State Bank of India to hike minimum balance for savings account from April 1, 2017

State Bank of India to hike minimum balance for savings account  from April 1, 2017

State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to increase manifold the minimum balance required for maintaining savings account from 2017 April 1, hitting 31 crore depositors including pensioners and students.

The monthly average balance (MAB) requirement has been increased to as high as Rs. 5,000 for branches in 6 metros.

Savings bank account holders of SBI and its 5 associates (merging with it on April 1, 2017) will have to maintain the monthly balance or else they will invite a penalty ranging from Rs. 20 (rural branches) to Rs. 100 in (metro cities).

SBI has 31 crore savings bank accounts.

As of now, monthly average balance (MAB) for a savings bank account is Rs. 500 without facility of cheque book and Rs. 1,000 with cheque book across the country.

India's largest bank has now decided to fix separate MABs for 'metro', 'urban', 'semi-urban' and 'rural' areas from the beginning of next financial year.

Here are all the new charges that will come into existence from April 1, 2017

SBI will start charging Rs. 50 after the first three cash deposits of the month. This limit is prescribed for saving bank accounts.

For current account holders the cash transaction charges can be as high as Rs. 20,000

The bank account holders will have to maintain a minimum balance or Monthly Average Balance (MAB)

Failing to maintain the minimum balance can attract a fee up to Rs. 100 plus service tax

The charges and MAB varies according to the location of bank. It is minimum in case of rural branches.

In metropolitan areas like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru there will be a charge of Rs. 100 plus service tax, if the balance goes below 75 per cent of the minimum average balance.

If the account holder is falling short of 50% or less of the MAB, then the bank will charge Rs. 50 plus service tax.

Cash withdrawal from ATMs will be charged after the first three transaction for other banks and first five transactions from SBI ATMs.

The account holder will be charged Rs. 20 after the three transactions from other bank ATMs and will be charged Rs. 10 for withdrawals from SBI ATMs.

There will be no charge on withdrawals from SBI ATMs if the account holder maintains a minimum balance of Rs. 25,000

In case of other bank ATMs, the account holder will have to keep a minimum sum of Rs. 1 lakh to avoid withdrawal charges.

Rs. 15 will be charged for SMS alerts per quarter from debit card holders who manage to maintain average quarterly balance of up to Rs. 25,000 during the three months period.

There will be no charge for UPI./ USSD transactions of up to Rs. 1,000.

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