SBI Removes Minimum Balance Requirement For Savings Accounts; Cuts Interest Rates

On Wednesday, the State Bank of India (SBI) announced that it has waived off the requirement of having to maintain an average monthly balance requirement for savings bank account holders.

"State Bank of India has decided to waive maintenance of Average Monthly Balance (AMB) for all Savings Bank Accounts," the bank said in a press release.

State Bank of India: Quotes, News

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Apart from the zero balance facility now awarded to all savings bank account holders of SBI, customers of the bank will also not require to pay SMS charges levied on a quarterly basis.

Also. savings bank account interest rate has been reduced to 3 percent per annum, irrespective of the amount deposited by the customer. The bank hopes that revoking minimum balance requirement and SMS charges will bring "significant relief" to the customers.

Earlier, SBI customers required to maintain a minimum monthly average balance of Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 in Metro, Semi-Urban and Rural branches, respectively.

The largest bank in India had also cut FD (fixed deposit) interest rates and MCLR on Wednesday.

Further, SBI announced an increase in its rental charges for safe deposit lockers with effect from 31 March 2020. Note that the following rates exclude GST.

Metro and urban areas:

Locker Size	Existing (Rs) Charges	Charges with effect from 31 March 2020 (Rs)
Small	1,500	2,000
Medium	3,000	4,000
Large	6,000	8,000
Extra Large	9,000	12,000

Semi-urban and rural areas:

Locker Size	Existing (Rs) Charges	Charges with effect from 31 March 2020 (Rs)
Small	1,000	1,500
Medium	2,000	3,000
Large	5,000	6,000
Extra Large	7,000	9,000