Fixed deposit and tax-free savings rates, with the day we read them
Fixed-deposit rates of Standard Bank and Nedbank copied from the banks' own pages, the tax-free savings limits from the revenue service and the deposit-insurance limit. Every row carries the day we read the page and the day its table took effect. No bank pays to be in the table.
Reserve Bank policy rate
- Next rate announcement
- see the Reserve Bank's calendar
- The date of the next committee meeting is on the Reserve Bank's monetary policy page; we did not store it with a source.
Fixed deposit rates by bank, balance and term
Fixed deposits in rand for individuals. An empty cell means the bank does not list that term in the table we read; it is not zero.
Sort by any term: press its column heading.
Ordered by the 12-month rate, largest first. Rows without a 12-month term come last, unnumbered.
| Bank · product | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard BankPrivateFixed deposit, balance R10,000-R99,999, interest paid at maturity · Bank’s rate pagefrom10,000ZARTable effective (printed on the bank's page) · the page lists balances up to R99,999; larger amounts on application | 6.91% | 7.15% | 7.55% | 8.15% | 8.75% |
| Standard BankPrivateFixed deposit, balance under R10,000, interest paid at maturity · Bank’s rate pagefrom1,000ZARTable effective (printed on the bank's page) · the page lists balances up to R99,999; larger amounts on application | 6.61% | 6.85% | 7.25% | 7.85% | 8.45% |
| Standard BankPrivateFixed deposit, balance R10,000-R99,999, interest paid monthly · Bank’s rate pagefrom10,000ZARTable effective (printed on the bank's page) · the page lists balances up to R99,999; larger amounts on application | 6.91% | 7.09% | 7.46% | 7.85% | 8.07% |
| Standard BankPrivateFixed deposit, balance under R10,000, interest paid monthly · Bank’s rate pagefrom1,000ZARTable effective (printed on the bank's page) · the page lists balances up to R99,999; larger amounts on application | 6.51% | 6.69% | 7.06% | 7.45% | 7.67% |
| NedbankPrivateFixed deposit, balance R1,000,000+ · Bank’s rate pagefrom1,000,000ZARPage published (printed on the bank's page) · nominal rates; the 1-month rate is a rate at maturity | 6.60% | 6.65% | 7.00% | 7.15% | 7.35% |
| NedbankPrivateFixed deposit, balance R1,000 - R24,999 · Bank’s rate pagefrom1,000ZARPage published (printed on the bank's page) · nominal rates; the 1-month rate is a rate at maturity | 6.10% | 6.15% | 6.45% | 6.60% | 7.00% |
| FNB, Absa, Capitec, TymeBank and Discovery Bank are not in the table: their pages could not be read as a rate table (a security check, a block, or only an 'up to' headline). We print no figure for them. | |||||
No row matches both filters. Change one of them.
- — no such term at this bank (not a zero rate)
- highest marked only where every bank in the column was checked the same day
- checked 8–30 days ago
- 31–60 days ago: recheck due
Bank by bank
Deposit insurance
- Covered up to
- 100,000ZAR
- per depositor, per bank, principal and interest together
Covered
- Qualifying deposits at banks: current, savings, notice and fixed accounts
- Islamic and tax-free savings deposits held at a bank
Not covered
- Unit trusts and money market funds, including inside a tax-free account
- Anything above the limit at one bank
Corporation for Deposit Insurance (CODI), a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank 3 · Full rules on the Reserve Bank's CODI pages
What a fixed deposit pays
Amount × term × rate. The answer is worked out for an example; change any field to recalculate.
Tax-free account, retirement annuity, fixed deposit or money market fund
Compared in words. Limits and rates are in the facts and tables on the other pages, not here.
| Property | Tax-free savings account | Retirement annuity | Fixed deposit | Money market fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return, in words | whatever the product inside earns | the return of the funds chosen; not guaranteed | fixed in the contract for the term | follows short-term rates; not fixed |
| Risk to capital | depends on what is held inside | market risk of the funds | low | low |
| Access | any time; a withdrawal does not free up the limit | locked until retirement age, with set exceptions | at maturity; early exit may cost interest | usually within days |
| Deposit insurance | only if held as a bank deposit | no | yes, up to the scheme's limit | no |
This page explains how to read the fixed-deposit rate table below. Each row shows the rate a bank publishes for a balance band and a term, and each row carries two dates. The notes explain what an empty cell means, why a higher rate is not automatically better, and why some large banks do not appear in the table.
Reading the table and its dates
Every row in the table carries two dates. The first is the day this site read the page, and the second is the day the bank's own table took effect. The two can differ, because a bank may keep an older table live while it prepares a new one. Always treat the bank's effective date as the one that describes the rate.
An empty cell is not a zero rate. It means the bank did not publish a rate for that balance band and term on the day we read the page, or that the product was not offered in that combination. A blank never means the money earns nothing, and it never means the rate is unknown to the bank.
Rates are shown by balance band and by term. A band is a range of balances, and a term is the length of time the money is committed. The same bank can publish different rates for different bands and different terms, so a single headline figure does not describe the whole product.
Why a higher rate is not automatically better
A higher rate may apply only to a larger balance band or a longer term. Money placed in a band it does not reach may earn the rate for a lower band instead. Check which band your balance actually falls into before comparing figures.
How interest is paid matters as well. Interest paid monthly puts cash in your hands during the term, while interest paid at maturity is added at the end. The two can produce different outcomes even when the quoted rate looks the same.
Early exit and notice conditions also change the value of a rate. Some products allow withdrawal before the term ends with a penalty or a reduced rate, and some require notice. A rate that looks attractive can cost more if you need the money sooner.
Some large banks are missing from the table. A bank may not publish a comparable fixed-deposit table, may offer the product under a different name, or may have changed its table on the day we read the page. A missing bank is not a judgement about that bank.
A common mistake is to compare only the headline rate and ignore the balance band, the term, the interest payment method and the early-exit rules. Two products with the same quoted rate can behave very differently once those conditions are applied.
Before you open a deposit or an account
Tick each item once you have found it in the terms or the fee schedule.
of 6 items ticked
Sources and read dates
Every figure on this page points to one of these. The date on the right is the day we read the source.
- 1Central bankSouth African Reserve Bank, web indicators: policy rate and bond yieldscustom.resbank.co.zapolicy rate and bond closing yields
- 3InsurerCorporation for Deposit Insurance, frequently asked questionswww.resbank.co.zadeposit insurance limit and scope
- 6BankStandard Bank: fixed deposit investment accountwww.standardbank.co.zaStandard Bank rates
- 7BankNedbank: fixed deposit interest rates and feespersonal.nedbank.co.zaNedbank rates
Update log
When the figures were read. A figure that changes is noted here.
- ReadNedbank fixed deposit table (page published 13 October 2026)
- ReadStandard Bank fixed deposit table; Reserve Bank policy rate, bill tenders and bond yields; CODI limit; SARS pages; retail savings bond rates