Relief for SBI customers as bank tweaks minimum balance rules

Mumbai: The State Bank of India customers should have a reason to rejoice as a news report claims country's largest public sector lender has tweaked its minimum balance requirement rules for savings bank account holders.

A report in the Business Standard says the ban has reduced charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance by 20 to 50 per cent for different customer types. The decision follows after bank customers widely protested against the move terming the condition as harsh.

The bank has indicated it has included some exemptions and a few relaxations in the newly inducted rules. For the savings bank account holders in metro cities, the earlier minimum balance limit was set by SBI at Rs 5,000. It has now been reduced to Rs 3,000 which sounds affordable.

The minimum balance required for an account in urban and semi-urban bank was Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively. The same for a bank in rural area was Rs 1,000, according to SBI's earlier statement.

SBI said in a statement: "The pensioners and beneficiaries of social benefits from the government and accounts of minors (upto 18 years) will be exempted from minimum balance requirement. The financial inclusion including Jan Dhan accounts have never been subject to any charges."

The bank further stated the revised MAB rates will be applicable form October 2017.