Do you work on a ship and travel or stay out of the country frequently? Some banks, such as ICICI Bank, YES Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), offer you a seafarer’s savings account.

This is a special non-resident external (NRE) savings account which can be maintained in Indian rupees.

Note that it is not open to non-resident Indians (NRIs) who work in other industries abroad. They can open the general NRE account for NRIs, which many banks, including SBI and Axis Bank offer.

Documentation

The know your customer (KYC) process is similar to an NRE account, but will need some additional documentation as well. You need to give self-attested copies of your visa and passport as required for opening a general NRE savings account. Apart from this, a seafarer account will need additional documentation pertaining to your job. If you are a permanent employee, then the contract/agreement of employment and the copy of your pay slip (not older than six months) is enough in case you are opening an account with ICICI Bank. But RBS has a stricter norm; it does not accept salary slips older than three months.

For contract employees, more documents are required. It includes the continuous discharge certificate (CDS), present work contract or the last expired contract (not older than six months). A CDS is a document which certifies that an individual is a seaman and is a valid identity document for a seafarer.

You will have to walk down to your nearest branch to open the account. However, with YES Bank, you have the option of opening the account online. You can fill your personal details and create an account.

The bank will then send its representative to collect the KYC documents. Your account will be activated once the documents are verified.

Features

One of the major advantages of a seafarer’s account is that, it is a zero balance account with YES Bank and RBS. That is, you don’t have to maintain an average monthly balance in your seafarer’s account.

You can hence, save on the penalty levied if you do not maintain the balance. Whereas, in a normal NRE savings account, you are bound to maintain a monthly average balance of ₹10,000 as in the case of ICICI Bank, for instance, failing which penalty charges are applicable. However, a minimum balance of ₹15,000 will have to be maintained in your ICICI Bank Seafarer’s account.

International credit and debit cards are offered along with this account. YES Bank offers you a Platinum Chip debit card free of cost with a daily withdrawal limit of ₹2 lakh.

However, normal charges will be applicable for withdrawing cash outside India and using the card for purchases. ICICI Bank charges ₹125 for cash withdrawal from ATMs overseas and ₹25 for other actions, such as balance enquiry, mini-statements, etc.

RBS offers free cash withdrawals in international ATMs if you maintain an average daily balance of ₹25,000 for the month. With ICICI Bank, in case you use your card for purchases, then a 3.5 per cent currency conversion charge is levied. YES Bank too charges a 3 per cent conversion charge. RBS offers other services such as insurance solutions with AVIVA Life Insurance.

Interest earned is tax exempt. The interest rates are same as the normal NRE savings account — 4 per cent in the case of ICICI Bank and 6 per cent for YES Bank.

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