Corporate FDs issued by Housing Finance Companies (HFCs)/Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) offer higher interest rates than bank fixed deposits, especially the interest rates offered by public sector banks and major private sector banks. However, unlike FDs opened with scheduled banks, corporate FDs are not secured under the insurance cover offered by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), an RBI subsidiary. Hence, depositors should carefully examine the ratings assigned by recognized rating agencies like CRISIL, CARE, ICRA, etc while selecting the corporate FDs.
The credit rating agencies assign the ratings on the basis of their assessment of the NBFC/HFC issuing corporate FDs. Corporate FDs having higher ratings can be considered to carry lower chances of defaults in principal and interest repayments.