Shriram City Union

Shriram City Union Finance offers an interest rate of 9.25 per cent on its 5-year deposit. The deposits are rated AAA by both ICRA and Crisil.

Senior citizens are entitled to an extra 0.25 per cent on these deposits, while the minimum deposit is for Rs 5,000.

Remember there would be a TDS that would apply, if the interest income crosses Rs 5,000.

There is another group company called Shriram Transport Finance, which also offers a similar interest rate. Go for these deposits as they offer decent interest rate and offer good returns as well.

Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation

The government of Kerala owned Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation offers an interest rate of 8.50 per cent on its 1, 2 and 3-year deposits.

This is very good considering the safety of the instrument, as Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation is a government of Kerala owned entity. Company FDs are unsecured deposits and hence carry an element of risk.

However, here the deposits are backed by the government of Kerala, so you actually do not even need a rating. The only drawback is that you may have to approach the company directly to open a deposit, as some of the brokers do not accept deposits of Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation.

Jana Small Finance Bank

Jana Small Finance Bank This is a small finance bank that is regulated by the RBI. The bank offers an interest rate of 9 per cent on its 3-year deposit. Senior Citizens are entitled to an interest rate of 9.6 per cent. This is an excellent interest rate considering that yields can jump to 10.20 per cent over the period of the tenure. You seldom get such high interest rates on bank deposits these days. As mentioned earlier, small finance banks are governed by the Reserve Bank of India and hence they can be considered as pretty safe. Go for these deposits for a slightly longer tenure given that interest rates in the economy are slated to fall.

Mahindra Finance

If you apply in the FDs of Mahindra Finance online, you get an interest rate of 9 per cent. These FDs have a tenure of 33 and 40 months.

The Fixed Deposits are rated AAA. A deposit of Rs 5,000, would mature at Rs 6,342 after 33 months and Rs 6,669 after 44 months. The effective yield in this case translates to as much as 9.76 per cent over this tenure. Remember, that the above is only for online investors and the interest rate reduces, if you do not use the online mode.

To apply online, you need to fill the form online and also upload your KYC documents online.

One can also apply for the slightly shorter period of 15 months, where the interest offered is 7.95 per cent or 27 months, where the interest is 8.50 per cent. Go for these deposits for higher yields and also safety.

HDFC

This is India's top housing finance company. The interest rate offered on this scheme is not the highest, but, there is great amount of safety.

The interest rate offered is 7.78 per cent across tenures like 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years. Senior citizens are entitled to an extra 0.25 per cent.

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