From Savings Account Fees To Credit Card Surcharge: 5 Financial Changes To Not Miss In May

The general public will observe financial changes pertaining to savings accounts and credit card surcharges starting today, May 1. Ignoring these developments might have a significant negative impact on their financial goals and approach. Many banks have hiked fees for savings account services in May, and others have added surcharges for credit card utility transactions. Here are the changes with regard to finance that will take place in May.

ICICI Bank Charges On Savings Account Services

As per a statement released by ICICI Bank, here are the revised service charges for a range of savings account related transactions.

Cash Transaction Charges Home Branch (With effect from 1st May 2024)

1) Number Limit (Sum total of deposits and withdrawals) Rs 150 per transaction, post 3 free cash transactions per month.

2) Value Limit (Sum total of deposits and withdrawals) Rs 5 per Rs 1,000, post free limit of Rs 1 lakh, per month or Rs 150, whichever is higher.

a) Non-Home branch - Rs 5 per Rs 1,000, for transaction value above Rs 25,000 at non-home branch in a day or Rs 150, whichever is higher.

b) Third party cash transactions charged at Rs 150 per transaction. Per transaction value capped at Rs 25,000.

Debit Card Fees annual fees (With effect from 1st May 2024)

Rs.200 p.a. For Gramin locations - Rs.99 p.a.

Cheque Books (With effect from 1st May 2024)

Nil for 25 cheque leaves in a year; Rs. 4 per leaf thereafter

DD / PO - Cancellation / Duplicate / Revalidation (With effect from 1st May 2024)

Rs.100 per instance

IMPS - Outward (With effect from 1st May 2024)

• Amount up to Rs 1 thousand - Rs 2.50 per transaction
• Amount above Rs 1 thousand to Rs 25 thousand - Rs 5 per transaction
• Amount above Rs 25 thousand to Rs 5 lakhs - Rs 15 per transaction

Stop Payment charges (With effect from 1st May 2024)

Particular cheque - Rs.100 (Free through customer care IVR & Net banking)

ECS / NACH Debit Returns (With effect from 1st May 2024)

Rs 500 per instance for financial reasons. Maximum recovery will be done for 3 instances per month for the same mandate.

Yes Bank Savings Account Charges

With effect from May 1, YES Bank has revised its fees for savings account services. The maximum charges charged by the bank for keeping savings account average monthly balances (AMBs) below the mandated limit have hiked to Rs 250 - Rs 1,000 which was Rs 250 to Rs 750 prior to the revision.

"AMB requirement, as defined by YES BANK from time to time, at select locations, is Rs. 5000 for YES Grace, Rs. 2500 for YES Respect and Rs. 2500 for YES Value. For Kisan Savings A/c, Average Yearly Balance (AYB) of Rs. 1000 is required at all locations. For Savings value where AMB requirement is Rs. 2500, Maximum Charges for non-maintenance of balances is capped at Rs. 125 per month. For Kisan Savings A/c, Charges would be Rs. 100 per annum," mentioned the bank on its website.

HDFC Bank Senior Citizens FD Scheme

After a multiple extension since its introduction on 18th May 2020, HDFC Bank is finally going to end its Senior Citizen Care FD Scheme on 2nd May 2024. Senior citizens can benefit from a higher interest rate with HDFC Bank Senior Citizen Care FD, which offers an interest rate of 7.75% on a predetermined tenure of 5 years, 1 day to 10 years. Senior Citizen Care FD offers an additional 0.25% over and above the existing 0.5% premium.

Surcharges On Utility Payments With Credit Cards

With effect from May 1st, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank have stated that they would be introducing surcharges on credit card utility transactions on select credit cards. According to Yes Bank's surcharge policy, utility bill payments over Rs 15,000 during a statement cycle will be subject to a 1% levy + GST. The private credit card offered by Yes Bank is exempt from this charge. A similar 1 per cent surcharge plus GST would be imposed by IDFC First Bank on utility bill payments that exceed Rs 20,000 during a statement cycle exempting FIRST Private Credit Card, LIC Classic Credit Card, and LIC Select Credit Card.

New Mutual Fund Rules

Name and date of birth/incorporation (DOB/I) as per PAN card/Proof of Identity (POI) in mutual fund folios are mandatory as of April 30, 2024, per a major regulatory modification listed on the CAMS website.

"As per recent Master circular on KYC requirements of SEBI and changes advised by Income Tax Department in PAN validation process, now it is mandated to quote your Name(s) and DOB/I as per PAN card/POI. All Mutual Funds are mandated to validate the Name and DOB/I against the PAN available with Income tax department. To avoid any failure in such validations, we request investors to quote the Name(s) and DOB/I of all the holders including Guardian, Power of Attorney [POA] holders as per PAN card in all new application forms (physical and digital) and KYC forms," CAMS mentioned on its website.