New Delhi: After having waived off charges on NEFT and RTGS transactions through internet and mobile banking from July 1, country's largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI), has now decided to do away with charges on fund transfer via IMPS (immediate payment service) from August 1.
The move comes after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to do away with these charges with a view to steer the country towards a cash-less economy.
"In order to provide an impetus to digital funds movement, SBI waived-off RTGS and NEFT charges for YONO, internet banking (INB) and mobile banking (MB) customers from July 1, 2019. The bank will also waive-off IMPS charges for its INB, MB and YONO customers effective from August 1," the state-owned lender said in a statement.
"In sync with our strategy and Government of India's vision to create a digital economy, SBI has taken this step to promote use of YONO, internet banking and mobile banking for doing NEFT and RTGS transactions without incurring any cost," the bank's MD (Retail & Digital Banking) PK Gupta said.
Prior to July 1, the bank used to charge Re 1 and Rs 5 for transactions through NEFT, and Rs 5-50 for RTGS route. SBI claims to have around 18 per cent market share in mobile banking transactions.
At the end of the previous financial year, the number of SBI customers using Internet banking was more than 6 crores, while the number of customers using mobile banking services was 1.41 crores. The total number of registered users of YONO (You Only Need One), its integrated digital and lifestyle platform, were about one crore.
The bank said that along with customer convenience, the waiver of charges in NEFT, RTGS and IMPS transactions will attract more customers towards digital transactions.