Bank Smart. Watch out for the hidden bank charges

Banks charge customers for various reasons ranging from using ATMs to transacting online.

You are penalised for not maintaining the mandated minimum balance in your savings bank account.

Issuance of a duplicate pass book and additional cheque books also do not come for free. The list does not end here. Apart from these usual chargeable bank services, there are others that entail a cost.

One, many banks charge customers for debit cards issued to them, with the fee varying depending on the type of card. For instance, State Bank of India (SBI) takes a one-time charge of ₹100 and ₹306 for its Gold and Platinum debit cards, which come with higher daily ATM cash withdrawal and shopping limits and some additional features. The bank however, issues its basic Classic debit card for free.

Likewise, Axis Bank does not charge customers for the MasterCard Titanium debit card and the MasterCard Titanium Prime Plus debit card that are issued with the bank’s Prime savings account and Prime Plus savings account. But those opening an Easy Access savings account with the bank are charged ₹150 for a Visa Classic debit card.

Other banks such as HDFC Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and YES Bank, however, do not charge for debit cards.

Then, apart from the issuance fee, banks also charge an annual debit card maintenance fee (mostly from second year onwards), which again varies with the kind of debit card. For SBI customers, these charges vary between ₹100 and 300 (plus service tax), with the lowest charge being for its Classic debit card holders and the highest for its Premium Business debit card holders.

In the case of HDFC Bank, the charges are anywhere between ₹250 and ₹750 (plus taxes) a year. But if you are a high net worth customer — a ‘Classic’, ‘Preferred’ or ‘Imperia’ Banking customer of HDFC Bank — then these charges are waived.

For ICICI Bank customers, the annual debit card maintenance fee comes to ₹150 plus taxes (₹99 plus taxes for rural areas) for a basic debit card and goes up to ₹499 and ₹1,499 (plus taxes) for the premium Coral and Sapphiro debit cards.

Besides these once-in-a-while costs, you may also have to bear other charges.

The use of a debit card at a fuel station entails a small charge by most banks, with some variations.

Take for example Axis Bank, which charges 2.5 per cent of the transaction amount (minimum ₹10) for payment at fuel stations. It’s the same for SBI, when the debit card is used on other banks’ point-of-sale terminals at fuel stations.

Further, cash withdrawals and deposits at a bank branch too come with a charge, beyond your free transaction limit.

So, how many free transactions are you entitled to? This varies across banks and could also depend on the type of your savings account.

A regular savings account holder with HDFC Bank is allowed five free transactions every month, at a home or non-home branch. Beyond that, a customer is charged ₹100 (plus taxes) for every additional transaction. For non-home branch transactions, there is also a value cap in addition to the number cap. So, you pay ₹5 for every ₹1,000, if your transaction value exceeds ₹50,000 in a day.

A Prime savings account holder with Axis Bank in an urban area can conduct five transactions or ₹25 lakh worth of transactions (whichever is earlier) every month, for free. Transactions beyond this limit are charged at the rate of ₹5 for every ₹1,000 or ₹150, whichever is higher.

Apart from deducting charges for the services they provide, banks also impose penalties for certain transactions.

So, for instance, if you fail to ensure an adequate account balance to facilitate payments under the ECS (electronic clearing service) facility, your bank would deduct a few hundred bucks from your account.

An ECS debit failure for an Axis Bank customer would result in a penalty charge of ₹350 for the first failed transaction and ₹750 for every successive transaction. It is the same for HDFC Bank customers. YES Bank customers are charged ₹200 for every failed transaction.

There’s yet another charge you may have to bear, if you are not good at remembering numbers. Asking your bank to generate a duplicate ATM PIN every time you forget the existing number can cost you ₹50 at many banks.

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