SBI Pays 2.50%.
Unity SFB Pays 7.25%.
Same Insurance.

Small Finance Banks (SFBs) offer the highest savings account interest rates — Unity SFB gives 7.25% on balances above ₹1 lakh, Suryoday SFB offers 7.50% on ₹10 lakh+, and Equitas SFB gives 7.50% on ₹1 crore+. Compare this to SBI at 2.50% and HDFC Bank at 2.75%. Your deposits up to ₹5 lakh per bank are insured by DICGC regardless of bank size. So the insurance protection is identical — only the interest rate and risk profile differ.

Yes, up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank. The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a subsidiary of RBI, insures deposits in all scheduled commercial banks including SFBs. This covers savings accounts, FDs, RDs, and current accounts combined. If you have more than ₹5 lakh, spread it across multiple banks. After the PMC Bank crisis in 2019, DICGC increased insurance from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh and guaranteed payout within 90 days.

BSBD is a zero-balance, zero-charge bank account mandated by RBI. Every bank must offer it. Features: no minimum balance, free ATM card, free 4 ATM withdrawals/month (own bank), free cheque book, free NEFT/RTGS, and free monthly statements. The catch: you can only hold one BSBD account across all banks. If you already have a regular savings account at a bank, you cannot open a BSBD there. Best for: students, low-income earners, and anyone tired of minimum balance penalties.

Standard UPI limit is ₹1 lakh per transaction and ₹1 lakh per day. But 11 enhanced merchant categories allow up to ₹5 lakh per transaction and ₹10 lakh daily — including hospitals, education, insurance, capital markets, travel, loan EMI, tax, and jewellery (NPCI Circular OC-185-B, September 2025). UPI Lite allows ₹1,000 per transaction with ₹5,000 wallet limit. UPI 123PAY for feature phones is ₹10,000. Banks can impose lower sub-limits — Bank of India caps at ₹10,000/txn, SBI and ICICI allow only 10 transactions/day instead of 20.

For pure UPI payments, all three work identically — same speed, same limits, same bank integration. The difference is in extras: PhonePe has the best mutual fund/insurance integration and works with Jio phones. Google Pay has the cleanest interface and best rewards consistency. Paytm has the widest merchant network for offline QR payments and Paytm Postpaid credit line. For cashback: Google Pay runs reliable scratch cards, PhonePe runs seasonal offers. None charge any fee for UPI transfers. Pick based on rewards and interface — the UPI backend is the same.

There is no limit on how much you can keep. But cash deposits above ₹10 lakh in a financial year across all savings accounts trigger a report to the Income Tax Department (under Section 285BA). Interest earned above ₹10,000/year (₹50,000 for senior citizens) is taxable at your slab rate. TDS of 10% is deducted by banks on interest exceeding these limits. If PAN is not linked, TDS jumps to 20%. Large cash withdrawals above ₹1 crore attract 2% TCS under Section 194N.

Split it. Keep 1-2 months expenses in a high-interest savings account (Equitas SFB at 5-7%, or Unity SFB at 7.25%) for instant access. Put the remaining 4-5 months in a liquid mutual fund (instant redemption up to ₹50,000, rest T+1). Savings account interest is fully taxable at slab rate under new regime — no 80TTA deduction. For ₹3 lakh emergency fund: ₹1 lakh in SFB savings (instant), ₹2 lakh in liquid fund (diversified credit risk).

RBI hiked the ATM charge cap from ₹21 to ₹23 per transaction effective May 1, 2025. With 18% GST, each extra ATM transaction costs ₹27.14. Free limits: 5 at own bank ATMs, 3 at other bank ATMs in metro cities (5 in non-metro). Balance enquiries count toward free limits. SBI is the most generous — 10 free other-bank ATM transactions. IndusInd offers unlimited free at own ATMs. A person making 10 ATM transactions/month at another bank's ATM in Mumbai pays ₹2,280/year in charges alone.

Most banks convert salary accounts to regular savings accounts 3 months after salary credits stop. Regular accounts have minimum balance requirements: SBI ₹3,000 (metro), HDFC ₹10,000, ICICI ₹10,000, Kotak ₹10,000. Penalty for non-maintenance: ₹300-600/quarter. To avoid this: either close the account, convert to BSBD (zero balance), or maintain the minimum. Always ask your bank to convert to BSBD before leaving a job — you keep the account, pay zero charges, and lose nothing except high transaction limits.