Are you looking for an investment vehicle that’s stress-free and low risk? You may want to explore the benefits of having a time deposit account at your preferred bank.
There are a lot of time deposit offers and rates in the market. It’s best to compare rates and the minimum initial placement.
Let’s check BDO time deposit promotions, rates, and tenures.
| Product | Minimum Initial Placement | Terms of Placement | Withholding Tax on Interest Earned |
| Peso Time Deposit | P1,000 | 30, 60, 90, 180, 360 days | 20% |
| Premium Flexi Earner | P10,000 | 5 years | Tax-exempt if the placement is held until maturity. If pre-terminated, interest earned is subject to withholding tax |
| Dollar Time Deposit | $1,000 | 30, 60, 90, 180, 360 days | 15% |
Once you have a placement in your account and have decided on the terms of placement, you earn interest upon maturity date.
However, if you decide to withdraw them before the maturity date, the amount is subject to a pre-termination penalty.
*** Rates and placements taken as of this writing and as of time of publishing 10 February 2020 via BDO
What are the key features of the BDO Peso Time Deposit?
Start small and grow your savings. With the BDO Peso Time Deposit, you can have a minimum placement of P1,000.
This type of time deposit is ideal for short-term peso investment, is low-risk, and comes with a higher interest rate than a regular BDO peso savings account.
You can choose your terms of placement, whether it’s 30, 60, 90, 180, or 360 days and enjoy the interest rate (per annum as seen below).
Keep in mind that the rates are subject to change, and it’s better to visit your nearest BDO branch for up-to-date rates and information.
You’ll also have a certificate of your time deposit as proof of ownership.
What are the key features of the BDO Premium Flexi Earner Deposit?
Now if you have more savings, you can always upgrade your investment portfolio with BDO Premium Flexi Earner Deposit.
This is a long-term peso investment that offers tax-free interest earnings if you maintain your funds for a 5-year term period.
It’s also low risk and comes with a higher interest rate per annum compared to a regular BDO savings account.
However, since this is for long-term placement, there’s a pre-termination penalty fee if you don’t hold it until its maturity.
The minimum initial placement is P10,000 and the interest rates have a monthly repricing.
You’ll also have a certificate of your time deposit as proof of ownership.
What are the key features of the BDO Dollar Time Deposit?
If you’re earning in dollars and would like to grow your savings, you can take advantage of the BDO Dollar Time deposit, which is considered as a short-term dollar investment offer.
You can choose from any of the terms, whether it’s for 30, 60, 90, 180, or 360 days.
The minimum initial placement is $1,000. Check the interest rates below as your reference to know how much you’ll earn until its maturity date.
Keep in mind that if you decide to withdraw them before the maturity date, the amount is subject to the pre-termination penalty. Also, there’s a 15% withholding tax on interest earned.
You’ll also have a certificate of your time deposit as proof of ownership.
BDO Time Deposit Rates
If you’re new to time deposits, just remember that most banks offer higher interest rates per annum compared to a regular savings account (e.g. 0.10% per annum).
Rates can be from 0.50% to 3.5%, depending on which bank you want to put your placements.
Maybank offers 3.5% on its ADDvantage 5-year time deposit, which is one of the highest rates in the market.
BDO time deposit rates range from 0.500% to 1.250% for short-term time deposits of peso and dollar accounts, while the rates for a 5-year term period may vary.
To help you compare the rates, a P50,000 initial placement for a regular peso time deposit, with a term of 365 days, has an interest rate of 0.750%.
If you put this initial placement in BPI regular peso time deposit with a term of 364 days, the interest rate per annum is 0.87500% (for the period of 04 – 10 February 2020 only).
BDO vs Security Bank and other time deposit promo rates in the Philippines
The BDO time deposit rates aren’t exactly the best in the market. But if you’re already an existing depositor, it’s more convenient for you to set up a time deposit account at your nearest branch.
Let’s compare the interest rates of BDO to interest rates of Security Bank and other banks in the Philippines.
Assuming you want to deposit P100,000 as your placement for a short-term period of, let’s say, more than 350 days.
Keep in mind that the rates are subject to change. You may click the links to see the duration of the promo rates per bank.
| Bank | Placement of P100,000 | Period | Promotional Rate |
| BDO | Regular Peso Time Deposit | 360 days | 0.750% |
| Security Bank | Peso Time Deposit | 12 months | 2.600% |
| Eastwest Bank | Peso Time Deposit | 360 days | 2.375% |
| RCBC | Peso Time Deposit | 181-364 days | 2.000% |
| PSBank | Peso Time Deposit | 180 days – 1 year | 1.500% |
| Maybank | Classic Time Deposit | 91-359 days | 1.250% |
| BPI Family Savings | Regular Time Deposit | 364 days | 1.125% |
| China Bank | Regular Time Deposit | 360 days | 1.075% |
| Bank of Philippine Islands | Regular Time Deposit | 364 days | 0.875% |
| UnionBank | Peso Time Deposit | 180 – 359 days | 0.825% |
| Metrobank | Regular Time Deposit | 6 months – 1 year | 0.750% |
| Landbank | Peso Time Deposit | 181 – 364 days | 0.6250% |
For peso time deposits ranging from 91 days to 12 months, Security Bank offers the highest rate of 2.600%. At a glance, their minimum placement is P100,000.
Other banks offer minimum placements ranging from P10,000 to P50,000, or more.
At BDO, you can start for as low as P1,000 for the Regular Time deposit. So, this is an opportunity for every “Juan” to start saving and planning for the future.
BDO time deposit vs BDO regular savings account
So you have extra cash and want to earn more from interest rates with minimum risks. Should you put it in a regular savings account or time deposit?
It depends on how far you want to go by multiplying your hard-earned money.
BDO regular peso savings account offers 0.25% interest rate per annum, which is quite lower than the time deposit rates.
The difference between the time deposit and regular peso savings account is the tenure and interest rate you earn.
If you have extra cash and you think you can exercise self-control by holding it off for the long term, then a time deposit account is much better than a regular savings account.
What do you think of the BDO time deposit accounts mentioned above? Are you happy with the interest rates of BDO? Let us know in the comments below.