Can someone recommend a basic zero balance bank account?

[Crane]

i need a secondary bank account without minimum balance requirements

So i can put money in it just to save
And use it with UPI probably

If anyone has experience with such zero balance bank account it would be really helpful

 

[Crane]

@Lolita_Magnum thanks a lot

 

[santorini]

@igloo Regarding HDFC classic banking with upfront fee, can you please provide me info or resources where I can find the exact fee and what do you mean by “depending on branch”. This is only for certain branches?

 

[Lolita_Magnum]

I will not recommend HDFC classic if you want a zero balance account, since it is not really meant for that criteria.

You are required to park a minimum 5 lakhs as an FD for at least 2–3 months (this gives you guaranteed classic upgrade) or 1lac as an account balance (while this somewhat makes you eligible, there has been times when even a manual trigger from an RM fails).
Remember, once you attain classic status, it is very rare for HDFC to demote you, but that can still happen.

The classic accounts as per my knowledge is only available at urban/metro branches.

These accounts do not offer much, except for unlimited ATM usage, a free platinum debit card, zero balance and some discounts on forex.
It also expedites your credit card upgrade timeline, but that is on a case-by-case basis.

 

[ryuk_]

Yeah HDFC bank is not the one if you're low on money/not having stable source of income. They are known for deducting maintenance charges if you can't maintain AMB/AQB.
I use kotak811 zero balance as a secondary bank account after Paytm payments bank shut down. Their UPI is not that reliable tho, I have had payment stuck quite a few times because their server was down which defeats the purpose of a secondary account. Thankfully HDFC(my primary bank) has it's UPI services up all the time and they inform about server maintenance schedule atleast 2 weeks before.
You can look for accounts from NBFCs or small finance banks, they do offer zero balance account afaik. IDFC First bank also recently started advertising their zero balance account so do check them out. My brother is using Bank of India since a long time and I've heard good things about it too. They do offer a zero balance account.

 

[Crane]

@ryuk_

Agreed ,After losing my job and having pending emis ,balance went below 10k and they started deducting money for that as fine

 

[ryuk_]

This is only the case if you have a savings account, there's no AMB or any kind of charges for salary account.

 

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[Pallab501]

NSDL Payments Bank. You will get free Rupay Platinum virtual debit card which you can use for Amazon Rupay Friday ₹100 cashback offer.

 

[Crane]

@Pallab501 its not a full fledged bank tho and i guess similar to Airtel payments bank?

 

[Pallab501]

Then open a regular SBI savings account. Don't open those Jan Dhan account too many restrictions. BTW All SBI savings accounts are zero balance account.

 

[Crane]

Ooo i see
Thanks man @Pallab501

I guess the safest way is sbi for now ,I thought of having a zero balance account with IndusInd bank But didn’t like the fact they are asking for 5000₹ lock in for some time

Kotak 811 as suggested by other members looks like a good option

So I’ll decide between these two (kotak and sbi)