Top-9 free benefits with a savings bank account
Debit card users are also eligible to get attractive free benefits from banks.
A savings bank account is an instrument that comes with the least strings. At the same time savings accounts holders are also entitled to some freebies. Most of us are not aware of what these are. Money9 provides a list of the 9 important things you get for free from savings accounts.
Deposit insurance
According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, all deposits with all commercial banks and cooperative banks are insured under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) scheme for up to Rs 5 lakh.
This includes all deposits held by a person in the current account, savings account, recurring deposits, and fixed deposits.
All public sector banks and private lenders offer this facility to their customers.
Life insurance
Almost all leading PSU and private banks offer life insurance cover including air accidents to savings account holders. Some of them charge a very nominal premium while some offer it absolutely free.
The amount varies from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. State Bank of India savings bank account holders can get a personal accident insurance cover of Rs 4 lakh just for a nominal annual premium of Rs 200.
PNB, Axis Bank, and Bandhan Bank offer free accidental death coverage up to Rs 5 lakh. The minimum cover is Rs 1 lakh.
On the other hand, IDFC First Bank, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra, and ICICI Bank offer air-accident cover up to Rs 10 lakh for its privileged customers free of cost. SBI offers air accident coverage to its customers up to Rs 40 lakh.
ATM limit
Generally, savings account customers can withdraw Rs 10,000 from ATMs of other banks and a maximum of Rs 25,000 from home ATMs. But premium savings account holders in ICICI, Bandhan, IDFC, AXIS Bank can withdraw cash up to Rs 1 lakh in a single day.
Public sector banks like SBI, PNB, or BoB have generally fixed the ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 25,000 in a single day for all savings account customers. This limit goes up to Rs 50,000 for a premium or current account holders. It is the almost same for every public sector bank.
Free transactions
A savings account holder can send and receive payments free of cost and it serves as a base for all transactions. Financial transactions can also be carried out swiftly by using NEFT/RTGS/IMPS facilities.
This facility is the same for all savings account holders of PSU and private banks. But a few banks such as HDFC, Axis, IDFC, and ICICI offer free IMPS transactions to the customers whose average monthly balance is maintained at or above Rs 1 lakh.
Purchase protection
Lenders like SBI, HDFC, ICICI, and others also offer purchase protection on debit cards. This amount varies between Rs 5,000 and Rs 1 lakh depending upon the variant of the card or the savings account.
SBI offers 5 different variants of debit cards – SBI Gold, SBI Platinum, SBI Pride, SBI Premium and SBI Signature. For gold and pride cards there is purchase protection up to Rs 5,000.
For platinum and premium debit card users, the purchase cover is up to Rs 50,000, and for signature debit cardholders the purchase protection is up to Rs 1 lakh.
HDFC, Axis, or ICICI Bank offer purchase protection to customers within a period of 90 days after the purchase.
Airport lounge access
Banks such as SBI, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and IDFC First offer free airport lounge access to their premium savings account holders only.
This service is for selective customers, who maintain a high balance account with the bank.
The number of free lounge access varies from one and three every quarter depending upon the bank. Besides, some banks such as HDFC Bank, Axis, ICICI, Citi and IndusInd also offer attractive rates on goods purchased from airport duty-free shops.
Baggage lost protection
Checked-in baggage loss cover during air travel (Domestic & International) is also there from the airline company, subject to a condition of the air ticket being purchased using SBI debit card. The insurance limit is Rs 25,000. This is available for all SBI debit cardholders.
Besides selected HDFC, ICICI, BoB, Kotak Mahindra bank account users are also eligible for this facility.
Unlimited ATM withdrawal
Banks such as IDBI, Citi, Yes, RBL, Bandhan, IDFC First are offering unlimited ATM transactions to their customers depending upon the character of the savings accounts.
But banks like SBI, PNB, BoB, Axis, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra are not offering unlimited ATM transactions. In these banks, the unlimited ATM transaction facility is there only for premium customers.
Extra benefits
IndusInd, Citi, ICICI, HDFC, Axis, and some other banks allow a customer to open a free demat account along with a premium savings account. A demat account is needed for trading in stock markets.
Some leading banks are giving a free-locker facility or locker facility with minimum charge when you open a savings account with them. SBI, PNB, and BoB offer a discount of up to 35% of the locker charges for the premium customers.
Leading private banks like HDFC, ICICI, IDFC, Kotak Mahindra and Axis offer 50% to 100% discount on locker charges for the first year for the premium customers. Free locker insurance cover is also offered by some leading private banks.