SBI vs Capital Small Finance Bank: Children’s Savings Accounts

SBI offers two children’s savings accounts, Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan while Capital Small Finance Bank allows kids to open its standard savings account called Normal Savings Account under guardianship.

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 Capital Small Finance Bank Limited

Capital Small Finance Bank allows a parent or guardian to open its standard savings account – Normal Savings Account – on behalf of a child.

Normal Savings Account

This is the standard savings account of the bank. We list the features below if you want to open a children’s account with the bank.

Features

  • The Normal Savings Account of Capital Small Finance Bank can be opened on behalf of minors by their parent or guardian. Other accountholders have to reach the age of 18 years before they can open an account. So, in all effect, the account opened for minors can be classified as a minor’s account with different set of services than standard accounts
  • The minimum balance needed is Rs. 100 in rural areas but without chequebooks. In case a chequebook is needed, the minimum balance needed is Rs. 300. In urban or semi-urban areas it is Rs. 300 without chequebook and Rs. 500 with one
  • All other factors are similar to standard savings account

Note: Information on the savings accounts are sketchy and it will be best if you approach the bank to open a minor account. Being a Jalandhar headquartered bank, it may be a good idea to open an account with this bank if you stay in the city or adjoining areas. The bank has a very strong growth strategy and intends to reach over 220 branches by 2021.

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)
  • Capital Small Finance Bank Website: www.capitalbank.co.in
  • Headquarters: Jalandhar, Punjab
  • Call Centre Number: 1800 120 1600 (8 am ? 8 pm)