here’s a look at how the interest rates of the State Bank of India (SBI) compare to that of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
ICICI Bank special FD for senior citizens
ICICI Bank which has extended its Golden Years special FD for seniors till March 31, 2022, offers 80 basis points higher than prevalent interest rates. The scheme offers 6.30 percent interest rates on deposits for senior citizens.
HDFC Bank Special FD for senior citizens
HDFC Older Citizen Care is a special FD scheme offered by HDFC Bank for senior citizens. On these deposits, the bank gives a 75 basis point higher interest rate. The interest rate on a fixed deposit made by a senior citizen under the HDFC Bank Senior Citizen Care FD would be 6.25 per cent.
Should you invest?
If a senior citizen is looking for reasonable return as well as safety of his/her principal money, then there are other options as well that are offering a higher interest rate as compared to these special FDs.
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