New Delhi: The month of August may bring about a wave of new changes to your banking lifestyle. These changes are set to take place starting from August 1st, 2021. It could not only affect your personal life and day-to-day banking habits but also impact sectors of the economy. The RBI has cleared the way for banks to implement changes from ATM interchange fee hikes to revision in overall banking charges, here are the changes you need to keep an eye on in the coming month.
ATM Cash Withdrawal Charges to be Hiked
As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandate, there were more changes introduced in the month of June that would see the interchange fee for ATM cash withdrawals change. With the latest alterations to the rules, the new interchange fee stands at Rs 17. This is a Rs 2 hike from the previous charge of Rs 15. This change will be effective from August 1 and these charges only apply to financial transactions. The hike comes in light of the maintenance charges that go towards the upkeep of the ATM machines. For non-financial transactions, the rate has gone up from Rs 5 to Rs 6. The interchange fee is applicable in transactions where the customer of one bank, withdraws money from the ATM of another bank.
ICICI Bank’s Revised Charges
Starting next month, ICICI, one of the country’s biggest lenders, will roll out revised limits for their cash transactions. The bank is also bringing about revised ATM interchange and checkbook charges for its domestic savings account holders. These changes will be applicable from August 1st and apply to withdrawals and deposits. The first 3 transactions will be free (for financial and non-financial transactions) in the metro cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Other locations will get five free transactions. Crossing the limit will levy a charge of Rs 20 per financial transaction and Rs 8.50 for non-financial transactions. The charges will come into effect next month for cardholders of Silver, Gold, Magnum, Titanium, and Wealth variation accounts.
Salary, EMI, Premium Payment Changes
As of August 1, the RBI announced that the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) facilities will be open and operational on all days of the week. NACH is operated by the National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) and facilitates one-to-many credit transfers such as payment of dividend, interest, salary, and pension. It also provides the facilities to make payments regarding electricity, gas, telephone, installments towards loans, investments in mutual funds, and insurance premiums. Currently, the facility is only active on bank working days, but with the new RBI mandate, this could see the platform be open on all days, including weekends and holidays. This move was coordinate by the RBI to better facilitate customer convenience.
IPPB Doorstep Service Charges from August
The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) announced that starting from August 1, customers will be charged for each doorstep service that they request. As per the new rules, customers will have to pay Rs 20 plus GST for each doorstep service. There were no such charges in place in the month of July. There will be no upper limit to the number of transactions when the IPPB personnel visits a customer’s house for the requested doorstep service, as per the India Post. There will, however, be a ‘no charge’ clause attached for when one customer racks up multiple service requests. On the other hand, if more people want to use the IPPB doorstep delivery service it will be classified as a DSB delivery and will be charged, according to reports.
