Flexi Fixed Deposits

True to its name, a Flexi fixed deposit is a special kind of deposit offering flexibility and convenience to customers. Traditionally, it’s a combination of a fixed deposit and a savings or recurring deposit account, ensuring users avail of the benefits of both the high returns of fixed deposits and liquidity of savings accounts.

In Flexi fixed deposit, the depositor must manually add money to their deposit account for the desired tenure.

Features and Benefits of Flexible Fixed Deposits

Flexi fixed deposits are packed with multiple features and offer various benefits to account holders. Some of them are

Flexible Tenures: Every bank has a different tenure for the Flexi Fixed Deposit Scheme, ensuring you get a better tenure that suits your financial requirements.

Attractive Interest: Such a fixed deposit scheme lets you earn higher interest rates than savings accounts, allowing you to earn more interest through their money.

Premature Withdrawal: Many banks let their customers withdraw money from Flexi Fixed Deposit accounts before maturity. However, this is subject to individual policies in place.

Investment Amount: Individuals can choose the amount they wish to deposit, with distinct banks allowing different deposit amounts.

Hassle-free Account Opening Process: The process of opening a Flexi Fixed Deposit account is simple and hassle-free. Most banks pursue a quick and transparent procedure.

Loan Facility: Account holders can typically obtain a loan against the Flexi Fixed Deposits, subject to banks' policies.

Auto-renewal: Usually, banks permit auto-renewal of Flexi Fixed Deposit accounts to ensure that the account holder doesn’t have to worry about its renewal.

How are Flexi Fixed Deposits Different from Normal Fixed Deposits?

Flexi Fixed Deposits provide specific advantages over normal fixed deposits. This is mainly due to the liquidity and flexibility they render. In a normal fixed deposit, an individual usually deposits a certain amount of money for a specific period, with this amount earning fixed interest.

Moreover, you aren’t allowed to withdraw this amount before maturity. Therefore, in emergencies, it may appear as a problem.

Flexi Fixed Deposits, on the contrary, help overcome this issue by letting account holders withdraw a certain amount of money, which could be from their current or savings account. This money is combined with a fixed deposit in Flexi FDs.

Difference between Flexi Fixed Deposits and Regular Fixed Deposits

While both Flexi and Regular Fixed Deposits are kinds of Fixed Deposits, they differ from each other on a few grounds, as mentioned below:

Distinct Goals: While both schemes let you save money for a period ranging between 3 years to 20 years, their objectives differ. In a Flexi deposit, you can choose a tenure based on convenience from one month to 15 months or more.

You deposit a significant sum of money for a longer term in a regular deposit. Still, in a Flexi deposit, you deposit a short amount every month, which eventually converts into a considerable sum upon maturity.

Tax Benefits: You don’t get any tax benefits with Flexi fixed deposits.

On the contrary, you can avail of tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act on a long-term fixed deposit of about five years or more.

Loan Facility: Flexi Fixed Deposits or Short-Term Fixed Deposits don’t offer any loan facility. However, with regular fixed deposits of a five-year tenure or more, you can obtain a loan against your deposit. You can get a loan of up to 90% of the fixed deposit amount. However, such a facility isn’t provided under Flexi deposits.

Differences in Interest Rates: Fixed Deposits with a more extended tenure yield higher returns than the Flexi Fixed Deposits.

Withdrawal Facility: With Flexi fixed deposits, you can withdraw your money any time you want. You will receive the credit within 24 working hours of the request. However, when you opt for a Regular fixed deposit, you don’t get this flexibility. You can withdraw the amount only when it matures, or you can’t claim any tax benefits on your fixed deposit.

List of Banks Offering Flexi Fixed Deposit Schemes

Given below are the names of some banks offering Flexi Fixed Deposit Schemes:

Banks	Scheme Names	Features	Interest Rate	Penalty	Additional Benefits
HDFC Bank	Super Saver	Minimum amount: ₹ 25,000	15 to 29 days = 3.5%		●     Phone Banking ●     Free ATM ●     Net Banking
IDBI Bank	Sweep in Savings Account	Minimum amount: ₹ 50,000	15 to 29 days = 3.75%	No penalty	●     Nominal locker charges ●     Sunday banking ●     Quarterly interest calculated
Corporation Bank	Corp Classic	Minimum amount: ₹ 10,000. Amts above ₹ 10,000 gets automatically transferred to fixed deposit in multiples of ₹ 1000	15 to 20 days = 4.25% 20 days to 6 months = 5% 6 months to 1 year = 5.75% 1 year to 3 years = 6% 5 years & above = 6.25%	₹ 25	●     No premature penalty ●     Free debit card ●     Lowest interest rate on loans ●     Personal accident benefit of ₹ 1 lakh
Bank of Baroda	Super Savings Account	Minimum amount in metros: ₹ 25000 Minimum amount in urban areas: ₹ 15000	15 to 29 days = 4.75% go up to 4.75%	₹ 150 in case minimum balance is not maintained. A service charge of ₹ 500 if an account is closed before a year	●     Free personal accident cover up to ₹ 2 lakh ●     Quarterly payment of interest ●     Immediate credit of outstation cheques up to ₹ 25000 ●     Free unlimited cheque book facility ●     Free standing instructions ●     25% discount on Demat charges ●     Free transfer of funds to any of its branch ●     Concessions on locker charges ●     Free credit card
Bank of Rajasthan	Flexi Fixed Deposit	Minimum amount: ₹ 5000	15 to 29 days = 4.75% 29 days to 3 months = 5% 3 to 6 months = 5.5% six months to 1 year = 6% 1 to 3 years = 6.25%	None	None
Union Bank of India	Union Flexi Deposit	Minimum deposit: ₹ 5000. Any amount over and above in multiples of ₹ 1000 will be transferred to a fixed deposit	15 to 45 days = 4.25% p.a.	Penalty of ₹ 25 if the amount is below the minimum balance	●     Free credit card for those with min balance of ₹ 1 lakh, ●     No premature penalty ●     Rollover of deposit on maturity ●     Free ATM card in certain cities
ICICI Bank	Flexi Fixed Deposit	Minimum deposit: ₹ 15000	15 to 45 days = 3.50% p.a.	If the amount goes below min ₹ 750 + service tax of 10.2%. Six transactions will be free. After the 6th, charges of ₹ 25 plus service tax. After three branch transactions & non-maintenance of the minimum balance of ₹ 50 + service tax.	Net Banking, ATM Banking, Tele Banking, Phone Banking
Jammu and Kashmir Bank	Flexi Deposit Scheme	Minimum amount: ₹ 5000.	91 to 175 days = 5%   5 to 10 years = 6.25%	-	●     Anywhere banking ●     ATM Card ●     Tele Banking
South Indian Bank	SIB Flexi Deposit	Minimum amount: ₹1000. Amt transferred in multiples of ₹ 1000	15 to 45 days = 4% 3 years and above = 6.75%	-	ATM facility
Bank of Punjab	BOP Flexi Fixed Deposit	Minimum amount: ₹ 10,000	7 to 14 days = 3.75% p.a. five years and above = 6.25%p.a.	Penalty of 1 % in case the amount is withdrawn before 30 days	Special discount on auto loans and consumer loans

Conclusion

Flexi fixed deposits is one of the most preferred types of fixed deposits because of the features it covers. It offers you the flexibility of withdrawing your money anytime you need it. You just need to wait for 24 working hours for the funds to be credited into your account. Besides, Flexi Fixed Deposits accounts are easy to open and have flexible tenures, attractive interest rates, and premature withdrawal. Moreover, this scheme also features an auto-renewal facility, so you don’t have to worry about its renewal. Altogether, it’s an excellent scheme for those willing to earn interest rates for whatever tenure they want.