First Salary Account: Know List of Things to do

Getting a job and getting the desired paycheck is one of the most important milestones in everyone's life and if it is the first one then it will be even more memorable. With the growing number of working-class people, banks offer a wide range of offers associated with salary accounts designed specifically to suit both the organizations and the salaried individuals. Some of the new employees even insist on having a bank account with a particular bank wherein the employer will credit their salary and for some, it is just a mere formality to accept the salary account from a bank through which their monthly payouts will be credited.

Salary account is not just a common account but the same can be used to achieve the desired financial goal as it can be seen as an important step towards achieving financial freedom.

Let's understand the meaning of salary account and the benefits associated with it.

What is a Salary Account?

A salary account is an account to which the salary of an employee gets credited. Banks will open salary accounts only at the request of firms, companies to its employees. Each employee of the organization will get their salary account and they will have to operate the account all on their own. The monthly salary payment of the company will be paid through these salary accounts accordingly.

Salary Account Benefits

The following are a list of salary account benefits and it usually varies from one bank to another:

• Instant Account - The account holder will get his or her salary account opened instantly on providing the necessary documents to the concerned bank officials at the time of joining the firm.
• Zero Balance Account - The salary account comes in with zero balance facility (no need to maintain any minimum balance in your salary account)
• Debit & Credit Card - Get debit and credit card from the bank which will be issued with your salary account
• Internet Banking - Get access to internet banking and conduct financial transactions on the go without a need to visit the bank branch physically.
• Insurance - Get insurance facility based on the type of salary account and get coverage for insurance against fraudulent transactions using debit card, accidental death, air travel and so on.
• Cheque Book, Passbook and e-statements - All of this will be offered by the banks at no additional cost to the salary account holders.
• SMS Alerts - Get notifications on all the financial transactions made in your salary account (withdrawal, salary credit and so on)
• Deposits - By giving standard instructions to the bank, you can channel your salary amount towards savings through recurring or fixed deposits and earn a decent interest rate on it.
• Phone Banking - Get access to phone banking facility offered by banks free of cost.
• Demat Account - Some of the banks even offer demat account to its salary account holders to trade in the stock market or to invest in other financial instruments.
• Loan Offers - Salary account holders will get loans from their respective banks at preferential pricing offer.
• Access to ATMs - Get access to withdraw cash from other bank ATMs based on the specified number of transactions
• Utility Bills - You can use your salary account to pay your utility bills regularly
• Cash Withdrawal Facility - You will get free ATM cash withdrawal facility but the number of withdrawals varies based on the bank and the type of salary account chosen by the employer.

After understanding the meaning of salary account and its benefits let's know the list of things to do after opening a salary account:

1. Understanding the Rules and Regulations

Every bank in India will have its own set of rules and regulations associated with its salary account offered to its customers. Though most of the banks nowadays offer zero balance account there will be certain charges which will be levied against your account if you exceed a certain number of set limit while transacting at ATMs. Banks offer free services for transactions at ATM and branches up to a set number of transactions beyond that you will be charged a fee. So it is important to check the charges which will be levied on you on the online payments and bank drafts.

At the time of opening the salary account, each bank will hand out a booklet which contains the list of important rules and regulations framed as per the directives of Banking Codes and Standards Board of India and it is better to preserve it as this book will contain the list of charges and the preset limit on transactions which are associated with your salary account.

2. Accurate Information

Providing your personal information be it your name, contact number, residential address, email id and so on is very important and if in case you find any discrepancies then don't hesitate to correct it immediately.

It is better to recheck if your name, mobile number, email id are recorded correctly as you will be getting transaction-related alerts immediately. Even the one time passwords sent by banks will be received through email and SMS alerts and you cannot allow to get them wrong.

Please Note: If the bank has registered your office email id to their records then do get it changed with the personal email id as this will ensure that you will continue to get the communication on personal email even after you quit the company.

3. Use it Thoroughly

With the advancement of banking, one can see a hue of changes in the way the banking business is conducted in general today. By giving standing instruction to your bank, you can pay for equated monthly instalments (loan) through your salary account.

You can even choose to park your funds either in fixed deposits or regular deposits and fetch certain interest rates accordingly or can invest in mutual funds (SIP) to realize your desired financial goals.

4. Credit Card

In a move to push their products, most of the banks will offer a credit card at the time of opening a salary account. In a bid to lure the account holders, the banks will offer credit cards for free. Though they hide the fact that only for the first year there will be no annual fee and from second year onwards one has to pay the annual fee to continue with the card.

If you are opting for one then make sure that you do pay your bills on time (minimum balance) or else be ready to cough up for late payment fee and higher interest charges.

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About the Author

Archana is a Content Writer at GoodReturns. She has been writing articles related to investment planning and personal finance for more than two years.