Mumbai, July 26: Private sector DCB Bank is tapping the online route to boost retail deposits.

The lender has launched "DCB Zippi Online Fixed Deposit" through which customers can open or close fixed deposits.

The facility is also open to those who are not the bank's customers.

Praveen Kutty, head (retail & SME banking) of DCB Bank, said the product enabled customers from any part of the country to start a fixed deposit and take advantage of the attractive interest rates offered by the lender.

Moreover, customers can benefit from the facility even if a DCB branch is not present in their locality.

For deposits of over 12 months, the bank offers an interest rate of 8.60-8.70 per cent against 8-8.25 per cent offered by the State Bank of India.

Kutty said the response to the product, launched in early June, had been encouraging.

"We have got customers across India from locations such as Dhanbad, Rohtak, Guwhati and others where our nearest branch is many kilometers away. Another positive is that they are investing larger amounts. While both self-employed and salaried individuals are opting for it, we have seen that they have been driven by the interest rate rather than the tenor," he added.

The bank has 157 branches in the country and plans to open 25-30 branches annually over the next few years.

According to Kutty, the facility enables an individual to open a fixed deposit account within 30 minutes. While a customer should have a permanent account number (PAN), the KYC documents are collected from his residence.

For the quarter ended June, total deposits of DCB Bank stood at Rs 13,269 crore, of which retail deposits accounted for nearly 81 per cent.

Kutty said savings accounts were growing annually around 17 per cent even as term deposits were rising at around 30 per cent, placing DCB among the top three in terms of growth rates.