SBI lowers min balance to 3,000; exempts pensioners, minors

In April, the bank had re-introduced MAB and charges for non-maintenance of balance after a gap of five years. In metropolitan areas the minimum balance requirement was Rs 5,000. For urban and semi-urban branches, it was fixed at Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000, respectively, and for rural branches it was Rs 1,000..

“We have decided to treat the metro and urban centres in the same category and the requirement of MAB in metro centres stands reduced to Rs 3,000,” the bank said. Last week, Rajnish Kumar, MD, National Banking group, had said the lender was reviewing the MAB requirement. The lender also revised downwards the penalty for non-maintenance of MAB. 

“For non-maintenance of MAB, the charges have also been revised downwards ranging from 20-50 per cent across all population groups and categories,” the bank said. Now, the charges at semi-urban and rural centres range from Rs 20 to Rs 40 and at urban and metro centres from Rs 30 to Rs 50, the bank said.