Which one's the best? Bank Account : Savings with Debit Card and Internet Banking

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Hey,
So I was planning to learn the Banking Process (the basics) and need a new Bank Account for LONG-TERM use.
I know how to make online transactions and use DC/CC online.
Have used Amazon,Flipkart,ICICI,Infibeam,IRCTC.

Location : Mumbai.
I am 21,studying.

Here are my requirements :

Easy to operate,Secure & Hassle-free banking with Good Customer Care (24/7 - direct agent preferred) for all types of transactions.Will also use ATM facilities at least 5 times a month.No "extra" hidden charges.
For ATM withdrawals and Online Transactions.So a bank using advanced technologies + good CC is what I'm looking for
Minimum balance - Upto 5K is fine.No marketing gimmicks like "Wealth" or "PREMIUM" account.
Need a BASIC Savings A/C with a basic Debit-cum-ATM Card and Internet Banking.
These are the most important features I need,no messing up here.
Virtual Credit Card is also a must.I don't want to use my debit card directly for any online transaction.
Any other feature you suggest for the LONG-TERM?

My questions :

Is it possible to have a Debit-cum-ATM Card with a customized withdrawal limit to avoid fraud or mistakes?
What can I expect from most banks out there?
What are the most common issues and problems you've faced/known/hate?

I already have a passport and PAN card.
Any other document required?

Banks that seem to be good from my research,please VERIFY these :
1)SBI
2)HDFC Bank
3)Axis Bank
4)Bank of Baroda

I hear ICICI CC is pathetic,a relative had a bad experience so I am not going for it.

I don't mind traveling if the quality of service is good.
So how would you choose a bank?

Please list/pm any specific website/source you know.
Your thoughts,experiences,suggestions are MOST WELCOME

HDFC bank is one of the most popular options here with regards to hassle free banking and their net banking too is one of the best...customer service too is good...the only con is that i believe their minimum balance is something around 5000 if i am not mistaken...regarding debit card limit...i think it is possible though i do not know much about it..maybe someone else here could help you out...don't think thats possible with atm cum debit card..but again not sure...
SBI too is good but some have had issues with their customer service but otherwise its good as an option as the minimum balance too is low..i would say hdfc would be a good option for you..no experience with axis or bank of baroda...

A

I am using ICICI bank for more than 2 years, I have to use as it is our salary account. I will say their netbanking is best among all other banks. Also their debit card works in every international store(steam store,amazon etc).

Regarding CC, I have heard that their CC is bad, but I have not faced any issue yet. And almost everything you can do via online. So there will be a few cases to go to bank or call them over phone. But after all it depends on the location of the bank.

So I will say open two accounts. One in SBI and another in ICICI/HDFC. Put money for saving in SBI. And rest of the money in the other bank for netbanking, online shopping.

I agree. Put money in SBI for saving. Though SBI netbanking and all is great, no less than private banks.

I recommend SBI or Axis Bank.

Have been using SBI for 7 Years and Axis for 3 years. Good experience with both.

I m using Kotak Bank Salary account & I found it good and it fullfills all your criteria in OP.

I recommend Kotak or SBI

Note: SBI offers low credit limit as compared to other banks & also loan amount will be less than other private banks.

SBI was offering me Gold CC whereas I already have Platinum CC of private bank :-D

I have worked at Axis Bank.

Banked with SBI, HDFC, Kotak, Citi & Central Bank of India.

The minimum average balance has been revised upwards & if I'm right it's INR 10000 quarterly for most private banks. You can check the new gen banks like Yes Bank.

I'll suggest HDFC Bank and Citi.

Be advised that Salary accounts are different from the normal savings accounts in terms of charges & services.

W

Virtual Credit Card is also a must.I don't want to use my debit card directly for any online transaction

pointless exercise.using debit card directly is no issue if you have enabled OTP(one time password) for all online transactions no matter how small the amount is as by default many banks only enable it for transfers above a certain value.

If you can maintain a balance then I would recommend Citi. I've been banking with them the past 9 years, and till date had to visit the branch only 10 times in total.

1. Their customer service is top notch.

2. Even the visits to the branch is a pleasant experience.

3. All your banking needs can be done through their online portal

4. Their credit/debit cards work with all the major websites who don't have the issue with indian address

5. You get an instant message (SMS) whenever there is any transaction on your account.. These messages are also sent whenever any account related information is changed or a request for change is placed so that you are always aware about whats happening on your account.

Have also tried HDFC and ICICI..

HDFC is the worst of the lot.. Hate that bank. You have to visit the stupid branch every time you have to get something changed.

ICICI is ok

P

Wow.Amazing Responses.Thanks a lot.

Ronnie11 said:
HDFC bank is one of the most popular options here with regards to hassle free banking and their net banking too is one of the best...customer service too is good...the only con is that i believe their minimum balance is something around 5000 if i am not mistaken...regarding debit card limit...i think it is possible though i do not know much about it..maybe someone else here could help you out...don't think thats possible with atm cum debit card..but again not sure...
SBI too is good but some have had issues with their customer service but otherwise its good as an option as the minimum balance too is low..i would say hdfc would be a good option for you..no experience with axis or bank of baroda...

Thanks @Ronnie11.Will consider HDFC as well.

arijitsinha said:
I am using ICICI bank for more than 2 years, I have to use as it is our salary account. I will say their netbanking is best among all other banks. Also their debit card works in every international store(steam store,amazon etc).

Regarding CC, I have heard that their CC is bad, but I have not faced any issue yet. And almost everything you can do via online. So there will be a few cases to go to bank or call them over phone. But after all it depends on the location of the bank.

So I will say open two accounts. One in SBI and another in ICICI/HDFC. Put money for saving in SBI. And rest of the money in the other bank for netbanking, online shopping.

@arijitsinha :
ICICI CC issue was quite big for the relative and our branch will be the same so I think I'll wait for it.
Thanks for that smart tip.I think I'll go with SBI first since it has a lot of good feedback here.

krishnandu.sarkar said:
I agree. Put money in SBI for saving. Though SBI netbanking and all is great, no less than private banks.

I recommend SBI or Axis Bank.

Have been using SBI for 7 Years and Axis for 3 years. Good experience with both.

@krishnandu.sarkar
THANK YOU

I'll consider SBI.

Zangetsu said:
I m using Kotak Bank Salary account & I found it good and it fullfills all your criteria in OP.

I recommend Kotak or SBI

Note: SBI offers low credit limit as compared to other banks & also loan amount will be less than other private banks.

SBI was offering me Gold CC whereas I already have Platinum CC of private bank

@Zangetsu : Great.
I don't need CC atm,probably never going to use CC in my life.Didn't like using "credit" when I have adequate resources.
Thanks for the info on SBI.

BombayBoy said:
I have worked at Axis Bank.

Banked with SBI, HDFC, Kotak, Citi & Central Bank of India.

The minimum average balance has been revised upwards & if I'm right it's INR 10000 quarterly for most private banks. You can check the new gen banks like Yes Bank.

I'll suggest HDFC Bank and Citi.

Be advised that Salary accounts are different from the normal savings accounts in terms of charges & services.

@BombayBoy : Wow,that's a lot of experience.Thanks for sharing,especially the last line.

whitestar_999 said:
pointless exercise.using debit card directly is no issue if you have enabled OTP(one time password) for all online transactions no matter how small the amount is as by default many banks only enable it for transfers above a certain value.

OTP might take time and i don't want to use it all the time.VCC is easy and safe.

deepakkrishnan said:
If you can maintain a balance then I would recommend Citi. I've been banking with them the past 9 years, and till date had to visit the branch only 10 times in total.

1. Their customer service is top notch.

2. Even the visits to the branch is a pleasant experience.

3. All your banking needs can be done through their online portal

4. Their credit/debit cards work with all the major websites who don't have the issue with indian address

5. You get an instant message (SMS) whenever there is any transaction on your account.. These messages are also sent whenever any account related information is changed or a request for change is placed so that you are always aware about whats happening on your account.

Have also tried HDFC and ICICI..

HDFC is the worst of the lot.. Hate that bank. You have to visit the stupid branch every time you have to get something changed.

ICICI is ok

@deepakkrishnan : Hmmm..I had considered CITI but I observed that very few gateways accept their cards.
I'll check it again with others.

SO guys,thanks a lot for the response.
I'll make a final call within the next few days,probably SBI to get started.
I'll also post my experience and tips for future reference.

Is it true that , CITI Bank has increased its Quartely mininmum balance recently ??

Rishi. said:
Is it true that , CITI Bank has increased its Quartely mininmum balance recently ??

Yes. To an exorbitant INR 200,000/-. They offered me lower requirement for being a loyal customer for more than 5 years. If I could really afford to keep it, Citi is my first choice. I closed the account.

HDFC Bank & Kotak are good for now. None of the PSU banks' internet or branch banking is good. But you get what you pay for.

i had very bad experience with sbi i made an online DD for my counselling and the branch manager didn't sign in DD because of that i was delayed in my counselling..........

+1 for SBI from me. Reasons are obvious. And it's CC is also good. Always got my complaints resolved in timely manner, if any.

Phenomenal said:
I don't need CC atm,probably never going to use CC in my life.Didn't like using "credit" when I have adequate resources.

Wise thinking :thumbs:

Phenomenal said:
OTP might take time and i don't want to use it all the time.VCC is easy and safe.

It's much much much faster than VCC, and takes only 5 extra seconds to save you from extra hassles and provide an extra layer of security.

gta0gagan said:
i had very bad experience with sbi i made an online DD for my counselling and the branch manager didn't sign in DD because of that i was delayed in my counselling..........

Just one incident and SBI becomes bad ? And what happened with you in SBI can happen in any bank as the reason was not bank rather the idiot manager, who may exist anywhere.

BombayBoy said:
Yes. To an exorbitant INR 200,000/-. They offered me lower requirement for being a loyal customer for more than 5 years. If I could really afford to keep it, Citi is my first choice. I closed the account.

HDFC Bank & Kotak are good for now. None of the PSU banks' internet or branch banking is good. But you get what you pay for.

It's not possible for an average Indian to maintain an account in CITI bank anymore.

Though , I didn't knew that it went as high as 200,000rs/quarter. That's really high comparatively.
I think My Kotak account has 25k/quarter requirement.

I opened a savings account in SBI when I was a student. It has served me well over the years and the security aspect is taken care of pretty well. You get an SMS alert every time you try to access your profile online plus you need to enter a PIN for any debit card transactions at a PoS. A few minor irritants include the ability to add only one beneficiary in a day, activation of said beneficiary might take 24 hours (in my Kotak salary account, it is instant) and you cannot transfer more than 50K to a newly added beneficiary during the first 5 days. I don't think they have a minimum balance rule (or maybe I never noticed it) for student accounts.

^The beneficiary approval time has been now reduced to 4 hrs and minimum balance has become zero for all savings account.

I have also used Union Bank since 4 yrs, and pretty satisfied with its service. One thing I like is they don't charge for non-home deposits and best chicks

; still SBI ftw.

Phenomenal said:
@Zangetsu : Great.
I don't need CC atm,probably never going to use CC in my life.Didn't like using "credit" when I have adequate resources.
Thanks for the info on SBI.

hehe...i was also thinking like that but @ some point of time u will..trust me on this :-D

Credit card is not bad if you know how to use it, it is one of the best way to spend money. I've been using one for the last 7 years. All my purchases and payments are routed through my card. The idea is to use your money to be routed through it rather than treating it as a loan given to you.

You would like to know why ??
Most cards have have awesome rewards points and options to redeem them.

Like the HDFC times card : Flat 20% discount on movies ticket, 15-20% discount in restaurants you also get points for spending that can be redeemed at various locations and even free movie tickets.

The basic idea is to use the money that your going to spend anyways and not being extravagant.

The one i use Citibank premier miles .. And with the points accumulated I can actually redeem a return flight mumbai-london :wink:

and don't have to pay a dime.. Yes it did take some time to accumulate that many points but its worth it

deepakkrishnan said:
Credit card is not bad if you know how to use it, it is one of the best way to spend money. I've been using one for the last 7 years. All my purchases and payments are routed through my card. The idea is to use your money to be routed through it rather than treating it as a loan given to you.

You would like to know why ??
Most cards have have awesome rewards points and options to redeem them.

Like the HDFC times card : Flat 20% discount on movies ticket, 15-20% discount in restaurants you also get points for spending that can be redeemed at various locations and even free movie tickets.

The basic idea is to use the money that your going to spend anyways and not being extravagant.

The one i use Citibank premier miles .. And with the points accumulated I can actually redeem a return flight mumbai-london and don't have to pay a dime.. Yes it did take some time to accumulate that many points but its worth it

I am not much into banking , but I don't understand why will someone give you things 15-20% cheaper alongwith a credit/loan but not on a Debit Card. How the hell a financial institution benefits from this. ???

I guess they have tie-ups (something like promotion ) and for every transaction the merchant has to pay some fees to the bank or the payment gateway. I believe that's how they earn profit coz they are not lending money but still get some sort of interest.. I guess its about 2-3% or the transaction amount

deepakkrishnan said:
I guess they have tie-ups (something like promotion ) and for every transaction the merchant has to pay some fees to the bank or the payment gateway. I believe that's how they earn profit coz they are not lending money but still get some sort of interest.. I guess its about 2-3% or the transaction amount

That 2% transaction charged applies to Debit Card also , I think. There's a charge on Debit Cards too for using transaction gateways.

What I don't get is that why a Bank considers Credit Card a premium service rather than a Debit Card holder. Even though , the Guy having Debit card has already lent his money to the bank.
So a ticket which actually costs 100rs , costs him 80RS using Credit Card , and that too has to be paid on EMi/loans without interest.
All I can see is the ticket Vendor getting in loss.

Do care to explain , how it benefits the Bank ,and Vendor and causes loss to Customer when using CC.
:brainfcked:

The reason is : people who use the credit card wisely <<<<<< people who use the credit card stupidly (Way outnumbered)
Credit card is the costliest loan available to a person. People end up withdrawing money from Credit card and "THAT'S A SIN".

This also explains why most of the people think credit cards are bad wherein its the other way round. Usage of credit card affects you CBILL rating ( IT actually acts a NITRO ) depending on how one uses it.

And customer will never be at loss for using a credit card (If he uses it wisely).. Y did you say this :?:

deepakkrishnan said:
The reason is : people who use the credit card wisely <<<<<< people who use the credit card stupidly (Way outnumbered)
Credit card is the costliest loan available to a person. People end up withdrawing money from Credit card and "THAT'S A SIN".

This also explains why most of the people think credit cards are bad wherein its the other way round. Usage of credit card affects you CBILL rating ( IT actually acts a NITRO ) depending on how one uses it.
:

so the only way bank profits is through stupid mistakes of customers like withdrawing money using CC or overdue payments ?? Hmmmm.....lol , so if every CC customer goes wise then the CC companies are going to get BKCPted. :lol:

And customer will never be at loss for using a credit card (If he uses it wisely).. Y did you say this

Becuase there's no way a financial institution will stay in loss , and if one has to profit then somebody gotta bear the loss , right ??

What about VCC as I don't see anyone is talking about it as OP asked.
HDFC has VCC also but is under upgradation from last 3-4 months and thats pathetic. !

Any other bank with good VCC facility..

However, HDFC bank netbanking is one of the best I have ever used. (Apart of Citi , I have used almost all major banks netbanking).

And ICICI bank has most non-friendly netbanking.. it look likes they don't know anything about UI.

so if every CC customer goes wise then the CC companies are going to get BKCPted.

CC companies are usually banks themselves and they will never go bankrupt (Exceptions are there ( Lehman Bros. ) )

Rishi. said:
Becuase there's no way a financial institution will stay in loss , and if one has to profit then somebody gotta bear the loss , right ??

To put it bluntly, it not at someone's loss but cumulative stupidity of the general population. There is a reason they say ignorance is Bliss.

What about VCC as I don't see anyone is talking about it as OP asked

Never understood the fascination for this product.. Maybe I never needed one I guess :unsure:

Ricky said:
What about VCC as I don't see anyone is talking about it as OP asked.
HDFC has VCC also but is under upgradation from last 3-4 months and thats pathetic. !

Any other bank with good VCC facility..

However, HDFC bank netbanking is one of the best I have ever used. (Apart of Citi , I have used almost all major banks netbanking).

And ICICI bank has most non-friendly netbanking.. it look likes they don't know anything about UI.

Kotak NetCard is good.

I never felt the need of VCC (SBI), perhaps the reason being absolute no international payments.

W

^^don't worry.even if you do feel need SBI understand the risk so it has a policy of not allowing its VCC to be used on sites outside India,it can only be used within India for rupee transactions only

whitestar_999 said:
^^don't worry.even if you do feel need SBI understand the risk so it has a policy of not allowing its VCC to be used on sites outside India,it can only be used within India for rupee transactions only

whitestar_999 said:
^^don't worry.even if you do feel need SBI understand the risk so it has a policy of not allowing its VCC to be used on sites outside India,it can only be used within India for rupee transactions only

I see

Rishi. said:
I am not much into banking , but I don't understand why will someone give you things 15-20% cheaper alongwith a credit/loan but not on a Debit Card. How the hell a financial institution benefits from this. ???

when customer makes late payment fees.
and Banks can benefit from Tax rates also as they have credited xxx amounts to various customers (not sure about it though)

A

Zangetsu said:
when customer makes late payment fees.
and Banks can benefit from Tax rates also as they have credited xxx amounts to various customers (not sure about it though)

Also there used to be an annual fees for the credit card holders, like if you dont shop for amount 5K - 10K , you have to pay 1000 Rs at the end of 1 year.
The point of giving credit card to customer is unlimiting their shopping. If someone use their CC wisely, they will not have any loss also.