One Stop solution for avoiding min balance fees

#LittleSavings

In my previous posts, I have posted about how to maintain the Min Balance for the multiple accounts and also how the banks calculate the Average Monthly Balance for the Savings accounts.

Related Posts:

How to Maintain Min Balance for the Multiple Accounts

How the Banks Calculate the Average Monthly Balance(AMB/AQB)

Min Balance Calculator

It has been discussed that the money should be circulated between the accounts to avoid penalty. But I  thought about alternate ways, how to avoid the min balance penalty without money transfers(I thought about the people who don't have surplus funds or even we may face the same situation having limited money).

I tried to collect the min balance penalty charges for the top banks. Some banks follow the process of levying charges based on the region where your account locates Eg., SBI is following different charges for the Metro, Urban, Rural, etc., but some banks like Kotak, Standard Chartered Bank based on the type of account, the min balance has been structured.

Let's see the charges for the SBI, HDFC and ICICI.

Here are the ideas on how to avoid min balance penalty?

For the Banks who calculate AMB based on the regions:

If you compare the charges for the SBI, HDFC & ICICI, the charges range from 50 rupees to 600 rupees and aware that the bank accounts in the metro cities charge heavily if you don't maintain the min balance.

I hope by this time, a thunder bolt idea strikes your mind. If you can move your account to the Rural areas, you can save around 300-500 rupees per month.

There is also another way, to maintain the SBI like accounts in Metro cities and Private banks in the Rural regions.

Click on this link to know whether the bank falls in rural, metro etc., Just enter your location and apply for search.

For the banks who calculate AMB based on the Type of Account:

These banks are irrespective of the region, charges based on the type of account you open with the bank. For Eg., for the Kotak 811 Digital account, there is no need to maintain a minimum balance, it is a zero balance account, but for the Kotak 811 Edge account, the min balance to be maintained is 10,000.

So, while opening the account, it is better to opt for the zero balance account.

BSBDA Accounts:

There are the 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' available in all the branches, with minimal services and limits on the usage of transactions.

If you have any unused accounts, and don't want to close the accounts, you can change the existing Savings Account to the BSBDA Accounts. Note that, you need to close your existing Regular CASA accounts and open a new BSBDA account.