Fixed deposits are a good investment for those who prefer conservative and safe means of securing funds. You should accumulate a specific sum of money and fix it for a specified tenure. By doing so, investments are safe, and you can earn higher interest rates on the deposits, unlike parking the sum in a savings account. Both resident Indians and Non-resident Indians can make fixed deposits out of their savings.

Here, we have answered some of the common and frequently asked questions through FAQs on NRI fixed deposit.

What are the different types of FDs you can create as an NRI?

You can create three different kinds of NRI deposits. These are Non-resident External Rupee or NRE FD, Non-resident Ordinary Rupee or NRO, and Foreign Currency Non-Repatriable or FCNR deposits.

How to open an NRI fixed deposit?

If you opt to open an NRE or NRO FD, you can do so by directly logging into your net banking enabled NRI account. You can select the amount you seek to invest and the investment tenure. The FD gets created instantly, and the bank assigns an FD account number to you. However, if you want to open a foreign currency deposit, you should open first the foreign currency account and deposit the mentioned currency. Once done, you follow similar steps for NRE and NRO deposits too.

In what currency to create the deposits?

Although you can deposit only foreign currencies in the NRE account, the sum gets immediately converted to INR. You can deposit both INR and foreign currencies in NRO accounts, which again get converted to INR. As such, both NRO and NRE FDs are rupee deposits. Only your foreign currency may get created in foreign currency deposit.

In which currencies can you create NRI FD?

For NRE and NRO deposits, the currencies get created in INR. However, for foreign currency deposits, FDs can be created in USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CAD, AUD, NZD, SGD, KHG, and SEK, DKK and SFR. However, you should check with the bank about the acceptable currencies of deposit as some banks allow only basic currencies like USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, and JPY.

What are the interest rates you earn on the deposits?

The interest rate you earn on the deposits is not constant. It gets changed periodically by the RBI and the banks offering NRI services. Generally, the NRE FD interest rates and foreign currency deposits are the same, while the interest rates for NRO deposits and FDs for resident Indians are the same.

What are the minimum and maximum deposit term?

The minimum deposit term for NRE and NRO is seven days while the maximum tenure for both NRE and NRO FDs is 10 years. If it is FCNR, the term range is between one to five years. You can make a premature withdrawal before the term, but the banks are charged for the same.