4 Reasons Why You Should Open An NRI Banking Account

Banking has become rather convenient today, whether you are a resident Indian or a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) living abroad. Today, you can access your bank account over your mobile phone screen or your desktop/laptop computer within seconds. Whether you want to open a savings, current or NRI banking account, you can do it all online. Not only this, you can even transfer funds easily. As an NRI, you can open NRE and NRO accounts and FCNR deposits, depending upon your requirement. Once these accounts are opened, you can access your funds from any corner of the world, rather easily. So if you are an Indian living abroad, here are 4 reasons why you should open an NRI bank account.

1. You can easily repatriate funds

As mentioned above, you can open Non-Resident Rupee External (NRE) and Non-Resident Rupee Ordinary (NRO) bank accounts as an NRI. Both these NRI banking accounts allow you to easily repatriate the funds parked in them. Just like a traditional bank account, you earn interest on your savings parked in NRE account, and both, the sums parked and the interest you earn on it; is freely and fully repatriable. In case of NRO accounts, you can repatriate the sums parked, but you need to pay the applicable taxes before doing so.

2. You do not need to maintain higher balances

Most banks offering NRI bank accounts in India have significantly reduced the mandatory minimum balance maintenance requirement. Just like a basic savings account, you do not need to maintain more than ₹10,000 as the monthly minimum balance in your NRI account. This proves extremely beneficial if you are earning sums in a currency that holds a higher value than INR. For instance, if you are earning in USD, your minimum deposit can be as low as approximately USD $150.

3. You get access to internet banking services

Just like with your regular savings and current accounts, you also get NRI net banking services. This way, you can easily send money to and receive money from your family in India. You can also open both, NRE and NRO accounts and transfer funds between the two types of accounts easily. Moreover, you can also maintain a foreign currency fixed deposits using the sums parked in NRE and NRO accounts and open these FDs via your internet banking enabled NRI account.

4. You can avail tax benefits

Opening both, NRE and NRO bank accounts come with their own set of advantages, with tax benefits being the most prominent reason why you need this account. However, you need to research about the various types of NRI banking services and accounts before you open one – especially the aspect related to tax benefits. The interest earned on your savings parked in NRE accounts and FCNR deposits accounts is tax-free in India, but you have to pay TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) on your NRO account savings as per the Income Tax rules in India. You also have to pay a small amount as tax if your wish to transfer funds from your NRO account to any NRE account.
Final Word: As is apparent, there are several advantages of opening your NRI bank account. From NRI internet banking services, to easy repatriability and opening accounts online, everything is possible. Modern day NRIs can easily and conveniently complete their banking transactions within seconds from anywhere in the world. You can easily send money to your loved ones, transfer funds from one account to another and even withdraw funds from these accounts whenever you need.

Protocols To Keep In Mind To Ensure Safe Online Banking

With the Indian e-commerce space expanding due to constant spree of acquisitions, more and more Indian customers are moving away from traditional way of shopping at stores to shopping online. This, along with demonetisation has led to a swift rise in the number of digital mode of payments in recent years. These include numerous forms of payments, such as net banking, debit/credit cards, mobile wallets, UPI, etc. This also calls for an increasing requirement of recognising on how to safeguard online payments.

While technology has made it simple for us to manage our daily expenses, every great innovation has drawbacks too. This wave of digital payments has also opened doors to risks of cyber theft as new users, and the less tech-savvy do not take all the adequate safety measures while using internet banking.

Lot of us tend to save personal financial information on various digital payment platforms for quicker payments. While it does make our lives easier, it also causes a severe security threat.

While doing transactions online, we are subject to various risks of scams such as – loss of money and financial data, phishing scams and identity theft. Since most of us now use net banking to make online payments, one must take safety measures to protect money, both offline and online.

Here are few rules to follow to ensure safety while indulging in financial transactions on the internet:

Secure website

Anybody can go through your letters from the mailbox outside your house. Similarly, anybody can sniff around your internet connection too, if logged into an unsecured website. And if someone scrutinises your connection for a long time, they can gain access to any data that you send and receive or have stored on that site.

For preventing this violation of security, most social networks, email services, etc. use a safe and secure protocol, called HTTPS. This security protocol is known as Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol over Transport Layer Security or HTTPS.  It means end-to-end encryption of any data that’s exchanged between website servers and you.

The easiest way to identify if the website is safe is to look for a green padlock icon in the left corner of the address bar. Also, look if it is “HTTPS” at the beginning of the URL in the address bar and not “HTTP”.

Dedicated email address

If you are a regular online shopper, it is ideal to create a separate email address just for online shopping. Keep this email account clean and uncluttered. This way if you receive any unsecure email, on your main ID, with dubious promotion offers, you can spot them right away.

Payment alert messages

In case, you do not have the SMS alerts facility active, we advise you should get it as soon as possible. The SMS alert facility will inform you of any bank account activity. Hence if any transaction does not get initiated, report to the bank immediately and cancel all your cards. If informed on time, your money is safe, and the bank will compensate you for losses, if any, as per RBI guidelines.

Avoid public computers and Wi-Fi

Never do any online banking transactions on a public computer such as the ones in cybercafé. Also, never use public Wi-Fi for financial transactions as they are unsecured networks. Anyone can join the network as there is no key or password to access it. Such networks can easily fall prey to hackers who can steal your details.

Remember these protocols while using your mobile banking apps as well.

Do You Know These 4 Facts About FCNR Deposits?

In order to create a corpus, one needs a good amount of savings and investments. You can put away your money in bank fixed and recurring deposits or even invest in the share market. The idea is to plan your investments in such a way that you can accrue high returns and also liquefy the investment if and when needed. If you are a conservative investor, preferring to park your savings securely, a fixed deposit is the best way to go. NRIs, too, can make FDs out of their foreign currency earnings. Yes, you can open a Foreign Currency Non-Repatriable deposit or FCNR deposit. But do you know these 4 essential facts about this foreign currency deposit? Here’s all you need to know

1. FCNR is not exactly an account, but a fixed deposit

Most NRIs generally assume that FCNR is an account, but the fact is that it is a deposit. As an NRI, you can open a Non Resident External Rupee of NRE account and/or an NON Resident Ordinary Rupee or NRO account. You can deposit foreign currencies in the former account and Indian Rupees in the later. Once you have a good amount of savings in the NRE account, you can make a fixed deposit from it. These FDs could be termed as NRE fixed deposits, a term used interchangeably with foreign currency deposits.

2. You can maintain deposits in different major currencies

Most banks allow you to maintain your fixed deposit in different, major international currencies. Generally, the currencies in which you can maintain your FCNR deposits include Great Britain Pound Sterling, Euros, Japanese Yen, Swiss Francs, Danish Krone and Swedish Krona. You can also maintain the FD in different types of dollars which include American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and Singaporean Dollars.

3. You should know the minimum and maximum tenure and the penalties for premature withdrawals

Fixed Deposit for NRI can be opened for a minimum duration of 1 year, whereas the maximum FD tenure is generally 5 years. A handful of banks may also offer 10 year tenures for foreign currency fixed deposits. The greatest advantage of these deposits is that they are risk averse and you do not have to worry about currency fluctuations. Also, the interest you earn on these FDs is in the foreign currency in which the FD is maintained. You may also prematurely withdraw your FD before your chosen tenure ends, but you have to bear a penalty for premature withdrawals. If you decide to break your fixed deposit, before the minimum 1 year tenure, you may not be eligible to earn any interest pay out on your deposit.

4. You can open the deposit online

As an NRI, it may not be possible for you to visit your bank in India and create a fixed deposit account. This is why all banks offering NRI services, allow you to make your NRI fixed deposit online. That said the main source account for the foreign currency fixed deposit should be a foreign currency account opened overseas or an NRE account in India. You can easily create the FD by transferring funds from either of the bank account through wire transfers. You may also create this FD while you are in India by depositing a travellers’ cheque or make foreign currency cash deposits.
As is apparent from the term FCNR, this is a non-repatriable deposit. That said, you can completely repatriate the principal amount of the fixed deposit and the interest earned on it, when your FD matures. You also earn interest on a half-yearly basis on these deposits.

Why Is Zero-Balance Savings Account Popular?

When you visit a bank to open an account, you have numerous options to choose from. For choosing an account that best suits your needs, you must first understand the concepts behind each one of them and be aware of their underlying differences.

Zero-balance savings account
A zero-balance saving account offers you the facility to open an account with no need of minimum balance at the time of opening an account. Usually provided by major banks, zero-balance savings account assists you to withdraw money as and when required, thus addressing your liquidity needs.
In most cases, the account offers additional facilities such as ATM cum debit card, mobile banking, internet banking, and online money transfer.

This saving account is given to the class of customers such as salary account holders and under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. PMJDY is a scheme with the aim of financial inclusion.

Features of zero-balance account

• No restrictions on maintaining a regular monthly balance.
• No charges levied on the debit card or ATM card.
• Free passbook issued at the time of opening the account.
• Free net banking facility to account holders.
• Offers unique benefits for salary account holders based on the businesses

Difference between Zero balance savings account and regular savings account
Generally, you must keep a minimum Monthly Average Balance (MAB) in your regular savings account. If it is challenging to maintain the minimum required balance in your account, non-maintenance charges will be levied

Documents required:
For opening the zero-balance saving account, you just must submit the necessary KYC documents like identity and residence proof.

Other benefits of zero balance savings account
High-interest rates: When you open zero-balance savings account online, the interest rates are higher than the manual option. Although no minimum balance is considered for this purpose, the online route has more advantages.

Easy to open: Your PAN and Aadhaar are enough to open zero-balance account. You need to set a PIN then and start using the account. The welcome kit will also contain chequebook and a debit card which is integrated with the mobile banking apps.

No KYC balance up to INR 1 lakh: Such accounts allow you to maintain a certain amount of funds, especially for new holders. The maximum permitted balance by banks is INR 1 lakh.

Transaction charges: One of the many perks is zero transaction costs. If you wish to withdraw or deposit some funds, do not worry about deduction or transaction costs. Mobile banking apps need a unique authentication password known as mPIN for authenticating payments and transactions.

Shopping and entertainment: These are two areas of life that no one wants to comprise on. The virtual debit card enables you to pay for your favourite product at all the sales terminals.

Benefits of savings account opened under PMJDY

• Not required to keep a minimum balance.
• Interest on deposits as per current bank rates.
• Accident-insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh.
• Direct transfer from government schemes is credited in the account.
• Your have overdraft facility also available for 6 months.

How To Educate Children About Money Management?

If you are tired of always using ‘no money' excuse to deny a toy to your kid, then perhaps it is time to educate your child about the importance of money and spending it wisely. By teaching your child about the importance of money, will not only guide them to the future, but also give you an activity to do together.

Today, where life is moving fast, it is challenging to spend time with your loved ones. However, it is crucial to indulge in activities with your loved ones. Some activities can be a blessing in disguise. One such activity that you can indulge in with your child is to teach them value of money. Nothing supports this activity than savings account.

There are other ways to educate your child about significance of funds as well. They include -

Discuss money

Your job is half done when you approach the topic with a healthy attitude. It is essential to encourage healthy participation. So, address the topic at the right time and with a healthy approach.
One way to address the topic of money management, is to discuss questions like why you cannot purchase the toy? Are we poor or rich? Address these questions by highlighting on beliefs like hard work, saving, cautious spending and charity will help your child see the value of money and propel your child’s mind towards money management.

It is essential to be mindful when discussing this topic as there is a fine line between your child recognising your intentions and thinking you are a penny-pincher. So, try and encourage them with discussions about managing money.

Have a savings account
Have a savings account opened for your child; it will guide your child to value money. Foster the habit to save money and encourage your child to make frequent deposits. Also, explain to them about bank interest.

Try to open zero balance account in a bank that offers children's accounts. You could open one using mobile banking apps as well. A child’s account is generally a joint account managed by the parents until the child is old enough to manage it. When they are mature enough to understand, teach them simple banking tasks like depositing cash and cheques, how to check their bank balance, etc.

Price Evaluation
Evaluating or comparing prices of products is a way to smart buying. By teaching this be assured, you will encourage careful and not reckless spending habits. This activity involves you and your child compare the prices of two products probably branded and local, check the quantity and quality; and decide on which one to buy.

Encourage charity
Besides teaching your child about saving and spending and investing wisely, also encourage them to do charity. It is a good quality which makes your child a caring human being. You can do this by keeping a jar with ‘charity’ written on it and urge your child to put in a specific amount regularly. Use this money to fund a useful purpose or donate it to a reputed charitable organisation.
It is vital to educate your children about the significance of money at a young age so that they can be mature adults and make wise choices related to money in their life.

Digital Banking: Its Benefits And Latest Trends

One of our daily activities involves banking. Now, the banking industry is keeping up with the latest market trends and follow the digital banking concept.

Digital banking in India:

It is an umbrella term that includes online banking, PC banking, internet banking, mobile banking apps, and other data-driven channels. Digital banking services include making transactions, submitting requests, and handling other banking activities online. The internet banking system started in 1996 in India. Since many banks have followed suit and provide banking facilities across mediums.

Importance of digitisation:

• Numerous factors brought in mechanisation and digitisation in the banking industry in India.
  
• A system called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) helps in sorting and processing cheques. Every bank has the MICR system in place and follows it as well.
  
• The other step was more of an innovation. Banking is a repetitive and monotonous job. Employees tend to make mistakes. Therefore, to minimise the errors and speed the process, banks use computer technology with standalone computers and local area networks.
  
• As the networks grew and banks connected, Centralised Online Real-Time Exchange (CORE) banking came into being. The services provided here are financial transactions, accessing accounts from the participating bank branches.
  
• This resulted in different modes of fund transfer, which primarily include RTGS, NEFT, and IMPS.
  
• Nowadays, people are more inclined to their smartphones and banking taps this aspect as well. You can find banking here as well.

Benefits of digital banking:

There are a couple of digital banking benefits that not many are aware of –

• Customer service: With the internet available everywhere freely, the customer only needs a device and decent internet connectivity. It saves not only time but also the expenses as you no longer need to travel to the bank to carry out the transactions. You can also get rid of the never-ending queues. Sit at the comfort of your home or work and get the desired task done. 

• Availability: You can track your records anytime and use the digital banking services round the clock. Transferring funds has only become easier, quicker, and safer. 

• Time constraint: You had to wait for longer period to avail of service earlier. Banks earlier had boards put up outside the branches specifying the time limit for each facility. 

• Online bill payments: Another benefit under digital banking is that customers need not carry cash everywhere they go. You can get all bills such as utility, credit card, and EMIs paid immediately. You can even set schedules for them. This way, you will not delay the bill payments. 

• Lower overheads: The operating costs of the banks have reduced drastically. This has made it possible to reduce service charges and offer higher interest rates for deposits. Lower operation costs mean more profits for the bank.

Latest trends:

The benefits themselves stress the importance of online banking. The socio-economic factors emphasise on why one needs to switch to digital banking today. Considering the fraudulent activities are on the rise, it is safe to conduct financial operations digitally.

Precisely why more and more are introducing new features over banking apps and internet banking. These include –

• Electronic wallets: Since you can use the smartphone for almost every daily task, the Government encourages people to adopt electronic wallets. There has been rapid increase in the use of debit or credit card and the trend continues. 

• Chatbots: Under the customer care operation section, the banks have already employed the chatbots feature. In case of any query, the customer care executive responds to them through chatbots. The banks have improved the quality of interaction and services rendered. 

• Mobile technology: Since the digital banking services are expanding technologically, and banks have their presence felt over mobile banking apps too. More and more features get added frequently. Sometimes banks use this medium to promote their campaigns also. 

• Paperless transactions: Banks are realising that there is no scope for physical, financial operations anymore. Banks focus on end to end digital marketing only now.

Everything You Need To Know About Kids Savings Account

In these times, it is very important for a child to know basics of personal finance. Teaching your child through live examples is a better way to ensure long lasting learning and retention. Recognizing this, banks have come out with a different type of saving account specially for kids. They can operate this account and learn the basics about a savings account.

There is no need to wait till your child is 18 years before opening one. You can open zero balance account and give your child the responsibility of managing this account.

Features of Kids saving account:
The account is a zero-balance account which means there is no need to maintain a set balance in it. The account is linked to the parent or guardian’s bank account. In case the balance is zero, funds can be transferred from the linked account to the kids saving account. However, a few banks may insist on a minimum balance. So, it is better to check the rules before opening this account.

The account comes with a free debit card that the child can use to make cash withdrawals from ATM to swipe at merchant outlets. The debit card comes with a shopping limit, which means that your child won’t be able to spend more than the limit.

Banks also provide free cheque books, free passbooks, free email account statements. The account holder can also use internet banking and mobile banking. It is also possible to pay bills through this account.

This account is only in operation when the child is a minor. Once the child is a major, a regular savings account must be opened. It is possible to convert this zero-balance saving account into a regular saving account by filling up a form.

Banks may also offer a sweep in facility where funds above a particular limit are put into a fixed deposit. This ensures the savings account earns higher income.

Most banks require an auto debit facility to transfer funds from the parent or guardian’s account to the kids saving account to maintain a balance.

Some banks also provide free insurance to cover the child in case of the parent’s death.

How to open a kids savings account:
It is possible to open online saving account in this case by filling up a form on the bank’s website. Considering it is the era of e-banking apps, you could open one via your smartphones as well. Else, visit the branch and complete the procedure.

The documents required for this account are:

• KYC documents of the parent or guardian, if the child is less than 10 years of age
• Date of birth proof for example, birth certificate

Not all banks may require a passport size photograph. Once the application for online saving account opening is processed, your child’s saving account gets opened in a jiffy. Your child can then start to operate this account.