No-Frills Accounts Get Free Digital Banking

Mumbai, Oct 1 (PTI) No-frills account holders can now use the digital banking facility free of cost, as the Reserve Bank on Wednesday expanded the bouquet of services offered to Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts.

BSBD accounts are designed to provide essential banking services to account holders free of cost.

Some of the services which are offered by banks free of charge are cash deposit at bank branches as well as ATMs/CDMs, and a minimum of four withdrawals in a month, including ATM withdrawals.

"The bouquet of services offered to Basic Savings Bank Deposit account holders without levy of minimum balance charges is proposed to be expanded to include digital banking (mobile/internet banking) services," RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said.

The Internal Ombudsman mechanism is proposed to be strengthened to make grievance redressal by regulated entities more effective, he said.

The RBI Ombudsman Scheme is also being revised for improved grievance redressal, and rural cooperative banks are being included under the ambit of the scheme, he said.

It is to be noted that the holders of the BSBD account will not be eligible for opening any other savings bank account in that bank.

If a customer has any other existing savings bank account in that bank, he/she will be required to close it within 30 days from the date of opening a 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account'.

The aim of introducing the BSBD account is a part of the efforts of the RBI for furthering financial inclusion objectives.

Such accounts are subject to provisions of the PML Act and Rules and RBI instructions on Know Your Customer (KYC) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) for opening of bank accounts issued from time to time.

The BSBD account can also be opened with simplified KYC norms.