> Quick view: CIMB raised its October 2026 eFD campaign rates on 9 October. A single placement of RM1,000 or more made online by 12 November 2026 earns 3.90% p.a. for 12 or 15 months, 3.85% for 7 months on a conventional eFD or 10 months on an Islamic eFD-i, and 3.55% for 3 months. The rate runs for one cycle only, and breaking the deposit early pays nothing at all.
Update, 9 November 2026: CIMB has extended the October campaign to Thursday, 12 November 2026 (important notice dated 30 October). The extension changes only the closing date: the campaign page still lists the same five tenures and "up to 3.90% p.a.", and no new rates were announced. The downloadable terms PDF had not yet been re-issued with the new date when we checked, so the campaign page and the notice are the authority for the 12 November deadline. Hong Leong has also extended its eFD promotion, to 16 November, with the same rates.
Update, 29 October 2026: CIMB has re-issued the October campaign terms with revised rates effective 9 October. Every tenure went up, a 7-month conventional eFD and a 10-month eFD-i were added, and the 7-month eFD-i was dropped. The closing date was then 3 November. If you placed between 29 September and 8 October you keep the original rates (3.40%, 3.70%, 3.80% or 3.83%), because CIMB's terms say a rate revision does not apply to deposits already placed. Hong Leong and RHB have both changed their offers since our 3 October version, so the comparison further down has been redone too.
Malaysia's Overnight Policy Rate has been 2.75% since the cut of 9 July 2025, and Bank Negara left it there again at its meeting on 3 September 2026. CIMB's 12- and 15-month rate of 3.90% p.a. sits well over a full percentage point above that, which is why promotional fixed deposits are still one of the few places an ordinary saver gets paid properly for parking cash.
Every CIMB rate, rule and date below comes from CIMB's own eFD/-i campaign page and the revised October campaign terms and conditions PDF, read on 29 October 2026, plus CIMB's extension notice and the live campaign page, read on 9 November 2026.
The rates from 9 October, tenure by tenure
The campaign covers two products: the conventional eFixed Deposit (eFD) and the Islamic eFixed Deposit-i on Maturity Returns (eFD-i). Each tenure exists on only one of them:
- 3 months: 3.55% p.a., conventional eFD only. Up from 3.40%.
- 7 months: 3.85% p.a., conventional eFD only. New from 9 October.
- 10 months: 3.85% p.a., Islamic eFD-i (Maturity Returns) only. New from 9 October, replacing the 7-month eFD-i at 3.70%.
- 12 months: 3.90% p.a., conventional eFD only. Up from 3.80%.
- 15 months: 3.90% p.a., conventional eFD only. Up from 3.83%.
The minimum single placement is RM1,000 for every tenure. There is still no 6-month tenure.
Since the revision, 12 and 15 months pay exactly the same rate. The only thing the longer tenure buys is three more months at 3.90% before the deposit rolls onto CIMB's much lower board rate. If the money is genuinely idle until early 2028, take 15 months; if you might want it back in late 2027, take 12.
The other choice is for Islamic banking customers. The only Shariah-compliant tenure in the campaign is now the 10-month eFD-i at 3.85%. If you want a shorter Islamic placement, the 7-month eFD-i that ran until 8 October is gone, and the 7-month option that replaced it is conventional.
Two Islamic variants are still shut out altogether. The terms apply the campaign only to eFD and eFD-i (Maturity Returns); eFD-i (Monthly Returns) and eFD-i (Why Wait) are excluded. If monthly income from your deposit is the point, this campaign is not the product for you.
What that is actually worth in ringgit
Fixed deposit rates are quoted per annum, so a 3-month placement earns roughly a quarter of the headline. Straight-line figures at each tenure, before the bank's own day-count rounding:
- RM1,000: about RM8.88 over 3 months, RM22.46 over 7 months, RM32.08 over 10 months, RM39 over 12 months, RM48.75 over 15 months.
- RM10,000: about RM88.75, RM224.58, RM320.83, RM390 and RM487.50 respectively.
- RM50,000: about RM443.75, RM1,122.92, RM1,604.17, RM1,950 and RM2,437.50 respectively.
- RM250,000, the PIDM protection ceiling per depositor per bank: about RM9,750 over 12 months, or RM12,187.50 over 15 months.
Against the original October 12-month rate of 3.80%, the revised 3.90% adds about RM10 a year on RM10,000, or RM250 on RM250,000. Banks calculate on actual days rather than neat month fractions, so the figure credited may differ by a few sen. Interest earned by individuals on deposits with banks licensed in Malaysia is exempt from personal income tax, so what lands in the account is what you keep.
How to place it, step by step
The channel matters. CIMB's terms require the eFD/-i to be opened through specific doors, and a placement made any other way does not attract the campaign rate.
- Make sure you have an active CIMB Clicks account and an active CIMB current or savings account, or a DURIAN-i account. The eFD has to be linked to one of them for funding, profit payment and withdrawal.
- Open the campaign page on CIMB's website or CIMB Clicks and use the direct placement link, or open the CIMB OCTO app, tap Apply, and choose Fixed Deposit or Fixed Deposit-i (Maturity Returns). An eDM link from CIMB also counts, if you received one.
- Pick your tenure: 3, 7, 12 or 15 months on the conventional eFD, or 10 months on the eFD-i.
- Fund it with at least RM1,000 in a single placement, by FPX transfer from another bank or from your own CIMB account. Money already sitting at CIMB qualifies; there is no fresh-funds rule.
- Choose whether the profit should be credited to your linked account at maturity or added to the principal. You make that choice at placement, not later.
- Do all of this on or before Thursday, 12 November 2026.
On FPX: the maximum per transaction is whichever is lower, CIMB's limit or your own bank's transfer limit, so a large placement may need to be split or the limit raised first. If a placement fails after the money has left your account, CIMB says it is refunded within seven business days.
The fine print that catches people
Early withdrawal pays you nothing. If you want the money before maturity, the terms require a complete upliftment of the balance, and you earn no profit at all: not the campaign rate, not the board rate, not a pro-rated fraction. Under this campaign, one early withdrawal wipes out the entire return.
The rate lasts one cycle. At maturity, CIMB automatically renews the principal plus profit for the same tenure at whatever board rate applies on the renewal date. Board rates are considerably lower, so diarise the maturity date and decide then whether to move the money.
It does not stack. The campaign rates cannot be combined with other offers, promotions or privileges, and the terms name staff rates specifically.
Rates can move mid-campaign, as they just did. CIMB may vary the campaign period, rates or criteria on notice on its website or at branches, and may extend, shorten or end the campaign with immediate effect if the OPR changes. A revision never touches placements already made, which is why the 9 October increase did not lift deposits placed in the first ten days. Bank Negara's next Monetary Policy Committee meeting is 5 November 2026, two days after this campaign closes.
Who cannot join. The campaign is open to individuals aged 18 and above, sole proprietors and CIMB group staff. Small business, enterprise, commercial and corporate customers are excluded, as are partnerships, companies, societies and non-profits.
What is protected. The eFD/-i is protected by PIDM up to RM250,000 per depositor. DURIAN-i, which you may use to fund the placement, is not PIDM protected.
How it compares with Hong Leong and RHB now
Both of the other big online fixed deposit campaigns have changed since early October. All figures below were read from the banks' own pages on 29 October 2026 and re-checked on 9 November 2026.
Hong Leong's eFD/-i promotion now runs from 1 October to 16 November 2026 (extended from 3 November), but its 4.05% 6-month rate lasted only until 9 October. From 10 October to 16 November it pays 3.88% p.a. for 6 months, 3.80% for 12 months, 3.50% for 3 months, 3.55% for 13 months and 3.00% for 24 months, from RM1,000 placed on HLB Connect. Its terms add two conditions CIMB does not have: the money must be fresh funds from another bank transferred by FPX, and each tenure has a fund size limit (RM4,700 million for 6 months, RM450 million for 12 months), with the promotion ending early if it is reached. Its early-withdrawal rule is kinder than CIMB's: you lose interest only on the amount withdrawn, and the remaining balance still earns.
RHB's campaign page no longer shows the 9-month and 7-month rates it advertised until 31 October. It now carries a 12-month campaign from 27 October to 30 November 2026 paying 3.90% p.a. on a RM1,000 minimum. Over-the-counter placements are open from 27 October and must be new funds; online placements through RHB Online Banking, by FPX from another bank or from your RHB account, opened on 2 November. It closes early if RHB reaches its campaign target.
Read together:
- Under a year: Hong Leong's 6-month 3.88% (fresh funds only) and CIMB's 7-month 3.85% (any funds) are within a few sen of each other. On RM10,000, six months at Hong Leong earns about RM194, seven months at CIMB about RM225. If your money already sits at CIMB, the CIMB tenure is the easier one.
- 12 months: CIMB and RHB tie at 3.90%, ahead of Hong Leong's 3.80%. CIMB closes on 12 November; RHB stays open until 30 November, so it is the one to use if you miss CIMB's deadline or your bonus lands later in November.
- Longer than a year: CIMB's 15-month 3.90% is the only promotional rate that runs past twelve months at that level. Hong Leong's 13-month (3.55%) and 24-month (3.00%) are well below it.
One warning about the comparison tables you will find elsewhere. Several products advertised near or above 4% p.a. are commodity-linked investment accounts, not fixed deposits: the principal is not guaranteed and they are not PIDM-protected. Every rate in the table below is an ordinary deposit product covered by PIDM up to RM250,000.
What to do after 12 November
As of 9 November CIMB has not published a November campaign; it chose to extend October's instead. Its eFD rounds have followed one another closely this year (the October round started on 29 September, a day before September's closed), so check the campaign page again around 12 November. Until something appears, RHB's 3.90% for 12 months, online since 2 November and open to 30 November, is the strongest alternative at that tenure, and Hong Leong's 3.88% for 6 months (fresh funds only) runs to 16 November.
Who should do it, and who should skip
Worth doing if you hold cash you know you will not touch for the full tenure: a separate emergency buffer, a property deposit dated for 2027 or 2028, money waiting on a decision. At 3.90% for twelve or fifteen months you are paid more than a percentage point over the policy rate for doing nothing.
Worth doing if your savings account balance is large and idle and already at CIMB. Unlike Hong Leong's offer, CIMB's rate does not care whether the money is new.
Skip it if there is any chance you will need the money mid-tenure. The zero-profit upliftment rule turns a small emergency into a total loss of return. Take the 3-month tenure at 3.55%, or leave the money liquid.
Skip it if you want monthly income from the deposit. The two CIMB products that pay out monthly or upfront are both excluded.
Look at RHB instead if you want 12 months at 3.90% but cannot move the money before 12 November.
