[carboy]

Originally Posted by MHG

Questions may seem somewhat noobish, but that's because I'm starting work only next year and barely have any experience outside the standard savings account I operate at Canara Bank which is only used to pay for petrol.

Just wait till you start working. A lot of big companies force their employees to open an account in a particular bank of their choice (or at best have a choice of a couple of banks). So that will automatically be your first bank. You can then call up one of the other banks (ICICI, HDFC, IDBI, public banks etc) and figure out which one best suits your needs.

[MHG]

Originally Posted by carboy

Just wait till you start working. A lot of big companies force their employees to open an account in a particular bank of their choice (or at best have a choice of a couple of banks). So that will automatically be your first bank. You can then call up one of the other banks (ICICI, HDFC, IDBI, public banks etc) and figure out which one best suits your needs.

Didn't realize that. Just did a check and seems like I can choose between ICICI, SBI, HDFC and Citi.

[tanwaramit]

Originally Posted by MHG

Didn't realize that. Just did a check and seems like I can choose between ICICI, SBI, HDFC and Citi.

If you still want an option try Kotak.

Have used Citi, ICICI, HSBC, SBI, HDFC and Kotak.

The best is Kotak.

They have a tieup with HDFC ATMs, so withdraw from any hdfc atm as if its your bank.

Online is so effortless and painless.

If you try logging in thrice using wrong password, a call comes to your cell within 2 mins to confirm if there was any issue and the owner was only trying!

No need to visit branch, everything to be done online.

The most painful - hdfc, whaver you want to use, services needs to be enabled. Process is- download a form, fill amd submit to nearest branch and wait for a few days. And No, when you open your account, online access facilities are not given (esp funds transfer) and you have to chase bank to give you these facilities.

SBI charges 5 (or more depending on amount transferred) bucks for Online transfers, while private banks dont (2 days back RBI has asked SBI to make it free)

My verdict - Kotak is the best

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by MHG

Thanks for the information.

I want one more help as well - My idea behind 2 accounts is that I use one of them as a salary account (which I guess can also be used for loans, etc) and not directly transfer funds out of it for making payments of any sort - as a security measure, and have another workhorse account - mainly used for Debit Card, Credit Card and Net Banking where I keep less balance all the time.

What is the best combination I can have for the above ?

EDIT: Questions may seem somewhat noobish, but that's because I'm starting work only next year and barely have any experience outside the standard savings account I operate at Canara Bank which is only used to pay for petrol. Hope you guys are willing to bear with rather simpleton questions from this youngster....

Yes bank meets most of your criteria, they have free usage of any Atm in India. Free netbanking. Minimum balance is 10k, which is waived if you keep an fd of 50k. Only hitch is they charge 150 for annual fees of the debit cum Atm card. Service is excellent. Interest rates on savings is higher than any other bank.

[prateekm]

Another happy Kotak Bank user here. Using this bank since the past 1 year, having no problems.

Benefits:
They have an excellent net-banking site which is pretty secure (you get a 6 digit unique PIN each time you use the netbanking on your phone). You can generate unlimited VCC's which are accepted all over the world (unlike AXIS, their VCC's work only on Indian sites).
Free home delivery/pickup of cash.
6% interest rate for balance above 1 lac. 5.5% below it.

Their debit card does have a fuel surcharge but their credit card doesn't. And getting a CC is simple if you maintain a balance of 50k+. No idea about the 5 transaction limit.

[AravindJose]

I haven't banked much with any other than HDFC.
Been 2.5 years now.
Picked them mainly for the VirtualCC feature (domains, hosting ...).
Been thoroughly satisfied.

Haven't had to visit the branch for 'activating' any services/features.
Now that they have added online FD and RecurringD services, the NetBanking is more complete than before.

I just read a lot of good about Kotak in this thread. Definitely got to learn more about them.
Feels classy!

[lambuhere1]

CTS Cheques :

Saw this information on New cheque books from SBI

http://articles.economictimes.indiat...-of-new-cheque


Does it apply to all Banks ?

Can anyone share their experiences on reissuing the new cheque books ?

[arindambasu13]

Hi Guys,

If the customer requests, do all banks provide pass books?

Most of the private banks at least now provide just monthly statement of accounts, either in hard copy, or through email etc. However, I have earlier used PSU banks (Indian Bank, SBI) which provided pass books, which had to be updated manually by the customer by going to the bank branch.

[rishab.k]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Hi Guys,

If the customer requests, do all banks provide pass books?

Yes, as per the RBI order they have no other option but to issue you a passbook (for savings bank A/C holders).

[faustus77]

Lambuhere/Arindambasu 13
Hi.
I too have an account with SBI and read the ad.When I next visit the branch I will check and inform you.In case you happen to visit your branch please ask and post on this thread.
Last year when driving from Pathankot to Dalhousie I went to a SBI branch in village.I presented my bearer cheque which the teller refused to encash and referred me to the manager.The manager explained that this type of cheque is being phased out as the last 2 digits at the bottom band were 1 and 0.This was being replaced by 1 and 2.However he gave me the money and that was it.Maybe this is what the ad is referring to.Checked with Union Bank today and they have no idea about it so this would be only for SBI customers.

Arindam
Hi.
I have an account with HDFC and they post my statement.When I requested for a passbook like the PSU banks they dont have that.However they can give you a cardboard folder in which you can file the statements.So instead of trudging to the branch I opted the statement by post.
Regrds

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by arnetheus

I use a combination of private (ICICI/HDFC) and public bank (IDBI). The salary account bank has been fixed by the company as ICICI, so have no say in it, but my experience has been good till date. In addition I use an IDBI account to deposit my savings, with their sweep-in and out facility along with excellent web support (online FD request etc.), it works fine for me.

IDBI and excellent web support? I beg to differ vehemently about both online and offline matters. For starters you can book an FD online but you cannot break it online (with HDFC and many other banks you can). After booking it online, they take their own time to send you the FD certificate home. Actually no, they expect you to come to the bank and collect it. You have to beseech them to send it by post. If things actually work after one request, you may get it home after several weeks.

It has been over 6 months that I have opened a savings account with them. Till today no sign of statements or passbook. They want me to come personally to collect the passbook, which is not possible. They don't want to send statements home either. Still sparring with them about this. Many other banks send the passbook and have automatic machines at the ATM center to fill up your passbook. Just the other day I saw the facility at a PNB ATM.

Their Netbanking is nowhere as slick as HDFC's. Ugly and unintuitive interface. Typical old PSU type. Takes longer to do anything. For eg. it takes way less time to make a online payment using HDFC Netbanking than using IDBI. And there is a LOT less you can do online, compared to HDFC.

ATM centers don't even have pins and slips. Maintenance at some of them can be appalling with rubbish all around. No guard to be found most of the time. Carry slips and pins with you if you want to deposit a cheque. As of now, they seem to have graciously invested in a pin container and pins for one of their ATM centers after I made a big fuss about it.

Cheque deposited at ATM drop box took some 25 days to reflect in my account. This after sending them 2 reminders. This was just last week.

Last time a cheque bounced for some reason and they took 20 days to return it to me... and that too by totally unsecure means. They dont even seem to have a procedure in place where it should be sent back to customer's registered address in decent time.

I can keep ranting, but I guess this should be enough to give any prospective customers an idea. I opened an a/c with them after getting pissed off with HDFC, esp. their recent hike in MQB, high charges for everything, chargable funds transfer, removal of FD link with MQB, etc. But now IDBI has really pissed me off way more. They have now started charging for Debit Cards. I'm sure they will soon start charging for things which were earlier free.

This is their service in Pune. Overall, the service is as bad as it gets, when you are used to a private bank. It may be possible that service levels differ in different cities/branches, but please at least don't call their web support/Netbanking excellent. It has a VERY long way to go... and I'm not sure if they even realize it.


One rant about Kotak Bank - it seems their debit card does not work online at all. I was told to use their VCC. Is this true? I had no idea we had a bank in 2012 whose Visa Debit Card cannot be used online! I don't know how they can pull this off when even PSU banks debit cards can be used online.

[DigitalOne]

This is a thread to discuss irritants that you find when you use certain websites or Apps.

What I would classify as irritating:

The website/app would still be "functional", in the sense that you would be able to achieve what you intend to do.

But it would not be very "usable", and you are frustrated that a few simple changes could ease your transaction so much. A feedback/complain would typically get you a boiler-plate response and nothing else much.

The intention and hope is that somebody from the concerned IT department reads these and fixes these not-so-minor nags.

------

So here goes my irritant against HDFC Bank net banking.

They recently tied up with Bill Junction for what they call "integrated" bill payment. Now when you login to HDFC Net Banking and then open "Bill Pay" link, the session goes out of HDFC bank and goes to Bill Junction. There is no way to come back to HDFC Bank Net banking. So no other banking transactions are possible. You have to type the URL again and re-login.

[faustus77]

Raccoon
Hi
Fully agree with you as far as IDBI is concerned.
Pathetic and indifferent staff.Their branch at mahim,Bombay is awsome(best I have seen in India) but a bank is as good as its staff.
Since I dont bank online or use their debit card so wouldnt be able to comment on it.
I also have an account with HDFC ,SBI and Union bank.They too have shortcomings but the staff is not indifferent.Between these 3 I would rate Union the best.
Incidentally talking of HDFC(a private bank)I had to break my head in trying to explain to a senior officer about NEFT which Union had implemented months back.
As far as informing you about returned cheques,both Union and HDFC,sat on it for a few days.When I checked after a few days I was surprised it was not credited.In one there was word/figure difference(my mistake) and in the other which was presented to HDFC for clearing did not have the surname just the name and fathers name.In both the cases the payee and payer was my daughter and it was a transfer form one a/c to another.
Regards

[Raccoon]

^^^Well, never had such issues with HDFC, though cheque being returned is a rare occurance... so very few such incidences. They always send it back home without any action from my part. IDBI just does not seem to have set practices to begin with. They seem to assume that customer will come hunting for the cheque to the branch a few times (it does not even come back to the home branch in a hurry but sits for weeks at the main branch/clearing branch or whatever. They don't seem to realize that instead of me making the effort to treak to their branch, I might as well spend that much effort in shifting to a more efficient bank.

[faustus77]

Raccoon
Hi
Very true about IDBI.Only reason I opened an account with them is they gave a better rate of interest on fixed deposits and more importantly there is no penalty clause if the FD is closed before the tenure but should be after 1 year.
Regards