FD Calculator
Estimate the maturity amount of a cumulative Fixed Deposit. Works for bank FDs at SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak and others. Picks up quarterly compounding by default, which is the Indian bank standard. Updated for FY26.
Default for almost every Indian bank (SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak).
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Year-by-year balance growth
Each bar shows the running balance at end of one year. Hover or tap to see the principal/interest split. Compounding makes the emerald portion grow faster than principal.
Year-by-year projection +
| Year | Opening | Interest earned | Closing |
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What is a Fixed Deposit?
A Fixed Deposit is the safest, most predictable savings product in the Indian banking system. You hand over a lump sum to a bank for a fixed period, and the bank promises a specific rate of interest over that period. The rate gets locked at the time of booking and does not change even if RBI revises the repo rate later. SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak and every other scheduled commercial bank offers FDs. Small finance banks (Suryoday, Equitas, Ujjivan) and NBFCs (Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Mahindra Finance) usually offer 0.5% to 1.5% higher rates because their default risk is also higher.
The two big knobs are tenure and compounding frequency. Tenure ranges from 7 days to 10 years; most retail FDs are 1 to 5 years. Compounding frequency is quarterly on almost every bank FD (the RBI master direction on deposits does not mandate this but the industry has converged on it), monthly on a few NBFC schemes, half-yearly on some old PSU bank products, yearly on post office time deposits.
How FD maturity is calculated
The compound interest formula handles every case:
Maturity = P × (1 + r/c)^(c × y)
Where:
- P is the principal (the lump sum you deposit)
- r is the annual interest rate as a decimal (7% becomes 0.07)
- c is the number of compounding periods per year
- y is the tenure in years
Quarterly compounding means interest gets added to the balance every three months and the next quarter's interest is computed on the larger balance. That recursive growth is what makes the maturity slightly higher than what simple interest would give. The effective annual yield in the output card above tells you the equivalent single-shot annual rate that would produce the same maturity, which makes it easier to compare FDs that compound at different frequencies.
Worked example
You deposit ₹1,00,000 at HDFC Bank for 5 years at 7% annual interest with quarterly compounding. Run the math.
r/c is 0.07 / 4 = 0.0175. c × y is 20. The factor (1.0175)^20 works out to about 1.41478. Multiply by ₹1,00,000 and the maturity is ₹1,41,478. Interest earned is ₹41,478. Effective annual yield is about 7.19%, not 7%, because the quarterly compounding adds an extra 0.19% over the year.
Now change the compounding frequency to monthly while keeping the rate at 7%. Maturity rises to about ₹1,41,763, only ₹285 more. Monthly versus quarterly does not move the needle much at this scale. Where compounding frequency matters is on very large deposits over very long tenures, like a ₹50 lakh FD for 10 years where the gap can be ₹15,000-₹20,000.
Common mistakes to avoid
The biggest mistake is comparing FDs only on the headline rate. A 7.50% NBFC FD looks better than a 7% PSU bank FD until you remember the bank deposit is DICGC-insured up to ₹5 lakh and the NBFC one is not. For amounts above ₹5 lakh, splitting across multiple banks gives full insurance cover. For NBFC FDs, check the CRISIL or ICRA rating and stick to AAA names; the extra 50-100 bps is rarely worth taking unrated paper. For longer 15-year horizons, also pencil out the same money in PPF at 7.1% tax-free, which usually beats an 8% FD on a post-tax basis for anyone in the 20% slab or above.
Forgetting Form 15G or 15H is the second most common slip-up. Banks deduct TDS whenever interest crosses the threshold, even if the depositor's total income is below taxable. Filing the form at branch counter or via netbanking at the start of the financial year stops the deduction. Pensioners and homemakers lose money on this every year because they don't realize it's optional.
Don't use tax-saver FDs by default for Section 80C. The 5-year lock-in is absolute, you cannot break or borrow against it. ELSS mutual funds also qualify for 80C, have only a 3-year lock-in, and have averaged double-digit returns over 10-year windows; the SIP calculator at a 12% return assumption will give you a back-of-envelope on what that ₹1.5 lakh annual commitment looks like over a decade. Tax-saver FDs make sense only for very risk-averse savers in their 60s and beyond, and only in the old tax regime where 80C still works.
Last one, breaking an FD just before maturity. Some retirees do this in October to fund Diwali expenses on a December-maturing FD and lose roughly two months of interest plus the penalty. Almost every bank now offers an overdraft against FD at 1-2% above the FD rate; for a 60-day gap that's far cheaper than breaking the deposit.
Glossary +
- Fixed Deposit (FD)
- A deposit with a bank or NBFC for a fixed tenure at a pre-agreed rate. Returns are guaranteed by the issuer.
- Maturity amount
- The total amount you receive at the end of the tenure, including principal plus accumulated interest.
- Compounding frequency
- How often interest is added back to the principal. Indian banks default to quarterly compounding for FDs.
- Effective annual yield
- The true annualized return after compounding is accounted for. Always higher than the nominal rate when compounded more than once a year.
- Cumulative FD
- Interest is reinvested and paid out only at maturity as a single lump sum.
- Non-cumulative FD
- Interest is paid out periodically (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly). Used for regular income.
- TDS
- Tax Deducted at Source. Banks deduct 10% TDS on interest above ₹40,000 (₹50,000 for seniors) per bank per year under Section 194A.
- DICGC
- Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation. Insures bank deposits up to ₹5,00,000 per depositor per bank.
- Tax-saver FD
- A 5-year FD eligible for the ₹1.5 lakh deduction under Section 80C, old tax regime only. Has a 5-year lock-in.
- Premature withdrawal
- Breaking the FD before maturity. Banks reduce the applicable rate by 0.5% to 1% as penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Fixed Deposit? +
A Fixed Deposit is a savings instrument where you park a lump sum with a bank or NBFC for a fixed tenure at a pre-agreed interest rate. SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak and almost every Indian bank offers them. The bank pays you interest either at maturity (cumulative FD) or at regular intervals like quarterly or monthly (non-cumulative).
How is FD interest calculated? +
Maturity amount = P × (1 + r/c)^(c × y), where P is your deposit, r is the annual rate as a decimal, c is the number of compounding periods per year (4 for quarterly, the Indian bank default), and y is the tenure in years. For ₹1,00,000 at 7% quarterly compounded for 5 years, maturity comes to about ₹1,41,478, of which ₹41,478 is interest.
Quarterly vs monthly vs yearly compounding, which one applies? +
Most Indian banks compound FD interest quarterly. That's the default in this calculator. Some bank schemes, post office time deposits and a few NBFC corporate FDs use other frequencies. More frequent compounding gives a slightly higher maturity. The gap is small, around ₹300-₹500 per lakh per year between yearly and monthly compounding, but it does add up on large deposits over long tenures. Confirm the frequency on the FD application form before signing.
What is TDS on FD interest? +
Banks deduct TDS at 10% if your total interest from that bank across all FDs in a financial year crosses ₹40,000 (₹50,000 for senior citizens), under Section 194A. TDS becomes 20% if you have not submitted your PAN. To avoid TDS when your total income is below the taxable limit, submit Form 15G (under 60) or Form 15H (60 and above) at the start of the financial year. TDS is just upfront tax, it does not reduce your tax liability and any excess gets refunded at ITR filing.
Are senior citizens entitled to a higher FD rate? +
Yes. Most banks offer 0.25% to 0.50% extra on FDs for residents aged 60 and above, and several have special schemes like SBI WeCare or HDFC Senior Citizen Care FD that add another 0.10% to 0.25% on top. Use the senior-citizen rate when you plug numbers into the calculator. The TDS exemption threshold is also higher at ₹50,000 versus ₹40,000.
How is FD interest taxed? +
Interest from a regular FD is added to your taxable income and taxed at your slab rate. Unlike equity mutual funds, FDs have no LTCG benefit, no indexation and no separate rate. Someone in the 30% slab effectively earns about 4.9% post-tax on a 7% pre-tax FD (after the 4% cess). This is why most high-income earners shift to debt mutual funds or arbitrage funds for any horizon over 3 years, even though debt mutual funds bought after 1-April-2023 are also slab-taxed under Section 50AA.
What is a tax-saver FD? +
A 5-year FD that qualifies for the ₹1,50,000 deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, but only in the old tax regime. The catch is the 5-year lock-in. You cannot break the FD, take a loan against it, or use it as collateral during the lock-in. Banks pay slightly lower rates on tax-saver FDs than on equivalent-tenure regular FDs. ELSS mutual funds are usually a better 80C choice for anyone under 60 because of the 3-year lock-in and equity upside.
Can I break the FD before maturity? +
Yes, except tax-saver FDs and a few specific schemes. Banks charge a premature-withdrawal penalty of 0.5% to 1% on the applicable rate. The interest you actually earn is calculated at the rate that would have applied for the actual period you held the FD, minus the penalty. Often this means you end up with much less than the headline rate. Avoid breaking FDs by laddering instead, that is splitting one big FD into several smaller ones with different maturity dates so you have liquidity every few months.
Are FDs safe? +
Bank FDs in India are insured up to ₹5,00,000 per depositor per bank by the DICGC (Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBI. The cover applies across savings, current, RD and FD accounts combined, not separately. NBFC fixed deposits are not covered by DICGC; rely on the CRISIL or ICRA rating of the NBFC and stick to AAA-rated names if you go that route.
Cumulative or non-cumulative, which should I pick? +
Cumulative FD reinvests the interest, so you get a single lump sum at maturity. Best for goal-based saving where you don't need the income today. Non-cumulative pays out interest monthly, quarterly or yearly and is what most retirees use to fund regular expenses. The headline rate is the same but cumulative ends up paying slightly more because the interim payouts in non-cumulative don't compound. This calculator is for the cumulative variant.
References & sources
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