A savings account definitely has a lot to offer. Yet, across India, you will still find millions without a savings account. These people are effectively left out of the entire banking system and all that it has to offer.
Things do not have to be that way though. The government’s own efforts, with the Jan Dhan Yojana, have specifically been aimed at bringing more and more Indians within the purview of India’s banking system.
With that thought in mind, let us look at some convincing reasons that completely justify having and regularly using your very own bank account.
1. Attractive Interest Rates
More and more banks are increasingly offering attractive interest rates on savings bank accounts. The ASAP Instant Savings Account from Axis Bank, for example, offers interest rates up to 7.10% per year. Similarly, digibank by DBS also offers an equally attractive interest rate of 7% per year.
Today, such rates are practically unheard of in the west. Also, if you look at investments considered attractive, especially small savings ones like PPF, the interest rate is comparable at a shade above 7.5% at the time of writing this piece.
The key aspect to note here is that without making any special investment effort, you can avail returns that are akin to doing so, simply with a regular savings account.
2. Complete Banking Facility
With a savings account, you get immediate access to the entire gamut of banking services and facilities. This includes:
- Chequebooks and passbooks
- Debit Cards
- Bank Statements
- Provision to set up automated payments for your bills, etc.
- Provision to set up direct credits to your account for various receivables
When you remain outside of the banking system, you miss out on all these facilities and provisions.
3. Ready Access to Cash with your Savings Account Debit Card
As you must have noted, among the banking facilities that we noted above, a debit card is available. This is a particularly useful feature and indeed an advantage of having a bank account since it gives you ready access to cash.
After all, notwithstanding the push we are witnessing towards being a cashless society, the fact is we are more likely to be a “less cash” one. There are still many instances where cash is needed. For such scenarios, having a bank account that comes with a debit card proves priceless since there is ready access to cash, just about anytime and anywhere.
4. UPI or Unified Payments Interface
Access to UPI or Unified Payments Interface is by itself a huge advantage when it comes to having one’s own savings account. In a nutshell, UPI makes it very easy to send and receive payments between bank accounts on mobile devices. You simply need to enter nothing more than a Mobile Banking PIN or M-PIN.
UPI transactions can be carried out at any time of the day or night, without being reliant on banking hours. Already all major banks in India offer the UPI option for making and receiving payments.
Tendering and receiving exact amounts becomes a breeze with UPI. In fact, there is no need to handle cash at all, let alone think about having or getting exact change as per the transaction value.
5. Ancillary Services
Besides the other banking features that we highlighted in the sections above, there are many ancillary services that come with a savings account. Examples include the ability to set up an FD (fixed deposit) with the bank, avail locker facility with the bank, and also get a credit card from the bank.
These features may depend on the kind of relationship that you enjoy with the bank, the tier (or level) of your savings bank account, as well as, the balance that you maintain in your bank account.
Banks assess customer relationships across various parameters and, accordingly, tailor ancillary services that they offer. For instance, while offering personal or home loans, they often give preference to customers who already bank with them. They may even be willing to give a rebate on the prevalent interest rate.
Conclusion
Clearly, there are a number of great and invaluable reasons for which maintaining a savings account makes complete sense. Keeping your money in a bank is not only more secure, but it could give you access to a variety of other benefits as well.
