Time deposit (also known as a certificate of deposit in the United States, fixed deposit) is a special account with:

• fixed amount, amount limits (with minimum or maximum limit) or flexible amount (like deposit with replenishment)
• fixed duration or term of the time deposit or with minimum and maximum term
• higher rate of return than traditional savings account, but the money must be kept in the account during all term of the time deposit.

The term of time deposits can be from 1 week to several years. So, banks propose different conditions for different terms of the deposit account:

• lower interest rate for the first month (week, quart, year) and higher interest rate for the last month (week, quart, year)
• proportionally lower interest rate if you withdraw some amount during the term of the time deposit.

Depending on the deposit conditions, the interests can be:

• calculated in different ways – using different schemas of interests calculating (simple or complex interest rate, different number of days in months and year, etc.)
• paid in different ways:
  • interests will be paid periodically (monthly, quarterly, yearly) to your card or any other account
  • interests will be paid only in the end of term of the deposit account.

In some countries, interests rate depends on:

• currency of the time deposit
• minimum of everyday balance of the time deposit
• minimum of everyday balance of all client’s accounts
• etc.

There are various ways to deposit money to time deposit account but it depends on the country and local bank conditions. Some banks can open a time deposit account only if you have an opened account in that bank (checking account, savings account, current account, etc.) or if you have any type of loans (mortgage, auto loans, refinance, etc.).

In some countries, banks are not permitted any withdrawal from time deposit even with penalties. Elsewhere you can withdraw money before the end date of time deposit only after advance notice or at a specified future date, but you should pay some penalties like:

• just all amount of calculated interests
• fixed fee
• etc.

In the end of time deposit, according to their conditions, it can be:

• prolonged automatically to the same type of time deposit
• returned to your account (checking account, savings account, current account, etc.) or card
• saved in the time deposit account with different conditions (time deposit after term end date will be like savings account).