Banks are doing their bit to motivate young Indians to start saving early by launching exclusive savings accounts. These accounts come with a few additional features as well.

So, who can sign up for such ‘youth’ accounts?

You need to be a resident Indian and should have completed 18 years of age to open a youth account. The upper limit on age, though, varies among banks. SBI’s Yuva Savings account, for instance, allows resident Indians in the 18-30 age group to join the scheme. Similarly, Axis Bank offers Youth Savings Account to those above 18 years but not more than 25 years of age.

Others such as IDBI Bank (Being me Account), South Indian Bank (Youth Plus savings) and ING Bank (Go to 18 account) also offer schemes to those in the 18-30 age group.

Additional benefits In addition to the traditional services available to regular account holders, youth savings schemes offer a host of other benefits, such as lower minimum balance requirements, customised debit cards and preferential interest rates on education loans.

For instance, if you hold a regular savings bank account with Axis Bank in one of the four metros or other urban cities, you need to maintain a monthly average balance of at least ₹10,000. In case you hold an account in a branch located in tier II cities, you will have to maintain average monthly balance of ₹5,000.

But, the bank offers zero balance facility on its Youth Savings Account. Similarly, most banks have waived off debit card issuance charges for young customers. Some banks allow them to choose the look of their debit card as well.

Axis Bank also offers a dedicated mobile app for its youth account holders.

Many banks offer free demand draft/banker’s cheques to their account holders to facilitate fees payment.

For instance, SBI’s Yuva Savings Account provides 12 demand drafts or banker’s cheques to its customers each year for free. This can be used to either pay their education fee or apply for jobs. Similarly, Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank offers free demand draft/ local draft/ pay order to the tune of ₹25,000 every month, for its Dynamic Youth Savings Bank account holders.

Banks such as IDBI Bank also offer education loan at a preferential interest rate for their youth customers.

Besides this, some banks such as South India Bank provide their student customers with an opportunity to undertake their academic projects with them, subject to availability of seats.

IDBI Bank also offers financial planning training to its ‘Being Me account’ holders. The bank also allows account holders to open their share trading account for free.

Pros and cons Since a majority of the account holders may not have started earning yet, youth accounts look attractive, given the lower minimum balance requirements or free drafts.

If the bank promises to offer concessional interest rates for education loans, well and good. It is debatable how useful features such as customised debit cards are or how frequently one will opt to do an academic project in a bank. Features such as mobile apps are not exclusive to youth accounts. Besides, not all features are available with all banks. So, it’s best to weigh how much more is offered in comparison with normal savings account before you sign up. This assumes more relevance when some charges could likely be higher for youth accounts against normal savings accounts. For example, our checks reveal that the annual charge on Axis Bank’s Youth Savings debit card is higher at ₹400, while the annual fee for a regular debit card is lower at ₹150. Card replacement fee also seems higher for youth accounts here. It’s best to check what your bank has to offer both in terms of features and charges, before signing up.

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