Having a bank account has become a necessity in today’s world. A bank account is required for various needs — from paying college fee online, making online transactions to receiving the amount of government schemes. Almost all of us have a bank account, however, it does not come free of cost. The banks charge certain
Having a bank account has become a necessity in today’s world. A bank account is required for various needs — from paying college fee online, making online transactions to receiving the amount of government schemes. Almost all of us have a bank account, however, it does not come free of cost. The banks charge certain amount for providing various services to its customers. The banks levy certain charges for allowing the customers to withdraw money from ATMs, sending SMS and other facilities.
Let’s look at charges levied by top banks for giving various services:
Cash transactions: Most of the banks allow only three to five transactions per month in a savings account. The banks also levy charges if the customers exceed a specified number or amount. The Axis Bank levy charges if a customer breached the limit of four free transactions or cash withdrawals of up to Rs 2 lakh in a month, whichever is earlier.Since May 1, Axis Bank users now have to pay 2.5 per cent of the amount withdrawn from the savings account for cash withdrawals above the free limit.
Bank of Baroda allows three transactions per month (excluding ATM withdrawals) for free, however beyond that,saving bank customers in metro urban regions will be charged Rs 125/- per transaction, while senior citizens, pensioners and saving bank account customers based in rural/semir-urban regions will be charged Rs 100/- per transaction. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders have been exempted from these charges.
ATM withdrawal charges: In a month, banks allow up to five transactions in their own ATMs, and three transactions at other banks’ ATMs, free of charges. The State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank allow its regular savings bank account holders eight free transactions in metro cities,including five transactions from their own ATMs and three transactions from any other bank’s ATM. Beyond this limit, the banks charge around Rs 20 to Rs 50 per withdrawal. Every bank has fixed its own charge for ATM withdrawl.
Failed ATM transaction: Even though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that banks can’t charge customers for failed transactions, the banks charge a fee for a failed ATM transaction owing to insufficient balance in acustomer’s accounts. SBI charges a fee of Rs 20 plus GST for failed transaction. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Yes Bank charge Rs 25 per failed transaction.
Minimum Balance: The banks levy charge on customer’s accounts if the bank balance falls below the asked limit. ICICI Bank asked its customers to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 in metro and urban branches and Rs 5,000 in savings accounts for semi-urban and rural branches. In case a customer fails to maintain the minimum balance, the bank will levy a penalty of Rs100 + 5% of the shortfall in the required minimum balance in Metro/Urban/Semi-Urban/Rural locations.
Since March 2020, SBI stopped charging its customers for not maintaining minimum balance. The bank used to levy a penalty of Rs 5 to Rs 15 plus taxes on the non-maintenance of the average monthly balance of Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 in metro, semi-urban and rural areas, respectively.
SMS charges: The banks send message to their customers about transactions happening from their accounts, which are usually charged.Axis Bank charges 25 paise for every SMS alert with maximum of Rs 25 per month. One-time passwords and promotional messages have been exempted from SMS charges.
In August last year, SBI had waived off charges for SMS service. Earlier, SBI was charging Rs 12 for debit card holders who have an average balance of Rs 25,000 and below in their account.
Documentation: For issuing documents, banks charge their customers. SBI charges Rs 150 for signature verification. In every financial year, the banks offer one annual account statement. However, if customers request a duplicate account statement, it may cost them between Rs 50 to Rs 100. ICICI Bank charges Rs 100 per duplicate statement.
Cheque: RBI has set maximum charge of 150 per cheque for speed clearing of cheques worth over Rs 1 lakh. There is no charges on cheques for values up to Rs 1 lakh. A customer have to paya fee of ₹100-150 if cheque bounces.
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