In a RD account, investor can park a fixed amount of funds at regular intervals.

Recurring Deposit (RD), a kind of investment plan, is offered by commercial banks, small finance banks and post offices. In an RD account, investor can invest fixed amount of funds at regular intervals. For setting up a recurring deposit (RD) account, he/she can choose from a variety of terms - or maturity period. For example- the maturity period of post office RD account is 5 years. The minimum period of State Bank of India (SBI) RD account, on the other hand, is 12 months. The maximum period of SBI RD is 120 months, according to SBI's website- sbi.co.in.

Given below is a comparison of recurring deposits interest rates, other features offered by SBI and post office:

State Bank of India (SBI)

In SBI RD account, customers are required to make monthly deposits of minimum of Rs. 100 and in multiples of Rs 10 thereafter. There is no maximum limit on the deposits. Interest rates offered on SBI recurring deposits (RDs) are the same as that on fixed deposit (FD) accounts, noted the lender on its website. The following RD interest rates are applicable on deposits below Rs 2 crore, according to the bank's website- sbi.co.in:

Period General public (% p.a.) Senior citizens (% p.a.) 1 year to less than 2 year 7 7.5 2 years to less than 3 years 6.75 7.25 3 years to less than 5 years 6.7 7.2 5 years and up to 10 years 6.6 7.1

Post Office

The minimum amount required for opening a post office recurring deposit account (RD) is Rs 10 per month. There is no maximum limit on investment. India Post offers an interest rate of 7.3 per cent per annum on recurring deposit (RD) account, according to India Post's official website. The interest rate on post office RD account is compounded quarterly.