SBI vs UCO Bank: Children’s Savings Accounts
SBI offers two children’s savings accounts, Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan while UCO Bank offers its UCO Smart Kids Savings Bank Scheme for children above 10 years of age.
Children’s Savings Accounts from SBI
Pehla Kadam
This account is meant for all children and may be opened jointly with a parent or guardian.
Features
- There are no minimum balance requirements in this account
- There is a limit of Rs. 5,000 on daily transactions. Transactions such as bill payments, prepaid mobile top-ups have a limit of Rs. 2,000 within the Rs. 5,000 limit
- SBI offers an auto-sweep option with this account called SBI Multi Option Deposit Scheme (MODS). If the accountholders opt for this, then any amount above Rs. 20,000 in the account is put in a term deposit. The MOD is initially for a sum of Rs. 10,000 and in Rs. 1,000 multiples thereafter. As is common for banks, there is no clarity on the website if the auto-sweep facility kicks in if the account has a balance of Rs. 30,000
- There is a cap of Rs. 10 lakh on the maximum balance in a Pehla Kadam account
- The kid is eligible to get a specially branded chequebook and passbook, and also a personalised debit card with her own photo
Note: The links to specific accounts may not work. The above data was taken from internet searches. We have put the links here in the hope that they work some day. Even the WayBack Machine shows an error when we tried to pull a page from July 5, 2017.
Pehli Udaan
The account is meant for kids above 10 years of age. They are allowed to open and operate the account on their own.
Features
- As mentioned, any child above the age of 10 years who can read and write, may open the account in her own name without the need for any parent or guardian
- Except for the age criteria, the other features of the Pehli Udaan account are same as for the Pehla Kadam account
Children’s Savings Accounts from UCO Bank
The bank offers the UCO Smart Kids Savings Bank Scheme for children above the age of 10 years.
UCO Smart Kids Savings Bank Scheme
The account allows kids to open and run a savings account without any need for joint ownership with parents or guardians.
Features
- Any literate child above the age of 10 years can open and operate the account
- There is no minimum balance requirement
- The kids get two chequebooks a year
- The ATM card is personalised with a photograph. Kids also get a good looking passbook
- Children can withdraw up to Rs. 3,000 per day subject to a limit of Rs. 15,000 per month through ATMs or net banking
- A key benefit of this UCO Smart Kids Savings Bank Scheme is the ability for children to undertake transactions through net banking after a certain period of time
- The bank also offers concessions for education loans
Reference Facts
- State Bank of India Website: https://sbi.co.in and www.onlinesbi.com (net banking)
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Call Centre Number: 1800 425 3800, 1800 112 211, 1800 110 009 (pensioners only)
- UCO Bank Website: www.ucobank.com and www.ucoebanking.com (net banking)
- Headquarters: Kolkata, West Bengal
- Call Centre Number: 1800 274 0123