SBI WeCare FD Scheme Extended Further: Check Details And Interest Rates

The largest public sector bank, State Bank Of India (SBI) initiated the 'We Care' Fixed Deposit (FD) scheme for senior citizens to invest and earn higher interest rates on their term deposits. Launched in May 2020, the FD was available till September 2020, which got several extensions after that.

The earlier extension, before the current one was until September 2023. The scheme is now available on fresh deposits and also on renewal of maturing deposits for tenures ranging from 5 years to 10 years. According to the recent developments, the scheme is extended till 31st March 2024, which means senior citizens can register and avail of this FD facility till the last day of this financial year.

SBI Senior Citizen FD rates:

For SBI senior citizen customers, who have domestic deposits of less than Rs. 2 crores can have 3.5% interest for less than 45 days tenure, whilst, for 46 days to less than a year, the interest applied will be in the range of 5% to 6.25%. Almost 7% to 7.3% will be applicable for deposit tenure between a year to 3 years and 7.5% fixed interest for deposits parked between 5 to 10 years.

The 'WeCare' FD scheme for citizens above the age of 60 years is given a higher interest rate of almost 50 basis points more than the normal FD rate. The SBI website in the WeCare FD section, mentions that the premium interest of 50 bps and additional 50 bps for senior citizen parking funds for 5 years or more, make it almost 1% higher interest rate on these special FD. Account holders can opt for the interest amount to be re-invested in the deposit or receive a payout to another account every quarter.

However, the interest rates for this particular FD scheme range from 3.5% to 7.5% depending on the tenure between 7 days to 10 years. In short, senior citizen can invest their pension funds with the WeCare FD scheme to gain almost 7.5% interest if the funds remain untouched, for more than 5 years and for the full term as mentioned during the FD initiation. An FD that is booked for more than 5 years gets qualified as tax-savings, allowing deductions of almost Rs. 1.5 lakhs as per the 80C deductions.

No additional interest rates will be applied for withdrawals before the maturity period. Only those customers who register under this scheme within the last registration date will be getting the benefits. In addition to this, account holders can apply for loans by attaching these FDs as collateral for their short-term capital needs.

Other fixed deposits offered for senior citizens with some of the highest interest rates are from institutions like Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Post Office and HDFC Bank.