MUMBAI: In a first, the
Central Bank of India has said that it will offer depositors who vaccinate against Covid 25 basis points (100bps = 1 percentage points) higher return under a special scheme.
The special rate is applicable for single dose as well.
“In order to encourage vaccination under Covid, Central Bank of India, as a part of their social commitment to a healthy society, has brought out a special deposit product ‘Immune India Deposit Scheme’ for 1,111 days at an extra interest rate of 25bps above the applicable card rate for citizens who got vaccinated,” the bank said in a statement.
The bank currently offers a 5.1% return on deposits over three years. So, the return through the special scheme would be 5.35%. “Central Bank of India requests the citizens to vaccinate (Covid) and avail the offer, which is for a limited period. Senior citizens are eligible for extra interest as applicable,” the bank said.
Banks typically cannot discriminate between depositors in terms of interest rate offered, except in the case of senior citizen deposits where they are allowed to offer higher returns. Central Bank has worked around this by creating a new scheme altogether for a fixed tenure.