5 Special-Tenure FD Facts Indians Miss Comparing 444-Day Rates in 2026

By Nitish Bharadwaj · Published Jul 5, 2026 · 6 min

Banks increasingly market oddly-numbered tenures — 400, 444, or 555 days — with rates that look higher than standard 1-year or 3-year FDs. In July 2026, PNB's 400-day special FD pays 7.25% (7.75% for senior citizens), a full point above its own regular rates, while SBI's 444-day Amrit Vrishti at 6.45% barely edges past SBI's standard 1-year rate of 6.25%. The premium exists to help banks match specific liquidity needs, but it varies sharply by bank. This guide compares the major special-tenure schemes against each issuer's own standard rates so you know when the odd-day number is genuinely worth it.

Scroll through any FD comparison site in July 2026 and you'll notice banks pushing oddly specific tenures — 400 days, 444 days, 555 days — instead of the usual 1-year or 3-year options, often with a rate that looks noticeably higher. It's tempting to assume the odd number itself is the reason for the better rate. It isn't, and the actual premium varies so much bank to bank that some special-tenure FDs barely beat the issuer's own standard rate.

Fact 1: The Odd Number Is About the Bank's Cash Flow, Not a Marketing Gimmick

Banks size special-tenure deposits to match specific asset-liability needs — a loan book maturing in 444 days, for instance, is easier to fund with a deposit that matures on the same schedule than with a standard 1-year or 3-year FD. To attract deposits into that exact window, banks sometimes offer a small rate premium over their regular tenures. The premium exists for the bank's convenience as much as yours, which is why it isn't consistent across issuers.

Fact 2: The Premium Ranges from Negligible to a Full Percentage Point

The gap tells the real story. SBI's 444-day Amrit Vrishti pays roughly 6.40%–6.45% against a standard best rate of around 6.30% — a premium of 10–15 basis points, barely worth restructuring your FD ladder for. PNB's 444-day Unnati FD at 6.60% sits meaningfully above its own standard rates, making it the better special-tenure pick between the two PSU banks. Two special-tenure schemes from the same bank can have meaningfully different premiums depending on which liquidity gap each one is designed to fill.

Fact 3: TDS and Premature Withdrawal Rules Are Identical to Regular FDs

A special-tenure FD is still a fixed deposit in every regulatory sense — TDS is deducted at 10% once annual interest from a single bank crosses ₹50,000 (₹1 lakh for senior citizens), and breaking it early attracts the same penalty and rate-recalculation rules as a standard FD. If you need to exit before the 400 or 444 days are up, a loan against the FD is usually cheaper than breaking it, exactly as it would be for a standard-tenure deposit.

Fact 4: Odd Tenures Complicate FD Laddering

A standard FD laddering strategy relies on deposits maturing at clean, predictable intervals — say, one FD every 12 months. Slotting a 400-day or 444-day special scheme into that ladder shifts its maturity date away from your other rungs, which can leave you short of liquidity in one quarter and holding two maturities in another. Only add a special-tenure FD to a ladder if the extra yield is large enough to justify the scheduling complexity.

Fact 5: A High Special-Tenure Rate Still Doesn't Beat NBFC or Small Finance Bank Rates

Even PNB's 6.60% on its 444-day scheme sits below what small finance banks and company FDs are advertising in July 2026 — some NBFCs are quoting rates above 9%. The difference is risk, not tenure: PSU and private bank FDs, special-tenure or not, remain covered by DICGC insurance up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank, while small finance bank deposits get the same DICGC cover but carry a different credit profile, and company FDs carry none of it. Use the FD calculator to check the actual maturity value of a special-tenure scheme against your bank's standard options before locking in an odd-day deposit for the rate alone.