Savings and Investments

Users can also check their EPF balance, search establishment, get EPFO address and apply for Jeevan Pramaan certificate via Umang app, which is currently available on google, apple and windows platforms, according to its website - umang.gov.in.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - which manages the RTGS payments system - has announced an extension in the timings applicable to RTGS transfers by one-and-a-half hours.

The fixed deposit accounts which have a lock-in period of five or 10 years also offer income tax benefit under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act

SBI Savings Plus Account: Customers are required to maintain a monthly average balance (MAB) for this account. Monthly Average Balance (MAB) is the sum of all the end of day closing balance divided by the number of days in that month.

A subscriber is required to subscribe monthly to GPF except during the period when he is under suspension. Subscriptions to the general provident fund are stopped three months prior to the date of superannuation, according to pensionersportal.gov.in.

The ATM card charges apply depending on the type - whether it belongs to the same bank or post office where the customer's account is located or some other bank or post office - and nature of ATM - whether the ATM is located in a metropolitan or any other city in the country.

SBI's small accounts can be opened by any individual who is above 18 years and do not have officially valid KYC (Know Your Customer) documents. However, there are many restrictions in operation of small accounts due to the relaxed KYC, the lender added. These accounts can be converted to regular savings account upon submission of KYC documents.

Leading banks like State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, among others offer the facility of opening a fixed deposit. These days FDs can also be created online. The interest rates on FDs vary according to separate maturity baskets across different banks. Most banks offer fixed deposits starting from seven days up to a tenor of 10 years.

SBI's zero balance account: A basic RuPay ATM-cum-debit card is issued free of cost and no annual maintenance charge is applied. The receipt/ credit of money through electronic payment channels like NEFT/RTGS is free. The deposit/ collection of cheques drawn by central/ state governments is also free for holders of such account. There is no charge on activation of inoperative accounts and closure of accounts, according to SBI's website.

Employees' Provident Fund or EPF, a government-run pension scheme, fetches an interest at the rate of 8.65 per cent. It is a mandatory contribution from the salary of an individual that every organisation with more than 20 employees has to deduct. EPF is regulated by retirement fund body EPFO or Employees' Provident Fund Organisation. The retirement fund body allows the subscriber to make withdrawal from a PF corpus under certain conditions, according to its website - epfindia.gov.in.

IPPB savings account: Interest rates on these savings accounts are fixed at 4 per cent per annum, which is paid quarterly

Investors need to deposit a minimum of Rs. 1,000 or in multiples thereof whereas the maximum deposit should not exceed Rs. 1,50,000 in a year

Recurring Deposit (RD) is a kind of term deposit under which investors need to deposit a fixed amount at a fixed interval

The fixed deposit accounts which have a lock-in period of five or 10 years also offer income tax benefit under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act

There are three major provident fund accounts -- namely Employees' Provident Fund or EPF, General Provident Fund or GPF and Public Provident Fund or PPF -- available in the country.