Barclays offers upfront fixed deposit account

An upfront-fixed deposit is a financial instrument by which a bank depositor agrees to lodge a fixed sum of funds with the bank for a fixed period at a fixed rate of interest.

The money is usually fixed at the time the deposit is made. Speaking to BusinessWeek, Barclays’ retail client relations manager, Brighton Banda said they decided to come up with the concept after realising that there is a growing demand for fixed deposits accounts in the country. “This desire was accompanied by a strong desire for more flexibility by customers and this required us as a bank to re-look the financial engineering of the product within our portfolio for all our customers,” he said. Through this account, customers can save a minimum of P100,000 for a period of 12 to 36 months and get a minimum of three percent interest pay. According to Banda, this account target pensioners, as it will help them take care of emergencies without eroding their saved capital.