MUMBAI (CU)_With the interest rate of the State Bank of India’s savings account sliding below 3 per cent, the multinational financial service provider now offers the new SBI Savings Plus Account for those customers who are looking to get more return without changing their risk appetite.
According to the details provided on the bank’s official website, this new savings account will be offered under the Multi Option Deposit Scheme (MODS), meaning funds in the account exceeding the threshold limit of ₹35000 will be automatically transferred to Term Deposits in multiples of ₹1000. In the instance where the account balance falls short of the minimum requirement, the deposit will be transferred from the fixed deposit.
The period of these term deposits range between 1 to 5 years, and it also offers the customer the option of obtaining a loan against the MOD deposits. One of the key eligibility criteria for opening this special SBI account is that the applicant fulfils the KYC requirements, which, among others, inquire if the customer prefers to apply the ‘First in First Out’ or the ‘Last in First Out’ principle when break opening deposits. In the customer fails to specify a preference, the ‘Last in First Out’ principle will be applied by the bank.
Apart from the common features of mobile banking, internet banking and SMS alerts, the SBI has also introduced a requirement of a minimum ₹10,000 when transferring funds to the MOD. While there is no limit on the maximum balance, the customer is also offered 25 free cheque leaves per annum for this account.
In April 2021, the SBI, the largest lender in the South Asian country, decided to rationalise interest rates on all of its savings bank accounts to a flat 2.75 per cent, a move which affected 44.5 billion account holders. And in the following month, this rate was reduced further by 5 basis points to 2.7 per cent, which has been effective for all deposits from 31 May.
