Public lender State Bank of India (SBI) may soon trim its minimum balance requirement for savings accounts. As of now, the minimum balance limit is Rs 3,000 in urban areas.
The buzz pertaining to the deduction of minimum balance came after the reports of the lender making profit reported by media.
SBI had inflated the minimum balance requirement to Rs 5,000 in June. However, the bank made a U-turn and brought down the minimum balance requirement to Rs 3,000 in metros, Rs 2,000 in semi-urban and Rs 1,000 in rural centres following the public backlash.
Reverting on Centre’s directive for reintroducing monthly average balance (MAB), SBI had defended the profit it acquired from the charges and said that the amount is meager as compared to the services it offers free of cost.
The lender re-introduced the charges after a gap of five years during the current fiscal.
Reportedly, the bank is also modifying the requirement from monthly average balance to quarterly average balance. The move came amidst the Ministry of Finance’s reports that revealed SBI collected Rs 1,771 crore during April-November 2017.
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