There is a good news for all SBI customers that include farmers too. State Bank of India, country’s largest bank has announced to waive charges for non-maintenance of average monthly balance or AMB for all 44.51 crore savings bank accounts. At present, SBI customers have to maintain average monthly balance of Rs. 3000, Rs. 2000 and Rs. 1000 in metro, semi urban & rural areas respectively. SBI earlier used to charge a penalty of Rs. 5 to Rs. 15 plus taxes on non-maintenance of AMB.
From now, the SBI customers can enjoy the zero balance facility in their savings accounts.
Not only this, but the bank has also waived of SMS charges. State Bank of India has also rationalized interest rate on the savings bank account to a flat 3 percent per annum for all buckets. Presently, the interest rate on SBI saving accounts is 3.25 percent for deposits up to Rs. 1 lakh, and 3 percent for deposits above Rs. 1 lakh.
Rajnish Kumar, Chairman said that “This announcement will bring in more smiles & delight to our valuable customers. And we believe this initiative will empower our customers towards banking with SBI & boost their confidence in SBI".
It is important to mention that State Bank of India is the largest commercial bank in the country, in terms of deposits, assets, branches, customers & employees. In addition, it is the largest mortgage lender in India. As on 31st December 2019, SBI has a deposit base of more than Rs. 31 lakh crore with 21,959 branches across the country.
Earlier this month, the bank had also announced a reduction in its marginal cost of fund-based lending rate or MCLR by up to 15 basis points across various tenors effective 10th March, a move that will make home & auto loans cheaper. State Bank of India has reduced its one-year MCLR by 10 basis points to 7.75 percent, from 7.85 percent earlier. This is 10th consecutive slash in MCLR by SBI in the current fiscal.
SBI had also reduced the interest rates on FDs or fixed deposits for second time in a month. The revised rates came into effect from 10th of March.
