Wealthcare Investments

Less is More!!

In the series of “Less is More” Today we will discuss “More Bank Accounts”

People are attracted to have many Bank Accounts and the reasons are follows!! Although the list is not exhaustive.

1)      Proximity of Bank Branch from Office or home

2)      Higher Interest rate of FDs or savings A/c. Recall advertisement of “6% is more than 4%”

3)      Better credit card offers/ Free credit card

4)      Technological edge. Better Banking website

5)      Old Investments with these A/cs

6)      Existing Home loan or car loans compulsion of having Bank A/c

7)      Branch timing

8)      Transferable Job

9)      Relationship Manager changed Job and therefore the Bank A/c

10)   Brand Value/ Foreign Banks

11)   Safety of “Government owned” tag

12)   Sales campaign by Bank

13)   Manager of staff is known/relative (usually with Co-Op Banks)

14)   All in one service

15)   Cordial/ Accommodative staff

16)   Salary A/c compulsion from the employer side

Few of the reasons enlisted are logical and few are emotional. Having Bank A/c is also a financial decision and must be taken carefully. Changing Bank A/c or opening too many A/c for petty reason are not warranted.

Some of the reasons can be shot down with expression of self resistance. Example: If the Bank insists upon you to open an A/c with them since they are issuing you loan or credit card. Branch timing and proximity are a thing of past, you don’t need to visit branch for most of the things these days. ATM booth will eliminate many more reasons to reach out to branch in future. Sales campaign, Relationship Manager moved job, and staff is known, has not direct advantage to you!!

Salaried people who have transferable job can now change the base branch to local branch without changing A/c number, instead of opening new A/c. Also they must resist Salary A/c opening with different Banks as, most HR allows them to do so now.

People who have old investments with Bank A/c can also close the extra A/c by retaining the passbook copy, closure letter and unused cheque leaves. This is sufficient to update new Bank records in Investments.

People wishing to change bank due to better tech-enabled services also must note that, your existing Bank is also in competitive world and will certainly launch better functionality and interface. Do not switch.

People, who fear of default tend to diversifying into many Banks. It may be noted that except for Co-Operative Banks there has been no case of such kind. Indian Banking systems are robust and are well capitalised so one can be sure of safety of money. I am firm believer that one should not have any deposit A/c with Co-Operative Banks, no matter it offers better service, rates or anything else. Other Banks do give better ambience, experience and technology and above all peace of Mind and Safety. That is enough reason to not have A/c with Co-Operative Banks😊

Having too many A/c leads:

1)      Average Balance maintenance

2)      Periodical KYC updation

3)      Periodic reconciliation of A/c

4)      Charges towards SMS, debit card etc services

5)      Better use of unwarranted liquidity maintained in these Bank A/cs

6)      Undue hassle of maintaining relationship and attending to sales calls, SMS and emails.

7)      Less chances of fraud or misuse in inactive A/cs

8)      No relationship so no offers so no temptation or compulsion to engage 😊

9)      Upon death, updating status or closure of A/c also leads to cumbersome process to follow.

I know of people who are fully convinced of having 1 or Maximum 2 A/cs are not able to take out time and close extra A/c due to busy office schedule, distance and lack of records. There are people who have no idea about their own or deceased family members Bank A/cs. It can be proved by -roughly INR 20000 crore are lying as unclaimed Bank monies. That’s staggering number lying in Bank A/cs. Ensure that your hard earn money is not unclaimed in future🙏

In nutshell, Decide today to keep only 1 A/c (or Maxumum 2 A/cs), choose the A/c that best suits your futuristic need also!! Take that decision today and act on it👍

If you need to know more about money wisdoms, feel free to contact me. I am available at 9833778887 or wealthcarein@gmail.com

If you find our blogs helpful, pls do like, share and comment

Author –

Bhavesh D Damania

Founder - Wealthcare Investments

EduPrenuer, TV show panellist and Blogger

You can reach him at 9833778887 and wealthcarein@gmail.com

"Risk comes until you know what, where and why you are Investing"

Disclaimer: We respect all individual approaches. Sole objective of this series is to burst a few myth in Investing. There could be genuine reason/experiences and “less is more” may not be appropriate. Investor must consult own advisor to figure out right approach before adopting any of these suggestions.