SBI vs IDFC First Bank: Children’s Savings Accounts

SBI vs IDFC First Bank: Children’s Savings Accounts

SBI offers two children’s savings accounts, Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan while IDFC First Bank offers a dedicated savings bank product for children called the Minor’s Savings Account.

Children’s Savings Accounts from SBI

Pehli 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 IDFC First Bank Limited

IDFC First Bank offers a dedicated savings bank product for children called the Minor’s Savings Account.

Minor’s Savings Account

The account is available to all children below 18 years of age provided the parent or guardian has an account with the bank.

Features

  • Children accountholders above 10 years of age can open and operate the account in their own name
  • The bank requires a minimum deposit of Rs. 25,000 at the time of opening the account
  • There is no obligation to keep a minimum balance but there is a mandatory stipulation under which a sum of Rs. 2,000 per month must be transferred for a period of 2 years from the parent’s account to the child’s account
  • A debit card is only provided if it is opted for. Plus, the Minor’s Savings Account comes with specific limits of Rs. 10,000 each at domestic ATMs and POS sales
  • The account comes with a sweep facility under which when the account balance crosses Rs. 15,000, the balance over and above Rs. 10,000 is transferred into a fixed deposit with a tenure of one year and one day

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)
  • IDFC Bank Website: www.idfcbank.com
  • Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • Call Centre Number: 1800 419 4332