State Bank of India vs Bank of India

SBI offers two children’s savings accounts, PehlaKadam and PehliUdaan while Bank of India has a youth-oriented account called BOI Star Yuva Account.

Let us look at each of these accounts.

Children’s Savings Accounts from SBI

PehliKadam

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. 5,000on 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 PehliKadam 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.

PehliUdaan

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 PehliUdaan account are same as for the PehliKadam account

Children’s Savings Accounts from Bank of India

Bank of India does not have a specific children’s savings account, though it does have an account for the youth called BOI Star Yuva Account. Minors can open a standard savings account.

BOI Star Yuva Account

The account was conceptualised to inculcate saving habits among the youth. The website does not specifically provide a minimum age for account opening but from reading of the features it seems to be young adults aged 18 years or above.

Features

  • The minimum quarterly balance requirement is Rs. 2,500 in rural and semi-urban areas and Rs. 5,000 in urban areas and metros
  • BOI offers a complimentary insurance of Rs. 50,000 for account holders in the 18-21 years age category and of Rs. 5,00,000 (Rs. 5 lakh) for account holders above 21 years
  • The bank also offers reward points for every time the account debit card is used for cash withdrawals in its ATMs. 20 reward points are given at BOI Star Yuva Accountopening

Savings Bank Ordinary Account

The account is the standard savings account that can be opened for a minor, usually under joint names.

Features

  • Being a nationalised bank, BOI is able to offer its Savings Bank Ordinary Accountwith considerable low balance requirements. The initial deposit and average quarterly balance is Rs. 500 if the minor/guardian needs a chequebook and Rs. 100 if the account is operated without a chequebook
  • The bank offers certain benefits to customers of the savings account. For instance, an online income tax filing facility, free payment of utility bills and a BOI-National SwasthyaBima Policy floater mediclaim policy in collaboration with National Insurance at a low premium. A point to note is that kids usually do not need these services

Reference Facts

  • State Bank of India Website: https://sbi.co.in and www.onlinesbi.com (net banking)
  • Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • Call Centre Number: 18004253800, 1800112211, 1800110009 (pensioners only)
  • Bank of India Website: www.bankofindia.co.in
  • Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • Call Centre Toll-Free Number: 1800 220 229, 1800 103 1906