SBI vs Union Bank of India: Children’s Savings Accounts
SBI offers two children’s savings accounts, Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan while Union Bank of India does not offer dedicated children’s account but instead offers minors the chance to have an account through its Regular Savings Account and Union Family Savings Scheme products.
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 Union Bank of India
Union Bank does not offer a dedicated children’s account. However, minors can have accounts under its Regular Savings Account and Union Family Savings Scheme products. From a reading of the website, it seems minors can also open an account through parent or guardian under the Union Flexi Savings Deposit and Union Flexi Plus Savings Deposit schemes.
Regular Savings Account
The standard savings account from the bank.
Features
- Can be opened by an individual for her child
- Just like adults, the child is entitled to receive a free chequebook of 20 leaves every year
- Allows students to keep the account with zero balance
Union Family Savings Scheme
A savings scheme under which up to 6 family members can open accounts.
Features
- The average quarterly balance for the entire group is Rs. 1 lakh
- Each account holder gets up to 2 chequebooks per account
- They also can make up to Rs. 20,000 in pay orders or demand drafts each month
- Each account holder can make ATM withdrawal or POS transaction of Rs. 25,000 each per day
- Family members who can be included in the account are parents, grandparents, spouse, sibling and children
Union Flexi Account and Union Flexi Plus Savings Deposit
These two are higher end savings accounts, which also come with sweep facilities to put the excess money in a fixed deposit once the transaction limit crosses a specified limit. Though the Union Bank website does not specifically mention that the accounts are available for minors, it does say that individuals can open the account.
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)
- Union Bank of India Website: www.unionbankofindia.co.in and www.unionbankonline.co.in (net banking)
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Call Centre Number: 1800 208 2244, 1800 22 2244