Not satisfied with your current bank and looking for opening an alternate savings bank Account to another bank or confusing about which bank is the best for opening your first savings bank account or maybe you want to diversify your funds to the different bank accounts. There may be several reasons for opening a savings bank account.

Here in this article, we try to cover the best savings bank account in India for opening your first or alternate bank accounts which can be the best suit your needs.

After the launch of Govt of India’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana(PMJDY) under the National Mission for Financial Inclusion, almost 85% of Indians have already bank accounts with any of the Private or PSU banks in India, but this percentage was merely 53% in 2014.

Today, almost all household members have bank accounts, it may be a single or joint account, the main reason behind this is due to all the social benefits from any State or National Schemes only can be routed through the Individual Bank Account. Even students also have the bank account for direct credit for their scholarship money. Many of us already have multiple accounts with different banks.

In a vast country like India with more than 1.30 billion people, we have only 14.06 commercial bank branches per 100000 population which is way below the global average. But we have another contrasting fact that the number of deposit accounts with commercial banks per 1,000 adults are 1731.27 in 2016 (Data: IMF ‘Financial Access Survey’ 2017 – India statistics). That means on average every Indian has more than one bank accounts if we consider the above statistics from the IMF.

In a country like India, though everyone has a savings bank account, the choice of banks is very meager. In most of the rural areas in India, you will find only one or two PSU Bank branches where you have to open your savings account. If you stay at any Semi-urban or Metropolitan cities, you may get access to different Private or Foreign bank branches. Therefore, selecting the best savings bank account is somewhat depends on your place of residence. Though you may open the Digital Savings Bank account with your Aadhaar and PAN Card, you need to complete the full KYC within one year of opening your bank account.

Before getting into the actual topic, let us have some idea about what types of savings account is suitable for you and how to choose the best savings bank account to cater to all your banking needs.

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Types of Savings Bank Account in India

Savings Bank is a kind of demand deposit, i.e. you can withdraw cash from your Savings Bank account at any time as you want, though there is some certain restriction. Only four times you can withdraw cash from the branch with a paying slip, after that bank may deduct charges from your account. Savings Bank Accounts is the most important deposit product for any bank because banks have to pay a very low-interest rate, therefore banks can maintain a lower level of cost of fund.

Savings Bank Account is a Deposit Products of Banks, but it can be different types that are customized to serve the needs of the different categories of people. Different banks advertise these types of savings account by different names. But all the basic features of the savings accounts are the same. A savings account can be single or joint and personal or non-personal.

Here are the Different Types of Savings Bank Account you will find in India

1. Regular Savings Bank Account: This is the common savings bank account that is generally offered by every commercial bank in India. If you go to any branch to open any savings account, the bank will open these types of saving accounts. You have to maintain a minimum balance which depends on banks and the branch location, ie rural, semi-urban, urban or metro. If you fail to maintain the average monthly balance as per stipulation, banks may deduct charges from your account. You may get a free 25 leaves Cheque book per Financial Year and a Visa/Mastercard or Rupay Debit Card. You will also earn interest on the daily average balance and it will be credited to your account twice in a calendar year. Interest up to Rs.10000.00 on savings bank account also is exempted from tax under section 80TTA.

2. Premium Savings Bank Account: You will get some added benefits like discounts on service charges or retail & SME loan products, discounts in health insurance premiums, upgraded debit card features, etc from your savings bank account. But you have to maintain high relationship value like high quarterly deposit balance in the savings account to get these added benefits.

3. Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA): We are some times also called it Zero Balance Account. You will get all the basic features of a regular savings bank account, but you won’t have to maintain any minimum balance requirement. You will also get a Rupay powered Debit card and Cheque book as per your requirement. As per RBI rule, all commercial banks in India have to open basic savings bank Account to Indian citizens if they wish to open such an account. But, in reality, any Private Bank or even the PSU banks won’t initially open these types of Savings Account.

4. Minor Account: These types of savings account for those people who are below 18 years of age. If the account holder is below 10 years old, then he or she has to open the account jointly with the Natural Guardian and signatory of the account will be the Natural Guardian or Court Appointed Guardian. If the Account holder is above 10 years old, he/she can open the savings account with their own signature. The limit of cash withdrawal is Rs.5000.00 up to the age of 18.

5. Women Savings Account: This is a type of savings account that is specially customized for women. The basic features are the same as the regular savings account. But in the case of Women Savings Account, some facilities are added to woo the women customers, and these facilities vary from banks to banks. Some of the add-on features are Health Card with a low premium, special discounts of interest rate on personal or retail loans, a special type of debit card, discount on Locker rent, etc.

6. Salary Account: A salary account is a type of savings account where your monthly salary will be credited. These are zero balance savings account with all banking facilities at par with a regular savings account. You will get a free Cheque book, debit cards and personal or retail loans with some discounts in the interest rates or processing charges. Some banks also offer auto swipe facility if the balance of the account reaches a certain amount, the amount automatically transferred to high-interest FD account. But, one thing you have to remember that the zero balance features may be withdrawn if the salary stops crediting in the account. The salary accounts can be a corporate salary account or individual salary account. Mainly large corporates open these types of accounts to process their salary directly to the account.

7. Senior Citizen Savings Account: These types of savings accounts are specially customized for senior citizens. The main features of this type of saving accounts are high-interest rate. Sometimes it also calls as Pensioner Account. Some Banks also waive the minimum balance requirement for the senior citizen savings account. All the Indian commercial banks have this type of account.

8. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana Account: It is also zero balance savings account just like Basic Savings Bank Account, which can only be opened at the Business Correspondence location. The accounts can be opened by the Adhaar Card and capturing the fingerprint on a device or providing valid OVD (Official Valid Documents) like EPIC Id or Driving license etc. You can avail of all the regular savings bank account features with some limitations, you will get a free Cheque book and Rupay PMJDY Debit card. You can not convert a PMJDY Account to regular savings bank account. You can get a free overdraft facility up to Rs.5000.00 if the account is Adhaar Linked and personal accident insurance cover of Rs.1.00 lacs if you have a Rupay Debit card. All the facilities from the State or Central Schemes can be credited to the PMJDY Accounts.

9. Non- Personal Savings Bank Account: These types of savings bank accounts is not for individual persons but for non-personal entities like HUF(Hindu Undivided Family), Clubs, NGOs, Organisations or any other Government or Non-Government Authority. These types of accounts are also eligible for the interest income as applicable to the regular savings bank account. The accounts are only operated by the Cheque book and no debit card facilities available to the account holders.

10. Virtual or Digital Savings Bank Account: This is a kind of virtual savings bank account which only can be opened online from the bank’s official website or their banking apps. You will get the account number instantly just after completing the account opening procedures. You will also get a Virtual Debit card and all the banking facilities at par normal savings bank account. I have already written a detailed article on best digital savings bank accounts in India, you can read the article here

Best Digital Savings Bank Account in India & complete opening procedures

How to choose the best Savings Bank Accounts?

Most of us do not open a savings bank account for interest-earning, the interest rate on savings bank deposits is very low only 3.5 to 4%. Many banks are also reducing the interest rate on savings bank deposits. Some Private Banks may offer a higher interest rate, but the higher interest rate is applicable only if you have a deposit balance above a certain level like above 1.00 Lakhs. In reality, 90% of savings accounts holders maintain deposit balance below Rs.1.00 Lacs. For investment purposes in liquid schemes, all of us generally consider Banks’ FD or Mutual Funds for a longer time frame.

Here are some factors you should consider before opening a savings bank account in India.

1. Purpose: You must consider what is the actual purpose to open the savings bank account, for example, if you are a student, then you don’t need a savings account where you have to maintain a high minimum balance.

2. Good Number of Branch Location: Choose a savings bank account from a bank that has a good branch network at every place in India. If you are in a transferable job, then you need to shift your home branch frequently to your place of posting.

3. Interest Rate: High-interest rate is also one of the important factors you should consider if you want to maintain a high deposit balance. But don’t go with the high-interest rate advertisement of some banks, all banks have almost similar interest rate up to Rs.1.00 Lac savings bank balance and all banks have the auto-sweep to FD facility above certain deposit balance.

4. Good Number of ATM Network: Its a very important selection criteria for the savings bank account. You can withdraw cash from any bank’s ATM, but you have to pay charges after a certain limit in a month.

5. Technology: Today, in this era of digital banking, technology is the most important factor in choosing the best savings bank account. You should consider opening the savings bank account which has a very good mobile banking app and internet banking portal.

6. Low Charges: Private banks have very bad reputations in this matter, but they have superior service quality than PSU banks. It’s a personal choice, if you can pay higher charges, then private banks are more suitable than PSU banks.

7. Low Minimum Balance Requirement: PSU banks have a low minimum balance requirement, but their customer service and facilities on the savings bank account are not at par with the Private bank’s savings account. It’s also a personal choice.

8. Debit Cards: Private bank’s debit cards have lots of add-on benefits and a high withdrawal limit in ATMs. Some types of debit cards can also be used for EMI in many eCommerce websites.

9. Offers & Discounts on eCommerce websites: Some banks offer many discounts and cashback facilities in online eCommerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, BookMyShow, etc regularly for the transaction done from debit cards or NetBanking. Therefore, these types of saving bank account are most suitable for online shoppers.

Factors considered for Selecting the Best Savings Bank in India

I have considered some key factors while selecting these top savings bank accounts. I have not considered the interest rate as a deciding factor in selecting these accounts. These factors are

Trustworthy of the Bank
Technology like Mobile and Internet Banking
Value-Added Services
Charges
Branch Network
Customer Satisfaction
Offers and Discounts

Best Savings Bank Accounts in India

Savings Bank accounts is a deposit product of a bank, therefore we must consider the best, secure & financially stable banks for opening the savings bank account because a good bank also has the best savings bank account. I will recommend you don’t risk your hard-earned monies by selecting a financially unstable bank. Here, I will discuss the bank-specific different types of savings bank account which might suit your needs.

I have already discussed some best banks in India, you may read the article here

List of Top 6 best banks in India

These savings bank accounts are also the best in the respective categories as discussed above in types of savings bank accounts in India. But you should always keep in mind that you will not get any insurance coverage of the savings bank deposit balance above Rs.1.00 Lac.

These are the list of best savings bank accounts in India