May 19, 2016 04:28 PM
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These days almost everyone holds at least one savings account in a bank, be it salaried or self employed. It is very important to know how to maintain the savings bank account optimally so as not to lose money unnecessarily as many banks these days impose a lot of restrictions on maintaining such an account. Here are a few tips that I bring from my own experience for last 17 to 18 years which will be useful for sure.
1) First of all a savings bank account must be maintained in a nationalized bank like SBI, Andhra Bank, Allahabad bank or some other banks and go for a private bank if it is necessary since sometimes employers maintain salary accounts in private banks and pay salaries from the bank directly to employee's account.
2) One needs to possess a bank pass book, a cheque book and ATM or debit card as provided by the bank.
3) One must avoid cash transactions in the bank counters since many banks levy service charges for it. For withdrawal, ATM machines must be used and for deposits, only cheques should be used. Net banking facilities are also available a customer must register to it which is not mandatory, but very helpful for making payments for sure.
4) many banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, mostly private ones, impose a minimum balance to be maintained which must be taken care of on a regular basis, levied charges if not maintained.
5) Banks impose a limit on cash withdrawals from ATM machines which should also be maintained. For example, HDFC Bank allows 5 transactions per month from HDFC ATM machines and the same number of transactions with ATM of other banks. Again if it exceeds, the bank levies charges towards it.
6) In formation on the bank account should never be disclosed to any other person under any circumstances.
7) If by chance, the ATM or debit card is lost, it should be immediately informed to the bank and the card blocked.
8) Balance in the account can be verified using mobile SMS services at any point of time and at any place.
9) When cheques are issued, it must be recorded in the cheque book.
10) While using the net banking on any device like a computer or a mobile phone, one should not forget to log out of the account when the work is finished.
11) Password for the debit card as well as net banking account must be changed every month and always a very strong password must be chosen.
12) Bill payment facilities also can be availed with the savings account for which the merchants must be registered in the account.
13) Most importantly, multiple accounts in the same name should not be maintained in the same bank.
