Looking to shore up its deposit base, private sector lender Yes Bank on Friday launched a fixed deposit product with a health cover for COVID-19 illness. The bank has tied up with Reliance General Insurance for the product, under which it will bear the premium cost for a cover of Rs 25,000 for new fixed deposits of over Rs 1 lakh, an official statement said.

Yes Bank, which had to be bailed out by a consortium of lenders led by SBI in March, had seen erosion of deposits in the weeks leading to it being put under a moratorium by the Reserve Bank. It closed FY20 with a 53 per cent reduction in its deposit base. Under the new scheme, new fixed deposit openings of Rs 1 lakh for one year and above will get the complimentary health insurance cover apart from an interest of around 7.25 per cent, it said.