The State Bank of India on Wednesday announced the abolition of the minimum balance requirement in savings accounts.
The bank has said that now there is no need for all savings account holders to keep minimum balance in their account. Along with this, SBI reduced the annual interest rate on savings accounts to three percent. SBI issued a statement and shared this information.
The statement said, ‘The bank has decided to end the constraint on the monthly minimum balance (AMB). This has been done to further promote financial inclusion in the country. All 44.51 crore savings account holders will get its direct benefit. Not only this, the bank has also abolished the charge for SMS service on quarterly basis.
Prior to this decision of the bank, Rs 3,000 was fixed as the minimum balance for saving accounts of metro cities, Rs 2,000 in towns and Rs 1,000 in rural areas. At the same time, a charge of five rupees to 15 rupees was charged for not keeping such a balance.
