Enter your deposit amount, rate, and tenure. See exactly how much interest your FD earns and what you walk away with at maturity.
An FD sounds simple enough: you put money in, it earns interest, you get it back with a profit. But between compounding frequencies, quarterly vs monthly payouts, and different tenure options, the final numbers vary more than most people expect. This Fixed Deposit calculator does the math for you. Enter your deposit, the rate your bank is offering, how long you are locking in, and the payout frequency. You get the maturity amount, total interest, and a year-by-year breakdown.
You deposit a lump sum with a bank for a fixed period. The bank locks in your interest rate from day one. It does not change during the tenure regardless of what happens to interest rates in the market. At the end of the tenure, you get your principal back along with all the interest earned. The appeal of FDs is straightforward: you know exactly what you will receive before you even open the account.
A few things you get from running your numbers here:
The formula changes slightly based on how often interest compounds:
Compound Interest (used for quarterly, monthly payouts):
A = P × (1 + r/n)n×t
Simple Interest (used when interest pays only at maturity):
A = P × (1 + r×t)
What each variable means:
Worth knowing: This calculator gives you an estimate based on the inputs you enter. Actual returns vary by bank, deposit size, and whether senior citizen rates apply. TDS of 10% gets deducted if your annual FD interest across a bank crosses Rs.40,000 (Rs.50,000 for senior citizens). Submit Form 15G or 15H to your bank if your total income is below the taxable limit.
You give a bank a fixed amount of money for a fixed period at a fixed rate. The rate does not move. The bank does not renegotiate it. And at the end of the tenure, you get your principal back with interest on top. DICGC insures bank FDs up to Rs.5 lakh per depositor per bank, so even in the unlikely event a bank runs into trouble, your money up to that limit is covered. It is one of the few genuinely no-surprise investments available in India.
Bank FDs covered under DICGC insurance are protected up to Rs.5 lakh per depositor per bank. If a bank were to fail, that amount comes back to you. Beyond Rs.5 lakh, the risk is real, though bank failures in India are rare. If you have a large sum, splitting it across two or three banks keeps more of your money under the insurance cover. NBFC FDs are not covered by DICGC and carry slightly more risk, though they often offer 0.5 to 1% higher rates in exchange. For large NBFC deposits, check the credit rating of the issuer before committing.
Breaking an FD early is allowed at most banks, but it costs you. The bank applies a penalty of 0.5% to 1% below the contracted rate on the period you actually held the deposit. So if the rate was 7% and the penalty is 0.5%, you effectively earned 6.5% for the period you stayed in. Some banks let you do partial withdrawals instead of breaking the whole FD, which is worth asking about. One hard exception: tax-saving FDs with the 5-year lock-in under Section 80C cannot be broken before maturity, full stop.
Most banks let you open an FD for as little as Rs.1,000. A few accept Rs.500 or even Rs.100. There is no standard upper limit, though some banks treat bulk deposits above Rs.2 crore as a separate category with its own rate card, sometimes lower than regular retail rates. If you are investing a large amount, it is worth confirming the applicable rate directly with your branch before assuming the advertised rate applies.
Every rupee of FD interest gets added to your total income and taxed at your slab rate. If you are in the 30% bracket, your FD effectively earns a third less than the headline rate suggests. Banks cut TDS at 10% when your annual interest from that bank crosses Rs.40,000 (Rs.50,000 if you are a senior citizen). TDS does not mean your tax is done. You still declare the interest in your ITR and pay any additional tax if your slab rate is above 10%. If your income is below the taxable threshold, submit Form 15G to avoid TDS altogether. Senior citizens use Form 15H.
A cumulative FD reinvests the interest rather than paying it out. Your interest earns more interest, and you get the full amount, principal plus all accumulated interest, at maturity. This gives higher total returns compared to non-cumulative. A non-cumulative FD pays interest at intervals you choose: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly. The payout goes straight to your linked account, giving you a regular cash flow. If you do not need the money during the tenure, cumulative works better. If you are a retiree or someone who relies on the deposit for monthly expenses, non-cumulative makes more practical sense.
Most banks give senior citizens an additional 0.25% to 0.75% over the standard rate. A few banks extend an even higher rate to depositors above 80, calling them super senior citizens. On a Rs.10 lakh deposit at 7.5% instead of the standard 7%, that extra 0.5% adds roughly Rs.5,000 per year in interest. Across a 5-year FD, it compounds to a meaningful difference. If you or a family member qualifies, always ask specifically about the senior citizen rate before opening an FD at the standard rate.
If you need money urgently, breaking your FD is not your only option. Most banks will lend you up to 90 to 95% of your FD value as an overdraft or loan, at an interest rate that is typically 1 to 2% above your FD rate. Your FD keeps earning interest on the full amount while the loan is outstanding. At maturity, the bank settles the loan automatically from the proceeds. This approach works well for short-term cash needs because the net cost, the difference between loan rate and FD rate, is only 1 to 2%, which is much lower than a personal loan rate.
A tax-saving FD under Section 80C lets you claim a deduction of up to Rs.1.5 lakh in a financial year. The deposit locks in for exactly 5 years with no option to break it early, regardless of your situation. The tax benefit applies only to the principal invested, not to the interest. The interest gets added to your income every year and taxed at your slab rate, same as a regular FD. So a 30% tax payer in the 7% FD bracket effectively earns closer to 4.9% post-tax on the interest portion. Still, the Section 80C deduction on the principal makes it worthwhile compared to other 80C options if you are comfortable locking in for 5 years.
Monthly compounding edges out quarterly compounding because you earn interest on interest a little sooner each cycle. The actual difference is smaller than most people expect. On Rs.1 lakh at 7% for 3 years, monthly compounding gives you roughly Rs.150 to Rs.200 more than quarterly. Over 10 years and larger amounts, the gap widens but is still not dramatic. If your goal is to maximize the final corpus, pick monthly compounding where available and always go cumulative rather than taking periodic payouts.
Banks handle maturity differently, and not knowing your bank's policy costs some depositors money. Many banks auto-renew the FD for the same tenure at whatever rate is current on that day, which could differ from what you originally locked in. Others simply credit the maturity amount to your savings account. The safest approach is to give explicit instructions at least a week before maturity: either renew at a specific tenure, or transfer the funds to your account. If your FD auto-renewed at a rate you did not intend, you break it immediately, though a small penalty applies for the brief period after renewal.
