SBI vs Karnataka Bank: Children’s Savings Accounts

SBI offers two children’s savings accounts, Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan while Karnataka Bank offers a dedicated children’s account called KBL Kishore.

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 Karnataka Bank Limited

Karnataka Bank, one of the older banking institutions in the country, offers a dedicated children’s account called KBL Kishore.

KBL Kishore

The children’s account is available to kids over the age of 10 years and up to 18 years.

Features

  • The account comes without any minimum balance requirements
  • The bank offers a free debit card with 24-hour cash withdrawal limit of Rs. 10,000 and POS limit of Rs. 5,000
  • KBL Kishore allows parents or guardians to transfer up to Rs. 50,000 per month from their account to the child’s account
  • The kids and their parents can keep a track of the account through the bank’s mobile app

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)
  • Karnataka Bank Website: https://karnatakabank.com
  • Headquarters: Mangaluru, Karnataka
  • Call Centre Number: 1800 425 1444