The State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest and one of the most popular scheduled commercial banks in India. Apart from having over 24,000 branches and over 59,000 ATMs in India, the SBI has an overseas presence through 195 foreign offices spread across 36 countries. The bank, through its large network, provides various services to its customers, which also involve some charges. Here are 5 of such charges that affect a majority of customers and which they need to be aware of.
1. Charges for not maintaining Minimum Account Balance (MAB)
The SBI charges Rs 50 per month (excluding GST) for not maintaining minimum account balance (MAB) of Rs 5,000 in Metro centre branches, if the shortfall in account balance is up to 50 per cent. The bank charges Rs 75, if the shortfall is more than 50 per cent but up to 75 per cent, and Rs 100, if the shortfall exceeds 75 per cent.
The monthly charges (excluding GST) will be Rs 40, Rs 60 and Rs 80, respectively, for not maintaining minimum account balance of Rs 3,000 in accounts at the bank’s Urban centre branches.
Similarly, the monthly charges (excluding GST) for not maintaining the minimum account balance of Rs 2,000 in accounts at semi-Urban centre branches will be Rs 25, Rs 50 and Rs 75, respectively.
For not maintaining MAB of Rs 1,000 in accounts at Rural centre branches, the monthly charges will be Rs 20, Rs 30 and Rs 50, respectively.
2. ATM usage charges
The charge (excluding GST) per financial transaction will be Rs 10 and that of non-financial transaction will be Rs 5 per transaction through SBI ATMs after 5 free transactions in a month for customers having MAB of up to Rs 25,000 in the previous month. However, for customers having MAB of over Rs 25,000, there will be no charges for transactions through the ATMs of SBI.
The charges (excluding GST) for using other banks’ ATMs will be Rs 20 per financial transaction and Rs 8 per non-financial transaction after the 3 free usage per month in Metro centres and 5 free usage per month in non Metro centres for customers having MAB up to Rs 1 lakh in the previous month. For customers, having Rs 1 lakh in the previous month, there will be no charges for using the ATMs of other banks.
3. Cheque book issuance charges
For account holders having Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) up to Rs 1 lakh, first 25 cheque leaves are provided free of cost in a financial year. Thereafter, Rs 30, Rs 75 and Rs 150 (excluding GST) will be charged for cheque books having 10 leaves, 25 leaves and 50 leaves, respectively. No amount will be charged to issue cheque books to account holders having QAB of Rs 1 lakh or more and to senior citizens. However, for an emergency cheque book (10 leaves set), Rs 50 (excluding GST) will be charged to both the current and savings bank account holders.
4. Cheque returned charges
Cheque returned charges (excluding GST) for cheques drawn on SBI will be Rs 500 irrespective of the cheque amount if it bounces due to insufficient funds only. If the cheque is returned due to technical reasons, Rs 150 (excluding GST) will be charged. However, as per the RBI guidelines, there will be no charges for the technical reasons, where the customer is not at fault.
5. DD charges
The charges (including GST) for issue of Inter Office Instruments (Demand Drafts/ Bankers’ Cheque) will be Rs 25 for DDs up to Rs 5,000 and Rs 50 for DDs of over Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. The charges (including GST) will be Rs 5 per thousand for DDs of over Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 and for DDs of over Rs 1,00,000, charges (including GST) will be Rs 4 per thousand (minimum Rs 600 and maximum Rs 2,000).
