SBI Savings Plus Account: 4 Lesser Known Facts You Need To Know About

In order to overcome emergency or immediate personal finance needs, savings account in your portfolio is a must. Sayings accounts are well known for liquidity in nature, safety of funds, fund transfer facility, interest on the deposit amount, and so on. However, when it comes to opening savings account the first two things that come to our mind are best interest rates on savings accounts and leading or top banks of our country offering savings accounts. Considering this factor in mind, we have picked for you a Savings Plus Account which is offered by the top commercial bank of our country State Bank of India (SBI). To know in brief about this savings account, let's discuss the 4 lesser-known facts of it.

What is an SBI Savings Plus Account?

According to SBI, SBI Savings Plus Account is a savings bank account linked to the Multi Option Deposit Scheme (MODS), in which surplus funds from the Savings Bank Account are automatically transferred to Term Deposits in multiples of Rs. 1000 maintained in any SBI branch. According to the specifics of this SBI savings account, which are published on SBI's official website - sbi.co.in - the term deposit duration spans from 1 year to 5 years, same as the post office savings account scheme. Where the interest rate of an SBI savings account is just 2.7 percent per annum, opening an SBI Savings Plus Account can be a smart choice to get higher returns along with the below-mentioned benefits.  

Features of SBI Savings Plus Account

Below are the features and benefits of SBI Savings Account that you need to know about:

• One can open an SBI Savings Plus Account for a deposit period of 1 to 5 years.
• This savings account comes with a range of services like ATM card, State Bank Anywhere, Mobile banking, Internet banking and SMS alerts.
• One can also avail loan against his or her Multi Option Deposit Scheme (MODS) account.
• According to SBI, the minimum threshold limit for transfer to MOD is capped at Rs 35,000 and the minimum amount of transfer to MOD Rs. 10,000/- in multiples of Rs 1,000/- at one instance is allowed.
• The account user is entitled to get 25 free cheque leaves per year, according to SBI. Subsequent cheques will be provided with certain charges based on the customer's Quarterly Average balance.
• According to SBI, free withdrawals are limited depending on the Monthly Average Balance.
• One can transfer his or her savings plus account via internet banking.
• This savings account comes with no upper limit on the maximum account balance.
• A passbook is also provided to the account holder without any charges. If the original passbook is lost, a duplicate passbook can be obtained with a fee.
• Account statements would be provided to the account holder via email.
• This savings account comes with no monthly average balance limit.

Eligibility required to open SBI Savings Account Plus account

To open a Savings Plus Account you need to meet the below-given eligibility criteria according to SBI:

• All individuals with appropriate KYC documents, according to SBI, are eligible to open a Savings bank account at any bank branch.
• The account can be opened individually, jointly, or with either or survivor, former or survivor, anyone or survivor, and so on.
• SBI has said via its official website about KYC requirements that "The customer has to specify whether' First in First Out" or "Last in First out" principle should be applied for break opening of deposits. In absence of any mandate, the "last in First out" principle will be applied."

Terms and conditions

SBI has highlighted three points on its official website about the terms and conditions of the Savings Plus Account. According to SBI:

• Savings Bank linked to Multi Option Deposit (MOD) account, for limousine sweep, for the issue of Term Deposits and unitised break-up facilities. Any surplus funds retaining a minimum of Rs. 25000/ in Savings Bank (to be set up by the customer) will be transferred as Term Deposit with a minimum of Rs. 10,000/- and in multiple of Rs. 1,000/- at one instance.
• W.e.f 01.11.2018, In case the balance falls below Rs 3,000/- MODs will be broken to maintain a balance of Rs 3,000/ in the account.
• If sufficient balance in MOD is not available, on account of which the system is unable to maintain the minimum balance of Rs 3000/- in the account, the customer is liable to pay charges on non-maintenance of AMB as applicable to the geographical location where the account is maintained.