Fixed Deposits vs Saving Accounts: Where Are Indians Putting Their Money? RBI Data Reveals Silent Shift To FD

Fixed Deposits vs Saving Accounts: Indians are slowly shifting away from keeping huge amount of money in savings accounts, rather they are opting for fixed deposits. Over the past five years, savings accounts have steadily lost ground, while fixed deposits, backed by higher interest rates, have surged in popularity.

The composition of aggregate deposits has declined in the last five years aggregate deposits have declined from 34.6% in March 22 to 28.7% in March 2026. Contrastingly, the portion of term deposits increased from 55.2% to 61.6% during the period, as per the Reserve Bank of India's latest data.

Fixed Deposits vs Saving Accounts: Why Indians Are Falling Back in Love With FDs?

In compared to saving accounts, more number of Indians are preferring to opt for one, three or five years fixed deposits to keep their contingency fund. Although FDs offer lower interest rates compared to popular investment tools like equities, debt, etc, it is one of the safest measures to park money while earning some interest.

During financial year 2025-26, public sector banks acted as the predominant driver of deposits accretion

During the FY 26, public sector banks acted as the main driving force behind encouraging more Indians to opt for deposits. They accounted for nearly 50.8% of the incremental deposits, followed by private sector banks with a contribution of 38.6 %, as per RBI data. The duration where term deposits regained their footing coincided with banks offering higher interest rates on FDs compared to saving banks account.

Households Remain Major Contributor in FD, NBFCs Share Increases

FDs by household sector remained the key constituent in total deposits in FY 26, however the category saw some moderation in the period. The share of deposits of the household sector moderated to 59.3% as on March 2026. On the other hand, share of deposits held by non-financial sector surged by 18.5% in March 2026 from 17.7% in March 2025. The share of financial corporations also increased in the period from 6.8% to 7.8%.

Fixed Deposits Data: Rs 5 Cr and Above Term Deposits Remain Popular

Within the total term deposits, 'Rs 1 crore and above' size class accounted for 46.3% of the total erm deposits as of March 2026 end.

Contribution under this section increased significantly because of surge in 'Rs 5 crore and above' size-class in FY 26. It accounted for 34.8% of the total FD instrument. Share of short-term deposit (up to Rs 5 lakhs) stood at 17.8%.