State Bank of India (SBI) charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance unfair

According to financial ministry data, the SBI collected Rs 24.34 billion for the financial year 2017 in penalty on non-maintenance of minimum balance alone.

Finance News: The State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) charges for the non-maintenance of minimum balance were unreasonable, a report by a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay has said.

The SBI started charging fees for non-maintenance of minimum balance from April 2017, after a gap of five years, the monthly fees ranged between Rs 20 and Rs 100 till September 2017 and were later slashed in October last year. According to financial ministry data, the SBI collected Rs 24.34 billion for the financial year 2017 in penalty on non-maintenance of minimum balance alone.

SBI Minimum Balance Penalty

Later on, the bank slashed these charges by nearly 80 per cent in April 2018, and the charges currently range from Rs 5-15.

The public sector lender had earlier said that only 60 per cent of its accounts were subject to these charges. It also said that people should convert their accounts in Basic Savings and Basic Deposit Accounts to avoid penalty for non-maintenance of balance.

“For April 2017, the SBI recovered Rs 2.35 billion as penalty from only 38.9 million of the 255 million savings bank accounts in question for not maintaining minimum monthly average...continue balance

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News Source: BS

SBI slashes penalty for not maintaining minimum balance from Rs 50 to Rs 15

The charges for non-maintenance of AMB for customers in metro and urban centres have been reduced from a maximum of Rs 50 per month to Rs 15, excluding GST.

Business News India : SBI on Tuesday said that it has reduced the penalty for non maintenance of the stipulated average minimum balance (AMB) in a customer’s account.

The charges for non-maintenance of AMB for customers in metro and urban centres have been reduced from a maximum of Rs 50 per month to Rs 15, excluding GST.

Similarly, the charges for semi-urban and rural centres have been revised from Rs 40 to Rs 12 and Rs 10 respectively.

The bank, in a press release, said the cut in fines will benefit 250 million account holders out of its 410 million savings account holders.

The breakdown of previous and new charges are as follows:

SBI made Rs 18 bn on charges:

The largest Indian bank suffered a huge backlash last December when finance ministry data revealed that it netted a windfall of Rs 17.72 billion, more than its second-quarter profit, from customers for non-maintenance of monthly average balance in savings accounts in eight months of 2017-18.

While SBI’s current Rs 3,000 minimum balance requirement for urban areas is highest among all PSBs, it is the lowest compared to all large private banks.

State Bank of India has close to 405 million savings account customers. SBI, after a gap of six years, had reintroduced the monthly average balance (MAB) charges from April 1, 2017.

After criticism by customers, it reduced those charges with effect from October 1, 2017.

→ SBI Minimum Balance Penalty ←

SBI’s New Year gift: Base rate cut by 30 bps, home loan fee waiver extended

Eight million customers to gain from move designed to reward loyalty

 

In a surprising move at the start of the year, State Bank of India (SBI) reduced its base rate and benchmark prime lending rates (BPLR) for existing customers by 30 basis points each effective from January 1.

One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.

The bank said it would also extend its ongoing waiver on home loan processing fee till March 31 for new customers and for customers switching their loans from other banks to SBI.

Though all new customers are offered the marginal cost-based lending rate (MCLR), a large chunk of retail customers — especially on the home loan side — as well as old corporate loans, are still in the base rate system.

About 8 million customers would benefit from this move, said P K Gupta, managing director (retail and digital banking), SBI.

The revised base rate for the bank is now 8.65 per cent, while the BPLR is 13.40 per cent. The base rate is the minimum a bank can offer to its customers.

“The reduction in the base rate is a New Year gift to the bank’s loyal customers, as a large number of consumers who have their loans linked to the base rate will benefit. This reduction is part of the bank’s efforts to ensure transmission of the reduction in policy rates of the recent past,” Gupta said.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR BORROWERS…

• SBI’s revised base rate is now at 8.65%, while BPLR is now 13.40%
• 1-year MCLR stands unchanged at 7.95%
• About 8 mn customers will benefit by the base rate cut
• Move expected to be followed by other banks
• SBI to also extend waiver on home loan processing fee till March 31

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Demonetisation: Are your digital transactions secure?

There are no easy solutions regarding securing oneself in the cashless digital world

Latest News -  Paper money is becoming passe as the year comes to an end. The New Year brings in the promise of India going cashless with the population of 1.3 billion being pushed into a digital economy.

Today many users are being exposed to plastic money for the first time. Even the most learned people make mistakes in the digital world and that can prove very costly. Hence, for first-time users, it is a minefield out there and negotiating it needs a lot of tact.

Earlier this year, 3.2 million credit and debit card details, with a bulk of them from India's largest banker the State Bank of India, allegedly got compromised and till date, the investigating agencies have not been able to make much headway.

In a country where, according to UN figures, about 287 million adults are still illiterate how safe is it to indulge in cashless transactions?

Read Article Source>>>

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Home buyer is finally king: How Real Estate Act protects you

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, which protects the interest of home buyers has finally started seeing light of the day though slowly.

Keeping up with the deadline to operationalise it from November 1, the Central government has notified it for the five Union Territories - Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh. None of the states except Gujarat has met the deadline.

Even though your state may not have implemented the Act; it will be similar to the one notified for the union territories and looking at the finer points covered can give you a sense of things to come.

The rules apply to all on-going projects that have not received completion certificate.

Here’s how the Act protect buyers’ interest:

No misuse of funds

No lopsided penalties

No false promises

Transparent project progress report

Key highlights

- 70 per cent of unused amounts collected for ongoing projects to be kept in a separate bank account.

- Developer needs to declare original sanctioned plans, changes made later, fresh timeline for completion of ongoing projects.

- The interest paid by both, developers and buyers, is pegged to SBI Marginal Cost Lending Rate plus 2 per cent.

- Developers will need to make a host of information public and report quarterly progress on the project to enable informed decisions by buyers.

- The rules apply to all on-going projects that have not received completion certificate.

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Centre hikes minimum wages and bonus, trade unions not impressed

The Centre on Tuesday increased the minimum wages and bonus for its employees to pacify trade unions that have called a nationwide strike on Friday.

The Minimum Wage Advisory Board on Tuesday announced a hike in the lowest wage for unskilled central government workers to Rs 350 a day from Rs 246. The increase will also be effective for central public sector undertakings.

“The government has effected a 43 per cent increase in the minimum wage. This was a major demand of the trade unions,” Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya (pictured) said.

Dattatreya has held meetings with trade unions over their charter of demands. The issues have been taken up by an inter-ministerial committee headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

“The bonus entitlements for 2014-15 and 2015-16 will be released on revised norms. This was pending for two years. After this, the bonus will be covered under the  read more..