How Fixed Deposits Work in Malaysia (2026): Board Rates, Campaign Rates and How to Choose

A fixed deposit (FD) is a savings product where you lock in a lump sum with a bank for a fixed period — 1, 3, 6, or 12 months — and earn a guaranteed interest rate in return. There is no market risk: your principal is fully protected, and you know exactly what you will earn before you start. That certainty is the main reason Malaysians use FDs, but it comes at a cost — your money is tied up, and the rates on offer rarely keep pace with inflation. This guide explains how FD rates are set, why the advertised rate is not always the one you get, who FDs are genuinely useful for, and how to choose a placement and squeeze a better rate out of your bank.

Want fixed deposit products side by side rather than explained? See our Best Fixed Deposit Rates in Malaysia list. This guide is the companion explainer: it covers how the board rates, campaign conditions and tenures behind that list work, so you read it knowing what to check.

Bottom line: On 11 October 2026, 12-month board rates were 1.90% p.a. at CIMB and 1.80% at Hong Leong, AmBank, Public Bank and RHB (each bank's own rate page). Time-limited online campaigns at five banks paid 3.60–3.90% p.a. for 12 months, and most of those campaigns end between 31 October and 31 December 2026. Among digital banks, GX Bank's 2.00% p.a. on an ordinary balance is slightly above those board rates and AEON Bank's 0.25% p.a. is far below them. Bank Negara Malaysia publishes the commercial-bank average every month; see the latest figure in our FD rates tool. Compare on the rate, the tenure, the end date and any "new funds" condition — not the headline.

Best for: idle lump sums you can lock away for a fixed term. For money you might need, a high-yield savings account keeps it liquid at a comparable rate.

Last updated 11 October 2026 · money.com.my Editorial

What FD Rates Look Like Right Now#

Bank Negara Malaysia publishes the average 3-month commercial bank FD rate in Malaysia every month, and the latest figure is in our FD rates tool. That average is the headline number for a standard placement at a major bank — Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank, RHB, Hong Leong.

A few things to understand about that average:

• It is a benchmark, not the best you can get. Banks run time-limited online campaigns above their board rates. On 11 October 2026, 12-month campaign rates were 3.60–3.90% p.a. at CIMB, AmBank, Hong Leong, Public Bank and Standard Chartered, each with an end date. Some campaigns need money from another bank (Hong Leong, Public Bank). CIMB's and AmBank's October campaigns also accept a transfer from your own savings or current account at that bank.
• Islamic FD usually pays the same as conventional. At Hong Leong, AmBank, Alliance and RHB, the Islamic term deposit's profit rates matched the conventional board rates tenure for tenure (checked 11 October 2026). Check both at your bank.
• Shorter tenures sometimes earn less. On 11 October 2026, a 1-month placement earned the same board rate as a 3-month one at CIMB, AmBank, Public Bank, RHB and Hong Leong (counter FD), and 0.15 percentage points less at Hong Leong (e-FD) and BSN.

To see how today's rates compare to the past 29 years — including the spike during the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the COVID-era lows — look at the FD rate history chart on our rates tool.

FD rates are closely tied to Bank Negara Malaysia's Overnight Policy Rate (OPR). When the OPR moves, commercial bank FD rates follow — usually within a few weeks. You can track OPR decisions and what they mean for your savings at our OPR tracker.

Why the Advertised Rate Isn't Always the Rate You Get#

Search "best FD rate" and you will see eye-catching numbers that often do not match what actually lands in your account. Three things explain the gap, and knowing them saves a lot of frustration.

Board rate vs promotional rate. The board rate is the bank's standard, always-on rate for a given tenure. The promotional rate is a campaign rate, usually higher, but fenced with conditions. The headline figure in an advert is almost always the promotional one, not the rate you get by default.

The "new funds" condition. Most promotional rates are fenced by where the money comes from. Some campaigns accept only money from another bank (Hong Leong's and Public Bank's October 2026 campaigns). Others also accept a transfer from your own savings or current account at the same bank (CIMB's and AmBank's). A maturing FD that simply rolls over earns the board rate: CIMB and AmBank apply the campaign rate for one cycle only and renew at the board rate. Read the campaign terms.

Tenure and minimum placement. Advertised rates are usually pegged to a specific tenure, often 12 months, and sometimes a minimum amount. A shorter tenure, or a placement below the threshold, quietly drops you to a lower rate. Always read a rate against its tenure and minimum, never in isolation.

The practical habit: treat any advertised rate as a starting question, not a promise. Confirm whether it is the board or promotional rate, what funds qualify, and which tenure and minimum it assumes, before you place a single ringgit.

FD vs. Savings Account vs. ASNB vs. EPF#

This is the comparison that actually matters. Here is where the major options stand:

Bank Negara Malaysia's June 2026 figures for commercial banks: the average savings rate was 0.65% p.a. as a simple average of banks' rates, or 0.35% p.a. weighted by balances.

Savings account vs. FD: A standard FD pays somewhat more than a savings account, and more still if you catch a promotion. If you have money sitting in a savings account that you will not touch for three months, an FD makes sense. The trade-off is that breaking an FD early forfeits your interest, so do not place funds you might need suddenly.

FD vs. ASNB: ASNB funds (open to all Malaysians, not just Bumiputera) typically beat standard FD rates with comparable stability and slightly better liquidity. If you have not explored ASNB, it deserves a look before you default to an FD. Visit asnb.com.my directly to check current fund performance.

FD vs. EPF: EPF consistently outperforms FD — 6.15% for 2025, against a standard FD rate that is a fraction of that. For employees, topping up EPF Account 1 voluntarily (up to the RM100,000 annual cap) is almost always a better move for long-term savings than an FD. The drawback is that EPF money is illiquid until retirement (with limited exception withdrawals). For a detailed comparison, see the EPF complete guide 2026.

Real returns matter: Malaysia's headline inflation was 1.9% in August 2026 (DOSM), and between 1.3% and 2.0% in each month of the past year. A 12-month board rate of 1.80–1.90% p.a. leaves little or nothing after inflation. Check our inflation calculator to see what your savings are actually worth after inflation.

Four Ways to Get a Better Rate#

1. Check for "new funds" promotional rates#

Every major bank runs periodic FD promotions — particularly at quarter-end and during campaign periods. Check whether the campaign needs money from another bank; some do and some do not. The standard procedure: open a bank's app, navigate to the FD section, and look for a "promotion" tab. In October 2026, 3-month campaign rates were 3.45% p.a. at AmBank (to 31 October), 3.50% at Hong Leong (to 3 November) and 3.55% at CIMB (to 3 November). RinggitPlus and CompareHero both aggregate these promotions and are worth bookmarking.

2. Consider Islamic FD#

Conventional and Islamic FDs sit side by side at most banks. At Hong Leong, AmBank, Alliance and RHB, the Islamic profit rates matched the conventional board rates exactly (checked 11 October 2026). Choose on the contract you prefer, not on a rate premium.

3. Ladder your placements#

Rather than placing all your savings in a single 12-month FD, split the amount across different tenures — for example, three equal portions at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. When each tranche matures, reinvest at whatever the best rate is at that time. This keeps you liquid (a portion matures every month or two) and lets you capture rate increases without waiting for a single large placement to run its course.

4. Negotiate for larger amounts#

For placements above RM50,000, it is worth calling the bank's priority banking line and asking for a negotiated rate. Banks have room to move, especially for large amounts placed by existing customers. This is not guaranteed. Public Bank lists 13- to 60-month placements as "Negotiable" and RHB lists placements over 12 months as "Negotiable", so it is worth asking.

A Simple FD Ladder, Worked Through#

Laddering is the one FD strategy that consistently earns its keep, and it is simpler than it sounds. Instead of locking everything into one long placement, you stagger several so that one matures regularly. That keeps part of your money reachable and lets you re-price into better rates as they appear.

Here is the shape of it with a round, illustrative figure. Say you have RM60,000 to place. Split it into three tranches of RM20,000, opened at 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month tenures. When the 3-month tranche matures, you reinvest it into a fresh 12-month FD. Do the same as each later tranche matures. After the first year you hold three rolling 12-month FDs, with one coming due every few months.

Two things this buys you. First, liquidity: a portion is always near maturity, so an unexpected need rarely forces you to break a deposit and forfeit interest. Second, rate flexibility: if rates rise, each maturing tranche captures the new level instead of being stuck for a year, and if rates fall, you have already locked part of your money at the older, higher rate. The exact amounts and tenures are yours to set. The principle is what matters: never tie up money you cannot reach, and never bet the whole sum on a single rate at a single moment.

Which Banks to Check#

For standard placements, the big names are Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank, RHB, Hong Leong Bank, and AmBank. Their standard rates are similar — within a narrow band of each other: 1.80–1.90% p.a. for 12 months at CIMB, Hong Leong, AmBank, Public Bank and RHB on 11 October 2026. BSN (2.15%) was higher. We could not read Maybank's page.

For Islamic options, BIMB (Bank Islam), Bank Muamalat, and CIMB Islamic are worth checking alongside their conventional counterparts at mainstream banks.

Do not compare rates manually bank by bank. Our fixed deposit rates list shows products side by side, ordered by our editorial rating rather than by rate, and the live FD rates tool shows how today sits against the long-run history.

Digital Bank FDs and eFDs#

A newer option sits beside the traditional banks: fully digital fixed deposits, often labelled eFD, offered by digital banks and by the app arms of conventional banks. These are opened and managed entirely in an app, with no branch visit.

The placement experience is the clear advantage: a few taps to open, with maturity and renewal settings handled in the app. The rate advantage is not automatic. Lower overheads do let a digital bank price above a branch network, but it does not follow that every digital bank does. On savings, GX Bank pays 2.00% p.a., slightly above the 1.80–1.90% p.a. 12-month board rate at CIMB, Hong Leong, AmBank, Public Bank and RHB. AEON Bank's prevailing rate of 0.25% p.a. is far below it (all checked 11 October 2026). Check the specific product's rate rather than assuming the digital option wins.

The safety question is the one most people ask first. Licensed digital banks in Malaysia are PIDM members, so their deposits carry the same RM250,000 per depositor protection as any other licensed bank. The usual cautions still apply: check the tenure, the minimum placement, and whether the headline rate is a board or promotional rate, exactly as you would with a conventional FD.

PIDM: Your Money Is Insured Up to RM250,000#

All deposits at BNM-licensed commercial banks in Malaysia are insured by Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM). The coverage limit is RM250,000 per depositor per member institution.

This means if you have RM300,000 to place, you should split it across two separate banks — not two branches of the same bank — to keep each tranche within the insured limit. PIDM covers both conventional and Islamic deposits. You can verify which banks are PIDM members at pidm.org.my.

One important clarification: the RM250,000 limit is per bank, not per account. Multiple FD accounts at the same bank are aggregated and covered up to the single limit.

FD Interest Is Tax-Exempt in Malaysia#

Interest income from fixed deposits placed with licensed Malaysian banks is currently exempt from personal income tax for Malaysian individuals. You do not need to declare it in your tax return. This is a straightforward advantage over some other instruments. Corporate FD interest is a different matter — businesses must declare it as income.

When FD Is Not the Right Tool#

FD works well for specific situations. For everything else, there are better options.

Do not use FD for your emergency fund if you have none. An emergency fund needs to be accessible within hours. An FD that matures in three months does not help if your car breaks down next week. Keep three to six months of expenses in a savings account or a liquid money market fund first. Only excess savings beyond that threshold belong in an FD.

Do not use FD if you carry high-interest debt. Personal loans in Malaysia commonly run at 8–15% interest. Credit card revolving debt runs at 18% per annum. Parking money in an FD while paying 18% on a credit card balance is a losing trade by a wide margin. Pay down the debt first.

Do not use FD as your primary long-term savings vehicle. Over a 10 or 20-year horizon, FD rates — even optimistic ones — will not grow wealth meaningfully after inflation. EPF, ASNB, or a diversified unit trust portfolio will outperform FDs over the long run for money you will not need for years.

ASB investors should not prioritise FD. If you are Bumiputera and have unfilled ASB capacity, directing savings there (5.75% for both 2024 and 2025) before placing into an FD is generally the better decision.

The Bottom Line#

A fixed deposit does one thing well: it pays more than a savings account with zero risk, and your return is locked in from day one. The standard rate is not going to build wealth, but it beats leaving cash idle. If you catch a time-limited campaign, rates in October 2026 were 3.60–3.90% p.a. for 12 months, but each campaign ends on a set date and some need money from another bank. Islamic term deposits paid the same as conventional at the banks we checked.

The key discipline is knowing where FD fits in your broader savings picture. Emergency fund first. High-interest debt eliminated. EPF and ASNB capacity reviewed. Whatever is left over, sitting idle, and not needed for at least three months — that is the money an FD is designed for.

For current rates updated regularly, use our FD rates comparison tool. For a side-by-side list of products (ordered by our editorial rating, not by rate), see our fixed deposit rates list. For context on how today's rates compare to real purchasing power, run the numbers through our inflation calculator.

Related Guides#

• ASB vs Fixed Deposit Malaysia 2026 — Which Gives Better Returns? — head-to-head comparison of ASB dividends vs FD rates, with worked examples

Amendment, 10 October 2026. This guide quoted the average 3-month commercial-bank fixed deposit rate as "2.60–2.70%" for December 2025 and credited it to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). Neither was right. The series is Bank Negara Malaysia's: data.gov.my lists Bank Negara Malaysia as the source of the "interestrates" dataset behind our FD rates tool. And the guide said "2.60–2.70%", which is roughly the level from before the July 2025 OPR cut, not December 2025's. The figure has been removed rather than restated, because a replacement needs its own check and a stale rate does more harm than an absent one. It came out of the bottom-line box, the "What FD Rates Look Like Right Now" section, the first FAQ answer, the comparison table and the "Which Banks to Check" section, and the two charts built on it were removed. The passages that set it against savings accounts, EPF, inflation and credit card interest, and the closing summary, now make their points without a number. The rate-history sentence's 1998 peak (7%) and post-COVID range (2.5–3%) did not match the series either and were removed too. Readers are sent to Bank Negara Malaysia's latest average in the FD rates tool instead.

Amendment, 11 October 2026. This guide gave promotional fixed deposit rates as "3.50–4.00% p.a." and "routinely available", and said that money already in the same bank or a maturing FD "typically earns the lower board rate". We checked the banks' own pages and campaign terms on 11 October 2026. Twelve-month campaign rates were 3.60–3.90% p.a. at five banks (the guide said "3.50–4.00%"), and every one has an end date (31 October to 31 December 2026), so "routinely available" was removed. The three-month campaign range is 3.45–3.55%; the guide said "3.50–4.00%". The rule that campaigns take only money from another bank is true for Hong Leong and Public Bank but not for CIMB or AmBank, whose October campaigns also accept a transfer from your own savings or current account there; a maturing FD still renews at the board rate. We also corrected the "Savings account (major banks)" row; the guide's row said 1.85–2.00% (it became 0.00–0.50% base rates, with Bank Negara Malaysia's June 2026 savings averages of 0.65% simple and 0.35% weighted quoted separately); the claim that Islamic FDs run 0.05–0.15 percentage points above conventional (it was 0.00 at the four banks checked, and the RHB product is a Commodity Murabahah deposit, not mudharabah); the one-month tenure gap of 0.2–0.4 percentage points (mostly 0.00); inflation of "2–2.5%" (1.9% in August 2026, DOSM); the unsourced "extra 0.1–0.2 percentage points" for negotiated rates; the statement that GX Bank's 2.00% is below a 12-month board rate (it is above the 1.80–1.90% at five banks); and BSN's board rates being "broadly in line" (2.15% for 12 months, somewhat higher).

Amendment, 11 October 2026 (wording). In the amendment note above, the sentence that introduced a superseded figure now names the guide as the subject ("the guide said" or "the guide's … said"), so it reads plainly as the old text rather than a bank's own page. No figure in this guide changed.

Still outstanding on this guide: Maybank's rates could not be read and are not quoted. Alliance Bank's page is dated 15 July 2025. Campaign rates change or end without notice. Confirm any rate on the bank's own page before acting on it.

Amendment, 11 October 2026 (refocus). This guide was refocused on how fixed deposits work and how to choose one, so that it no longer competes with our Best Fixed Deposit Rates in Malaysia list for the same search. The title and description changed to match, the first FAQ now asks how board and campaign rates compare rather than which rate is best, and the introduction links to the list. The URL is unchanged. No rate, date, condition or other product figure was changed.

Amendment, 11 October 2026 (wording). In the amendment notes above, each superseded figure is now introduced by "the guide said" or "gave … as", so it reads plainly as the old figure rather than a current one. No figure in this guide changed.

Amendment, 11 October 2026 (BSN protection, board rates). The guide said "BSN deposits are PIDM-protected up to RM250,000 per depositor" (BSN FAQ). BSN is not a PIDM member; its deposits are guaranteed by the Government under the Bank Simpanan Nasional Act 1974 instead. The bottom line also now gives each bank's 12-month board rate (1.90% at CIMB, 1.80% at Hong Leong, AmBank, Public Bank and RHB) in place of the combined range, from each bank's own rate page read on 11 October 2026. Sources: PIDM's member-bank list, the Bank Simpanan Nasional Act 1974, and the five banks' rate pages.

Amendment, 11 October 2026 (wording, Term Deposit-i). In the BSN FAQ, next to the Government guarantee, the guide now says that BSN's website does not say how the guarantee applies to Term Deposit-i. No figure in this guide changed.