In a country with a growing economy, we are progressing towards building a Digital Economy and we must and I urge each and every one of us, to have or open a bank account at the earliest. Gone are the days when you would need to really step into a bank and wait for hours today to get your cash withdrawals done, or even cheque payments made.
Nowadays, all of this stuff can be easily done at your fingertips and you can do this sitting at home itself. You do not really need to do any work from the bank unless the bank which you have an account with does not offer digital services, which may be 1 in a thousand of a case. This blog that I am writing is primarily concerned towards making you understand what is important when you are opening a bank account. What are the important things that you need to understand when choosing a particular bank.
Now we have 3 types of banks basically - Private , Government and Co-operative banks. Private banks are the best when it comes to services like loans etc, because they have less hassles with paperwork. And in comparison to government bank most private banks have all facilities like Net banking, mobile banking, sms banking etc. However private banks always comes at a risk of heavy charges being levied to your account in case of non-maintenance. This is something you should be vary of.
Coming to government banks , when it comes to facilities they have a lesser edge with private banks for technology driven facilities. Ofcourse since its government run, who really cares about upgrading. But if you see today, most government banks offer Digital Facilities including Digital Wallets. One of my favourite banks that I primarily bank with is Corporation Bank. Whether it come to any kind of facility they have it all with them. State Banks have also improved their services in this department.
Finally coming to Co-operative banks, which are associated through board of Directors and chairman in the bank. Financial powers lie in their hand. If you need large amounts of loan they can be sanctioned through the above said people. These banks primarily exist to serve the lower middle class and middle class category of people. Services here are not upto the mark, when it comes to Technology, because they do their cheque clearing through recognised banks like State Bank of India , HDFC bank etc.
You also have one more category of banks called as credit societies, which are targeted towards below poverty line people or just below lower middle class. They offer small loans and services to these category of people.
So now that you have a brief up on what are the different kinds of banking institutions, its time you understand what criteria you should choose on opening a bank account at a particular bank. One important thing to note is that just do not open multiple bank accounts because a manager is your friend because finally when you do not maintain sufficient balance in the account the money will have to be paid to the bank, and you do not want to get involved in tussles like this.
So below are a couple of things you must see depending on what banks are available at your location.
1. Cheque book , DD, loose slips - This is offered by most banks so I suppose it covers all banks today.
2. Number of branches and ATM facilities - If the banks have got many branches and ATM facilities, it means that the banks business is growing and service will get better over time. Plus ATM charges for same banks are waived off.
3. ATM Card/Debit Card - Most banks offer this nowadays. However make sure that you take a debit card that lets you shop online as well.
4. Net banking - Net banking is a facility in which you are given online access via the internet to your bank account. You can login from anywhere in the world and do all sorts of transactions online. However, you need to always check if you bank offers NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, Tax and utility payment facilities. It becomes very convenient to opt for a bank which offers all this. This also includes facilities for International Transactions as well.
5. Mobile banking - So mobile banking is nothing but , net banking being offered on mobile devices through mobile apps. Considering we have a huge market of smartphone users in India, its but evident that such facilities should be offered. Some banks neglect Apple iOS Apps, however some banks have it .
6. Finally SMS banking facility - So this means that you should be able to transfer money by sending SMS, which works out when your not having internet connection and have some urgent money to be transfers.
Some of my favourite recommendation is as below.
1. Corporation Bank
2. HDFC Bank
3. AXIS Bank
I hope this throws some light on what kind of services you should look for when opening bank accounts. Make sure you go through this list, and it helps you make the right decision. Later you should not pull your hair that you didnt open an account in the right branch. Because when you want to close your account, the bank makes sure either they harass you or in good bank branches they close it without hassles.
Nowadays, all of this stuff can be easily done at your fingertips and you can do this sitting at home itself. You do not really need to do any work from the bank unless the bank which you have an account with does not offer digital services, which may be 1 in a thousand of a case. This blog that I am writing is primarily concerned towards making you understand what is important when you are opening a bank account. What are the important things that you need to understand when choosing a particular bank.
Now we have 3 types of banks basically - Private , Government and Co-operative banks. Private banks are the best when it comes to services like loans etc, because they have less hassles with paperwork. And in comparison to government bank most private banks have all facilities like Net banking, mobile banking, sms banking etc. However private banks always comes at a risk of heavy charges being levied to your account in case of non-maintenance. This is something you should be vary of.
Coming to government banks , when it comes to facilities they have a lesser edge with private banks for technology driven facilities. Ofcourse since its government run, who really cares about upgrading. But if you see today, most government banks offer Digital Facilities including Digital Wallets. One of my favourite banks that I primarily bank with is Corporation Bank. Whether it come to any kind of facility they have it all with them. State Banks have also improved their services in this department.
Finally coming to Co-operative banks, which are associated through board of Directors and chairman in the bank. Financial powers lie in their hand. If you need large amounts of loan they can be sanctioned through the above said people. These banks primarily exist to serve the lower middle class and middle class category of people. Services here are not upto the mark, when it comes to Technology, because they do their cheque clearing through recognised banks like State Bank of India , HDFC bank etc.
You also have one more category of banks called as credit societies, which are targeted towards below poverty line people or just below lower middle class. They offer small loans and services to these category of people.
So now that you have a brief up on what are the different kinds of banking institutions, its time you understand what criteria you should choose on opening a bank account at a particular bank. One important thing to note is that just do not open multiple bank accounts because a manager is your friend because finally when you do not maintain sufficient balance in the account the money will have to be paid to the bank, and you do not want to get involved in tussles like this.
So below are a couple of things you must see depending on what banks are available at your location.
1. Cheque book , DD, loose slips - This is offered by most banks so I suppose it covers all banks today.
2. Number of branches and ATM facilities - If the banks have got many branches and ATM facilities, it means that the banks business is growing and service will get better over time. Plus ATM charges for same banks are waived off.
3. ATM Card/Debit Card - Most banks offer this nowadays. However make sure that you take a debit card that lets you shop online as well.
4. Net banking - Net banking is a facility in which you are given online access via the internet to your bank account. You can login from anywhere in the world and do all sorts of transactions online. However, you need to always check if you bank offers NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, Tax and utility payment facilities. It becomes very convenient to opt for a bank which offers all this. This also includes facilities for International Transactions as well.
5. Mobile banking - So mobile banking is nothing but , net banking being offered on mobile devices through mobile apps. Considering we have a huge market of smartphone users in India, its but evident that such facilities should be offered. Some banks neglect Apple iOS Apps, however some banks have it .
6. Finally SMS banking facility - So this means that you should be able to transfer money by sending SMS, which works out when your not having internet connection and have some urgent money to be transfers.
Some of my favourite recommendation is as below.
1. Corporation Bank
2. HDFC Bank
3. AXIS Bank
I hope this throws some light on what kind of services you should look for when opening bank accounts. Make sure you go through this list, and it helps you make the right decision. Later you should not pull your hair that you didnt open an account in the right branch. Because when you want to close your account, the bank makes sure either they harass you or in good bank branches they close it without hassles.
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