Punjab National Bank vs Suryoday Small Finance Bank: Children’s Savings Accounts

Punjab National Bank offers dedicated accounts for kids such as PNB Junior SF Account and the PNB Vidyarthi SF Account. Suryoday Small Finance Bank does not offer a dedicated children’s account but instead offers minors the option to open a standard savings account as a minor account.

Children’s Savings Accounts from Punjab National Bank

PNB is the second largest bank in India after SBI and offers specific accounts for children such as the PNB Junior SF Account and the PNB Vidyarthi SF Account.

PNB Junior SF Account

The account can be opened by a child through her parent or guardian or she can open and operate it herself if she has crossed 10 years of age.

Features

  • As mentioned, any child of any age can open the PNB Junior SF Account through her parent or guardian. Children over 10 years of age can open and operate the account under their own name
  • There is no minimum deposit needed to open the account. Plus, there is no need for any minimum balance either
  • The child can get a free cheque book of 20 leaves per six months, i.e. two chequebooks of 40 leaves per year
  • Demand drafts made out to pay school or college fees are free of cost
  • The bank, however, has put a limit of Rs. 5,000 on debit card use per day, be that through ATM withdrawals, POS transactions at shops (card swipe in case you are wondering) or online payments
  • Kids or their parents can have a view of the account balance and transactions through both online and mobiles but transactions are not allowed

PNB Vidyarthi SF Account

The account as the name suggests is for children studying in recognised educational institutions.

Features

  • The account is available for children up to 21 years of age. Once they reach adulthood, the account becomes a standard savings account with all its perks and limitations
  • Like the PNB Junior SF Account, there are no minimum balance requirements for initial deposit and average quarterly balance in the PNB Vidyarthi SF Account
  • All demand drafts made out for any type of fees are free of cost
  • Like the children’s account, the child is eligible to receive two chequebooks of 20 leaves each per year
  • Most fees and charges in the account have been waived off by the bank through there is an annual maintenance charge for the debit card

Children’s Savings Accounts from Suryoday Small Finance Bank Limited

Suryoday Small Finance Bank does not offer a dedicated children’s account and offers minors the option to open a standard savings account as a minor account. All of the bank’s savings accounts can be opened by a minor under a parent or a guardian. We take a look at the two base variants of the bank’s savings account line-up.

Savings Ujjwal

The account is the most basic of the savings accounts offered by Suryoday.

Features

  • The average monthly balance requirement is Rs. 2,000, though anyone choosing to open an account has to start with an initial deposit of Rs. 3,000
  • Accountholders can choose to keep a fixed deposit of Rs. 10,000 in lieu of the minimum balance
  • The bank offers a higher rate of interest than most other banks for similar slabs of balance. Accounts with balance up to Rs. 1 lakh earn 6.25% per annum and those with balance between Rs. lakh and Rs. 10 lakh earn 7.25%. This is as of March 2019
  • The Savings Ujjwal account comes with a RuPay Classic Secure Chip Debit Card
  • The daily ATM and POS limits is restricted to Rs. 20,000
  • Online money transfers such as RTGS, NEFT, IMPS are chargeable after 3 transactions
  • The bank offers a personal accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh with the account

Savings Aditya

This savings account is ranked one step up the Savings Ujjwal.

Features

  • The account has a minimum average monthly balance of Rs. 5,000 and needs Rs. 7,500 to open the account
  • Accountholders can create and keep an FD of Rs. 25,000 if they want to forego the minimum balance requirements
  • The Savings Aditya account also comes with a RuPay Classic Secure Chip Debit Card
  • The limit on daily ATM and POS transaction is pegged at Rs. 40,000
  • Accountholders get 10 free ATM transactions on the bank’s own ATMs and up to 5 on other bank ATMs
  • The accountholder can access up to 10 free RTGS, NEFT or IMPS payment transfers
  • Like with the Ujjwal account, the Aditya offers a higher rate of interest

Note: Suryoday in its savings account page/tabs for each account clearly mentions that all bank’s savings accounts from Ujjwal to Savings Supreme can be opened on behalf of a minor

Reference Facts

  • Punjab National Bank Website: www.pnbindia.in and www.netpnb.com (net banking)
  • Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi
  • Call Centre Number: 1800 180 2222, 1800 103 2222
  • Suryoday Small Finance Bank Website: www.suryodaybank.com
  • Headquarters: Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • Call Centre Number: 1800 266 7711