Savings Bank accounts (SB) have been a unique link between a common person and a bank. An SB account is a lot different today from the past, when people had the choice of few banks that too with one type of Savings Bank account on offer.

People have a variety of options to choose from, to select the most suitable savings account according to their requirement. The flexibility in a modern-day SB account structure has attracted a huge number of customers and also allowed banks to fulfill their duty toward financial inclusion.

The evolution phase
While previously customers were required to get the new accounts introduced by existing clients, this particular model has now been replaced by KYC (Know your customer) forms. The Reserve Bank of India had last year done away with interest rate regulation on Savings Bank accounts and allowed banks to offer its own rate. Most banks offer rates of around around four per cent from an earlier rate of 3.5 per cent. Today’s SB account has replaced the monotonous single-offering structure of yore with new-age accounts customised, based on customer demand and operation style. Banks have segregated customers on the basis of demographic segmentation, i.e. age, income and gender,etc. Following are some of the important types of SB accounts offered by the banks:

* Senior citizen SB account
* Young citizen SB account
* Women SB account
* Regular SB account
* No Frills SB account
* Student SB account
* Preferred SB account

An SB account requires maintaining stipulated balance as per the bank’s norms. Such balance is called average quarterly balance (AQB) or minimum average balance (MAB) etc. Banks also offer anytime liquidity through debit/ATM cards, online banking, ‘At-Par’ Cheq-ues, mobile banking, pho-ne banking, bill payment facility, demat services, investment in mutual funds, insurance, and charges for such services, according to its norms.

The charges and offers by some of the prominent banks for regular SB account are displayed on the table above. Some institutions are even offering a zero-balance Savings Bank account to attract a larger customer base.

Obviously, banks that have less ambiguity in an offer will appeal more to a prospective customer. Similarly, banks also have offers for senior citizens that suit their needs. In such accounts, the minimum balance criteria has either been lowered or been done away with completely. The senior citizens saving account (SCSA) has been framed keeping in mind the account holder’s age and limitations. Banks like IDBI have no minimum balance requirement for senior citizens whereas HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have lowered such constraints to half.

Who can open account:
* By a person in his/her name;
* By two or more persons in their joint names pay-able to:
* Both or all of them or the survivor or survivors of them; or
* Either or any more of them or the survivor or the survivors of them; or former/latter or survi-vor of a person during his lifetime or survivors jointly or survivor.
* Certain non-profit welfare organisations are also allowed to open a savings account with a bank.
* so many diverse products offered by the banks, it becomes very difficult for the customer to select the most suitable SB account.

Following are some key points to consider while choosing an SB account:
* Monthly balance requirement: It is very difficult to maintain the minimum balance requirement as per the bank’s norms and if the customer doesn’t adhere to such a rule, then they are liable to pay a penalty.
Zero balance saving accounts should be preferred over others.

* Debit card charges: Debit/ATM cards are now a necessity for every account holder. So before selecting an account, the associated charges with debit cards should be noted.

Sometimes the cards’ issuance and annual charges are nil but there are transaction limitations, so one should opt according to frequency of card’s transaction.

* Cheque book facility: It is the basic facility that everyone needs. If the outstation transaction is more than an SB account with more number of free ‘At-Par’ cheques/quarter should be preferred.

* Online banking: Online banking helps in ticket booking, bill payments and most banking operations at the click of a mouse button. The customer should opt for an SB account that enables them to handle all major financial operations such as investment, bill payment, bank enquiries, without any technical glitch and free of cost.

* Sweep facility: It helps account holders to earn more interest on their bank balance by transferring an amount over the predefined level to the fixed deposit account. Interest is paid on the basis of number of days for which the amount is kept in the FD.

* Other facilities: Facilities specially customised for customer needs, like cheque collection at door, third-party cash deposit, accidental insurance and add-on card for shopping should be judged as per one’s own needs.

Future prospects of Savings Bank accounts
The usage of SB account has picked up in recent times due to the RBI’s initiatives increased penetr-ation of financial institutions in rural areas. With financial inclusion the buzzword, SB acconts are are all set to grow further.

Adhil Shetty is the CEO of BankBazaar.com