Axis Bank Revises Charges For Cash Withdrawals & SMS Alerts: Details Inside

Axis Bank has updated its service charges for savings bank account customers which will go into effect from May 1, 2021. Beyond the free limit, the private sector lender has raised cash withdrawal charges from ATMs. It has also raised the minimum balance requirements for different types of savings accounts whereas lowered the minimum fee for non-maintenance of minimum balance in a savings account. The bank has cut its service charges on certain services, such as signature verification and photo attestation. The lender will begin charging a higher fee for delivering SMS alerts to its customers starting from July 1. The bank will start charging 25 paise per SMS from July 1st (which is currently Rs 15 per quarter till June 30), with a set limit of Rs 25. According to the lender, promotional SMS and OTP alerts are not charged. Some accounts are exempt from SMS alert fees, according to the bank's website. Burgundy, Burgundy Private, Priority, NRI, Trust & Government Accounts, Defense Salary Accounts, Staff Accounts, Small & Basic Accounts, Pension Accounts, and Select Salary Relationships are the accounts that fall into this category.

SMS alert charges

As per Axis Bank website, the fee for certain value-added services (VAS) alerts is currently charged at Rs 5 per month (levied quarterly at Rs 15 per quarter) on a subscription basis (s). This will be in effect until June 30, 2021. Starting from July 1, 2021, a 25-paise-per-SMS alert fee will be charged based on actual usage/SMS sent to the customer, with a monthly limit of Rs 25. Charges are not applied on promotional SMS sent by the bank or OTP alerts. To combat fraud, the Reserve Bank of India has prompted banks to send SMS notifications for every transaction. The regulator has also instructed banks to charge fees based on actual usage. Charges based on actual usage, according to the RBI, will facilitate transparency in customers' transactions. Once funds are credited in the beneficiary account, the RBI has advised banks to issue mandatory SMS alerts for debit card transactions, ATM cash withdrawals, NEFT and RTGS transactions; these are non-chargeable. All other transaction alerts are fee-based, according to RBI regulations.

Charges for cash withdrawal and non-maintenance of minimum balance

Cash withdrawals in excess of the free cap are currently charged at Rs 5 per Rs 1,000 or Rs 150, whichever is higher. Cash withdrawals in excess of the free limit will be charged at Rs 10 per Rs 1,000 or Rs 150, whichever is higher, starting May 1, 2021. The average balance requirement limit for Easy Savings schemes in metro locations has been revised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, and a fee for non-maintenance of balance has been introduced. This change will take place from May 1, 2021. If these limits are not met, a penalty of Rs 10 per Rs 100 of the shortfall will be imposed. The bank has, however, lowered the minimum charges under this outline to Rs 50, from Rs 150 previously. However, the maximum charges have been raised from Rs 600 to Rs 800. The minimum balance threshold for existing Prime variants (Digital Prime, Savings Domestic and Non-resident Prime, and Liberty schemes) has been revised to Rs 25,000 average monthly balance (AMB) or Rs 1 lakh term deposit. The minimum fee for non-maintenance of minimum balance in a savings account has also been cut by the bank. The minimum fee for non-balance management has also been cut by the bank. The bank has lowered the minimum fee on non-maintenance of balance from INR 150/- to INR 50/- for all locations in order to secure the preferences of customers who may fall short of the balance criteria threshold by a small amount.

Dormant account charges and other service charges

Dormant salary accounts will be charged a fee by Axis Bank. Salary accounts that have been active for more than six months and have not received any credit (via cash, transfer, clearing, digital, and so on.) in a calendar month will be charged a fee of INR 100 per month. In addition, in the 18th month, savings accounts with no transactions for the previous 17 months will be charged a one-time fee of Rs 100. With impact from May 1, 2021, fees for services such as cancel cheque, address confirmation, photo attestation, signature verification, and a few others will be reduced.