See what a fixed deposit grows to with quarterly compounding, or what it pays you every month or quarter — at your own rate, or at a bank’s or the Post Office’s current FD rate for your tenure.
Enter how much you’ll deposit and for how long, choose how you want the interest, then use your own rate or pick a bank to use its current FD rate.
Between ₹1,000 and ₹2,00,00,000
Tenure: 1 year (365 days)
Maturity value
₹1,07,186
After 1 year at 7% p.a.
Deposit
₹1,00,000
Total interest
₹7,186
Total value
₹1,07,186
Total
₹1,07,186
Press play or drag the slider to watch your deposit earn interest every quarter, year by year, until it matures.
The day you open the FD
₹0
FD value
Deposit
₹0
Interest
₹0
This year
₹0
You deposit ₹1,00,000 for 1 year at 7% a year. The interest is added to the deposit every quarter, so each quarter’s interest itself earns interest. Press play to pour it in and watch it grow.
| Year | Interest earned | Value at year end |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹7,186 | ₹1,07,186 |
A fixed deposit (FD) is a lump sum you leave with a bank or the Post Office for a fixed tenure at a fixed rate of interest. The rate is locked on the day you open it, so later rate cuts don’t touch it, and there is no market risk: you know on day one exactly what you will get.
Banks offer FDs for anything from 7 days to 10 years, and the rate changes with the tenure — sometimes by the day. The Post Office’s version, the Time Deposit, comes in four fixed tenures: 1, 2, 3 and 5 years.
Every FD lets you choose what happens to the interest:
Banks and the Post Office add a cumulative FD’s interest to the deposit every three months, and from then on that interest earns interest too. So the yearly return is a little higher than the rate: 7.5% compounded quarterly is an effective 7.71% a year, the figure banks quote as the “annualised yield”.
Take ₹1 lakh in a 5-year Post Office Time Deposit at 7.5%. Simple interest would pay ₹37,500. Compounded quarterly it pays ₹44,995, for ₹1,44,995 at maturity: ₹7,495 more, just from the timing of the interest.
Payout FDs don’t get this, because the interest leaves the deposit. If you need a regular income, compare the Post Office MIS and, at 60 or over, the Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme. Saving monthly rather than from a lump sum? Use the RD calculator.
Bank rates are taken from each bank’s official website and updated by hand from time to time. If a bank isn’t listed or the rates can’t be loaded, switch to Custom rate and type the rate yourself — the calculation is the same.
Both are safe, fixed-rate deposits, but the rules differ:
| Bank FD | Post Office Time Deposit | |
|---|---|---|
| Tenure | 7 days to 10 years, any number of days | 1, 2, 3 or 5 years |
| Rate set by | Each bank, and it can change at any time | The Ministry of Finance, reviewed every quarter |
| Senior citizen rate | Usually higher than the general rate | Same rate for everyone |
| Interest | Cumulative, or paid monthly or quarterly | Compounded quarterly, paid out every year |
| Minimum deposit | Often ₹1,000 to ₹10,000, depending on the bank | ₹1,000, then multiples of ₹100 |
| Safety | Deposit insurance (DICGC) up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank | Backed by the Government of India |
| Early closure | Usually allowed, with a penalty on the rate | Allowed after 6 months, at a lower rate |
All four assume a 7% annual rate — an illustration, not any bank’s rate. Use the calculator above for your bank’s current rate.
| FD | Deposit | Total interest | Paid at maturity |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹1,00,000 for 1 year, cumulative | ₹1,00,000 | ₹7,186 | ₹1,07,186 |
| ₹5,00,000 for 3 years, cumulative | ₹5,00,000 | ₹1,15,720 | ₹6,15,720 |
| ₹5,00,000 for 5 years, cumulative | ₹5,00,000 | ₹2,07,389 | ₹7,07,389 |
| ₹5,00,000 for 5 years, monthly payout (₹2,900 a month) | ₹5,00,000 | ₹1,73,985 | ₹5,00,000 |
Compare the last two rows: the same deposit, tenure and rate earn noticeably less as a monthly payout, because paid-out interest no longer compounds inside the FD — and banks discount monthly interest a little.
Most bank FDs can be closed before maturity. The bank then pays the rate that applied to the period you actually stayed, usually minus a penalty of 0.5–1%. Some banks offer non-callable FDs at a slightly higher rate in return for giving up early withdrawal.
A Post Office Time Deposit can’t be closed in the first 6 months. Closed between 6 months and a year, it earns the Post Office savings account rate; after a year, it earns 2% less than the rate for the completed period. If you may need the money early, a shorter FD or a ladder of several FDs is usually better than breaking one.
FD interest is fully taxable. It is added to your income as “income from other sources” and taxed at your slab rate, year by year as it accrues — even on a cumulative FD that pays everything at maturity. The deposit you get back is your own money, so it isn’t taxed.
Banks deduct TDS at 10% only when the interest they pay you on all your deposits with that bank in a financial year crosses ₹50,000, or ₹1 lakh if you are 60 or older. TDS isn’t your final tax: you still owe your slab rate, and any excess comes back as a refund when you file your return.
If your total tax for the year will be nil, give the bank a self-declaration so it doesn’t deduct TDS. From 1 April 2026 this is Form 121, which replaced Form 15G (under 60) and Form 15H (60 and older). In the old regime, senior citizens can deduct up to ₹50,000 of deposit interest under section 153 (the old 80TTB).
A 5-year tax-saver FD, from a bank or as a 5-year Post Office Time Deposit, qualifies for a deduction under section 123 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the old Section 80C) — but only in the old tax regime, and within the overall ₹1.5 lakh limit. It is locked in for the full 5 years, and the interest is still taxable. In the new regime there is no deduction, so an ordinary FD is just as good.
Every three months the interest is added to the deposit and starts earning interest itself.
Only cumulative FDs compound. Payout FDs pay the interest out, so it can’t earn more.
₹5,016 a month at SBI’s 5-year rate of 6.05%.
Choose your bank and a monthly payout in the calculator to see your own figure.
It depends on the tenure and the payout you choose:
See “How the numbers are calculated” below for the formulas.
From each bank’s official website, entered by hand.
Banks can change rates at any time, so always confirm the rate with the bank before you open an FD.
What happens to the interest.
Because you receive it sooner.
At most banks, yes.
Choose Senior citizen under Depositor to use the bank’s senior citizen rate.
1, 2, 3 and 5 years — nothing in between.
If you pick the Post Office with another tenure, the calculator uses the nearest of these four.
Usually, yes, but it costs some interest.
Yes, at your income tax slab rate.
The figures in this calculator are before tax.
FDs carry no market risk.
They suit different needs.
Both are now taxed at your slab rate, so the choice comes down to certainty versus flexibility.
The tenure is counted in days, a year being 365 days and a month 365 ÷ 12 days, rounded. That day count is also what picks the bank’s rate slab.
A cumulative FD of 6 months or more compounds every quarter; any days left after the last full quarter earn simple interest. Shorter FDs earn simple interest. A payout FD pays interest at the end of every period and returns the deposit at maturity; days left after the last full period earn simple interest, paid with the deposit.
In bank mode the rate is the bank’s published FD rate for the slab your tenure falls in, for the depositor type you choose. If the bank doesn’t offer your tenure, the nearest tenure it does offer is used.
Cumulative (6 months or more)
P × (1 + r ÷ 4) ^ q × (1 + r × d ÷ 365), where q = full quarters and d = remaining days
Cumulative (under 6 months)
P × (1 + r × days ÷ 365)
Monthly payout
P × (r ÷ 12) ÷ (1 + r ÷ 12)
Quarterly payout
P × r ÷ 4
Half-yearly / yearly payout
P × ((1 + r ÷ 4) ^ 2 − 1) / P × ((1 + r ÷ 4) ^ 4 − 1)
SIPCafe's calculators and guides are for education and planning only and are not investment, tax or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the assumptions you enter; actual returns vary and are not guaranteed. Consider speaking with a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions. SIPCafe is not a registered investment adviser and does not recommend any specific security, fund or scheme. All investments carry market risk; read a fund's or scheme's official documents carefully before investing.
Rates come from the latest official notification or the bank's own rate page, as shown on this page. The government revises small savings rates every quarter and banks can change theirs at any time, so confirm the current rate with the Post Office or your bank before you invest.
Put your Post Office MIS interest into an RD and ₹9 lakh grows to ₹12.96 lakh in 5 years, ₹63,080 more than MIS alone. How the combo works and when an FD beats it.