5 Best Zero-Balance Saving Accounts for College Students (in India)

Best Zero-Balance Saving Accounts for College Students

Being a college student, it’s quite hard to maintain a monthly average balance (MAB) while using a regular savings account.

And if you are not able to do so, then you have to pay the non-maintenance charges at the end of each month.

This is annoying! Isn’t it?

Well, no need to worry about it. I’m here to help you 🙂

By the end of this post, you’ll come to know about the 5 best zero balance saving accounts for college students, where you neither have to manage MAB & nor have to pay additional charges for ATM/Net-Banking.

Let us first know, what a zero balance saving account is?

Zero Balance Saving Account: Pros & Cons

A zero-balance saving account is a type of savings account that is free from maintaining the monthly average balance. Also, account holders don’t need to pay the charges of using premium services like ATM/Net-Banking.

Anyone can open a zero-balance saving account, except for the fact that he must have valid KYC documents. Here KYC stands for Know Your Customer. It is offered on the basis of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

According to Global Data, India leads the world in regular mobile banking usage as a proportion of online consumers with current accounts. The graph below shows how rapidly mobile banking grows in India from 2016 to 2018.

Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of using a  zero-balance saving account.

Pros:

• Opening a Zero-balance saving account is quite easy.
• Account-holders do not need to maintain a monthly average balance(MAB).
• Most banks provide a free Net-banking facility which is great.
• Free ATM/Debit Card with zero maintenance charges
• The checkbook is free for a fixed amount of leaves.

This is how you can save money while opening a savings account.

Cons:

• The total credit in your account should not exceed Rs. 1 lakh at any point (in that year).
• The balance should not be more than Rs. 50,000 at any point.
• Only Indian citizens are allowed to open a zero-balance saving account.
• You can not send money outside India with this account.

These are some of the top pros & cons of using a zero-balance saving account.

5 Best Zero Balance Saving Accounts for College Students

Below is the list of the 5 best zero-balance saving accounts for college students.

01.Kotak 811

Kotak 811 is a zero balance saving account offered by Kotak Mahindra bank which can be used by anyone digitally. The best thing about Kotak 811 is that it is completely free.

Let’s have a look at the important features of Kotak 811:

• Opening a Kotak 811 account is quite easy. All you need is an Aadhar Card, a Pan-Card & your 5 minutes.
• It is a zero-balance account, i.e. you don’t need to maintain MAB.
• Their interest rate is quite awesome i.e.
  
  >> 3.50 % p.a. on balance up to Rs.1 lakh
  >> 4% p.a. on balance above Rs.1 lakh
• You will get a free digital Visa Debit Card upon account opening.
• No transaction charges

02. Axis ASAP

Axis ASAP is also a good choice for opening a zero balance account. This zero balance account is offered by Axis Bank in accordance with the RBI guidelines as is the most trusted one after Kotak 811.

If we look at the features of this account, we come to know that:

• It can be opened instantly within 3 minutes just by using Aadhar Card & Pan Card.
• They pay high interest to their customers which is up to 3% per anum.
• You will get Free Visa Virtual Card along with it.
• Their annual charge for the physical debit card is quite high.
• The mobile application is available.

03. Paytm Payment Banks

Paytm Payment bank is nothing but an online bank account that is managed by your Paytm mobile application. In order to open a bank account, all you need is to have a smartphone & an internet connection.

Simply install the Paytm mobile application & create a bank account by clicking on the Payment Banks section. Let’s have a look at the features of Paytm Payment bank.

• Your entire banking system is based on a single application.
• 2.5% Interest on Saving Accounts.
• Zero transaction charges for net banking & mobile banking.
• A free digital Rupay Card is given by Paytm. However, you can also order a physical card for a fixed charge.
• You can only add up to Rs. 1,00,000/- on your digital bank.
• Zero monthly average balance.

3. digiBank by DBS

Another powerful banking service with up to a 3.75% interest rate is given by digiBank. It is also a mobile app similar to Paytm payment banks. They do not offer internet banking sites like other regular saving accounts. However, you can do everything with the help of their mobile app.

The benefits of Opening an account with DBS are:

• They offer a completely free Zero Balance account which can be opened instantly within 3 to 5 minutes.
• The physical VISA debit card is free for 1 year (which is really cool). However, you need to pay Rs. 150 from the next month.
• Their interest rates are:
  >> 3.25% for balance up to Rs. 1 Lakh
  >> 3.5% from Rs. 1 Lakh to 5 Lakh.
  >> 3.75% for over & above Rs. 5 Lakh. 

4.  101 First Account by Fincare

New to the industry but with much higher interest rates. 101 account by Fincare provides up to 9% interest to their customers. It is also a zero balance saving account where you don’t have to manage the monthly average balance(MAB).

Here are some of the interesting features of 101 Account by FinCare:

• Zero average monthly balance requirements.
• Free Rupay Classic Debit Card with Zero maintenance fee for the first year.
• Interest rates are 6% pa for up to & including Rs. 1 Lakh, 7% from 1 Lakh to Rs. 5 Crores, 7.25% from Rs. 5 Crores to 20 Crores, 7.5% above Rs. 20 Crores.
• Mobile Applications is also available on the Play Store & iOS store.

Final Words:

In this post, I have listed the 5 best Zero balance saving accounts for college students in India. Most of these bank accounts can be easily opened within a few clicks. I hope you love this post.

Please note that you can also open a zero balance saving account in some of the top banks like SBI, PNB (Punjab National Bank), and ICICI.

The only problem with these banks is that you need to visit the branch for opening an account. Additionally, they do have a low-interest rate (up to 2.5%) which is quite low.

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