Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme
You earn, say rupees 30,000 a month. One fine day you get your salary and everything was as usual. That night you lay down, tired of the daily routine that you follow and in you go to sleep thinking it would have been great if your income doubled. Next morning when you wake up, you see that your bank account has Rs. 60,000. Won’t you like that magic?
Problem is, you are very likely still in your dreams and that Rs. 60,000 you see instead of Rs. 30,000 is basically a dream. We all dream of having our incomes doubled. Unfortunately, there is no magic potion that will help this to happen.
We can use methods (investments) to make our money grow. But, how amount an investment area which actually says that your invested money will be doubled? Isn’t that great! Actually there is such an investment instrument with exactly that promise. However, it never promises that the money will be doubled overnight as you dreamed. It will grow gradually and after a certain predefined time, you will get double of what you invested.
That investment product is known as Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme. Yes! It is a fixed deposit scheme we are talking about. We all know about fixed deposits and we know that they aren’t shady schemes. They are genuine and every bank and many non-banking financial companies offer fixed deposit scheme and operate under government regulations. However, we have not heard of fixed deposits schemes that offer to double the investment amount.
Why haven’t we heard of it much? Because it is a relatively new kid in the market and is offered only by a handful of banks that operate in India. If you want to know more about this scheme (and we are sure that you want to know), continue reading this article and earn some enlightenment.
What is Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme?
A Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme is basically a fixed deposit or term deposit scheme wherein you invest a certain amount of money. The money is locked for a certain period of time and over that time frame, the account provider (that is the bank or a non-banking company) pays you interest. The money that you invest in a fixed deposit account is investment by the organization (offering the account) in open market and make profits. A part of this profit is given back to you in form of interest.
So, how is a Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme different from a classic term deposit? There is one vital difference.
The classic term deposit or fixed deposit never promises to double the money you invest. The interest paid under a classic term deposit will never grow to such an extent that the actual investment doubles by the time the account matures.
This new Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme digresses from classic term deposit in the sense that it promises to double the investment by the time the account matures. So, what you withdraw will have half as original investment and half as interest earned. Example: If you invest, say Rs. 20,000, by the time the account matures and you withdraw the funds, you will actually be withdrawing Rs. 40,000. Of this Rs. 40,000, Rs. 20,000 will be the original investment money and remaining Rs. 20,000 will be the interest earned on that investment you made.
Also another vital difference is that a classic term deposit allows to choose between different terms (period or years for which the amount will be locked). This feature is not available in case of Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme. There is only one predefined term and people investing in the same will have to abide by that. No requests for a different term will be entertained.
Isn’t the concept pretty simple? It is! Now let’s move on…
Which banks offer this scheme?
There are only a handful of banks that offer this Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme. The table below gives the highlights of the products these banks offer.
| Bank Name | Product Name | Type of account | What happens | Minimum investment required |
| Allahabad Bank | Double Deposit Plan | Fixed deposit Plus Recurring Deposit | The interest that is paid is compounded every quarter. It doesn’t actually promises doubling the investment but offers higher returns than normal or classic term deposits | Rs. 1,000 |
| Bank of Baroda | Baroda Double Dhamaka Fixed Deposit | Fixed Deposit | Promises on doubling the investment amount | Rs. 5,000 |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce | Oriental Double Deposit Scheme | Fixed Deposit | Promises to double the investment amount | Rs. 1,000 |
| Punjab National Bank | PNB Dugana Fixed Deposit Scheme | Fixed Deposit | Promises to double the investment amount | Rs. 5,000 |
| Tamil Mercantile Bank | Double Deposit | Fixed Deposit | Promises to double the investment amount | Rs. 1,000 |
We are sorry, the above chart could not capture the entire scenario. So, here is another table to cover the remaining highlights of these schemes:
| Bank Name | Product Name | Investment period or senior citizens | Investment period for other citizens | Higher interest for senior citizens? |
| Allahabad Bank | Double Deposit Plan | 120 months | 120 months | Yes |
| Bank of Baroda | Baroda Double Dhamaka Fixed Deposit | 105 months, 3 days | 112 months | Yes |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce | Oriental Double Deposit Scheme | 105 months | 114 months | Yes |
| Punjab National Bank | PNB Dugana Fixed Deposit Scheme | 99 months | 99 months | Yes |
| Tamil Mercantile Bank | Double Deposit | 98 months, 10 days | 104 months, 11 days | Yes |
What are the general features of Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme?
Here are some interesting features of Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme in general (please remember that these are general features and different banks may have different set of features as well):
- Hassle-free account opening: The account opening process is very simple and same as that of opening a classic term deposit account.
- Investment amount flexibility: While all banks have a minimum amount requirement, there is always this flexibility of choosing a higher investment amount if one wants to. Interestingly, some banks may have a maximum investment limit set.
- Nomination facility available: What if the investor dies? He or she can actually safeguard the investment by declaring a nominee.
- Loan facilities are available: These scheme have the facility of loans. This means, an investor can actually go ahead and take a loan against the account. This will ensure that the investment made in these accounts do not become liability in future.
- Premature withdrawals: Some banks may offer premature withdrawal facility. Kindly check with the bank in question.
Here are a few important questions you should be asking:
- Does everyone investing in Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme get to enjoy the same interest rate?
- What about TDS? Will the banks deduct TDS?
- Is there account auto-renewal feature?
Now, let us take a look at the answers…
- No dude! Different interests are offered for different categories of customers. For example, senior citizens as well as people from armed forces (retired or serving) will enjoy higher interest rates compared to general public.
- Hell yes! TDS rule apply in case of Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme in the same way it applies in classic term deposit schemes. You cannot escape taxes if you are investing in this scheme. TDS will be deducted when paying out the maturity amount.
- Some banks do offer auto-renewal once the term is over. However, if you do not want auto-renewal, you need to specifically mention that.
Who are eligible to open Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme accounts?
Okay, this is a difficult question to answer. Different banks will have different eligibility conditions. You can check with each bank individual. However, some common conditions will be:
- Investor should be Indian national.
- Minors are eligible.
- Individuals, HUFs, societies, associations, clubs, trusts etc. are allowed.
That is more or less everything you need to know about the Fixed Deposit Money Double Scheme. In case you have questions or queries which are general in nature (and not specific to a particular bank), feel free to drop comments. We will revert back to you as soon as possible.
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