The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has published the latest web report, ‘Deposits with Scheduled Commercial Banks – December 2024’. Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), excluding Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), submit branch-wise data on various deposit categories—current, savings, and term deposits—along with details on institutional ownership, age-wise distribution, maturity patterns, deposit size, interest rate distribution, and employee numbers through the quarterly Basic Statistical Return (BSR) – 2 report. The data is made available at granular levels, including population groups, bank categories, states, districts, and individual centers.
Key Highlights
🔹 Deposit Growth: Aggregate deposits grew by 11.0% in December 2024, slightly lower than the 11.7% growth in the previous quarter.
🔹 Term Deposits Surge: Term deposits increased by 14.3% (YoY), significantly outpacing the 5.1% growth in savings deposits. Consequently, the share of term deposits in total deposits rose to 62.1%, up from 60.3% a year ago.
🔹 Higher Interest Rates: The proportion of term deposits offering 7% or more interest increased to 70.8% in December 2024, compared to 61.4% in December 2023.
🔹 Preference for Shorter Maturities: With rising term deposit returns, nearly 79.8% of the incremental term deposits mobilized between April-December 2024 were in the 1 to 3-year maturity bracket. On an outstanding basis, over two-thirds of term deposits belonged to this category, while another 11% had a longer original maturity.
🔹 Large-Sized Deposits Dominate: Deposits of ₹1 crore and above accounted for 56.1% of total term deposits during April-December 2024.
🔹 Senior Citizens’ Share: Senior citizens held 20.2% of total bank deposits as of December 2024.
This data provides critical insights into deposit trends, shifting preferences towards term deposits, and the impact of interest rate movements on savings behavior.