SBI waives minimum balance penalty, SMS charges on all savings accounts

Guwahati: India's largest bank State Bank of India or SBI announced that it is not charging savings bank account customers for non-maintenance of minimum balance and it has waived SMS charges as well.

"Good news for SBI Savings Account holders! Now you don't have to pay charges for SMS service and non-maintenance of monthly average balance," the State Bank of India or SBI tweeted today.

Notably, SBI has over 44 crore savings accounts.

This change has been brought in for all SBI savings accounts that have internet banking and cheque book facilities meaning the waiver of charges is all applicable for all accounts.

Nonetheless, SBI offers a higher number of free ATM transactions to those who maintain a higher balance in their savings accounts. For instance, account holders who maintain balance of over 1 lakh get the benefit of an unlimited number of free ATM transactions in a month.

Earlier this year in March, SBI stated that it will waive charges for non-maintenance of average monthly balance (AMB) for all savings bank accounts. Previously, SBI savings bank customers had to maintain average monthly balance of Rs 3000, Rs 2000 and  Rs 1000 in metro, semi urban and rural areas respectively. The bank used to charge a penalty of Rs 5 to Rs 15 plus taxes on non-maintenance of average monthly balance.

SBI now pays an interest rate of 2.7% on savings bank account deposits.

It is to be mentioned that SBI is the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees. It also declares to be the largest mortgage lender in the nation.

As on March 31, 2020, the bank had a deposit base of over Rs. 32 lakh crore. The bank has the largest network of over 22,000 branches across India with an ATM / CDM network of over 58,000 and total BC outlets of more than 61,000.

ALSO WATCH: Govt Acts Tough On Schools Without Licences