SBI Savings Accounts For Non-Residents: Minimum Balance, Eligibility And Other Details
State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest bank, offers various banking services to non-resident Indians (NRI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI). State Bank of India offers three types of accounts to NRIs: Non Resident Ordinary (NRO) account, Non Resident External (NRE) account and Foreign Currency Non-Repatriable (Bank) FCNR (B) account, according to the lender's website - www.sbi.co.in. SBI has the largest overseas network among all domestic banks with 198 foreign offices spread over 35 countries, according to its website.
Here are key things to know about State Bank of India's accounts focused on non-residents:
Under SBI's Non Resident External (SBI NRE Account) services, an individual can open a savings, current, term deposit, special term deposit or recurring deposit account. Funds deposited in the NRE account are in the form of fresh remittances from overseas or transfer from other NRE/NRO/ FCNR (B) accounts, according to information available on the bank's website. The account can also be withdrawn for making local payments in rupees. The interest earned on balance in the NRE account is exempt from Indian income tax laws, according to the SBI website.
Under the SBI Non Resident Ordinary (SBI NRO Account) services, the interest earned is taxable. In case the depositor is a resident of any of the countries with whom India has a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), the tax will be deducted as per DTAA agreed between India and the respective country.
For both the NRE and NRO savings bank accounts, the individual will have to maintain a minimum average balance of Rs 3,000 in metros; Rs 2,000 in semi urban areas, and Rs 1,000 in rural areas, according to the SBI website.
SBI's FCNR (B) or Foreign Currency Non-Repatriable (Bank) service allows non-resident individuals to open term deposit and special term deposit accounts. These accounts are denominated in foreign currencies such as US dollar, British pound, Euro, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen and Australian dollar. Both principal and interest are payable in foreign currency. Hence, there is no exchange loss on principal and interest, SBI mentioned on its portal. Below are the interest rates offered by the State Bank of India on different currencies for different tenors.
| FOREIGN CURRENCY NON-RESIDENT DEPOSITS (FCNR(B)) (% P.A.) w.e.f. 01.02.2019 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CURRENCY | USD | GBP | EURO | CAD | AUD | JPY |
| PERIOD OF THE DEPOSIT | RATE | RATE | RATE | RATE | RATE | RATE |
| 1 year | 3.45 | 1.47 | 0.01 | 2.45 | 1.98 | 0.02 |
| Above 1 year to less than  2 years | 3.45 | 1.47 | 0.01 | 2.45 | 1.98 | 0.02 |
| 2 years to less than 3 years | 3.37 | 1.61 | 0.01 | 2.21 | 1.91 | 0.05 |
| 3 years to less than 4 years | 3.33 | 1.68 | 0.01 | 2.22 | 1.91 | 0.05 |
| 4 years to less than 5 years | 3.31 | 1.73 | 0.1 | 2.23 | 2.11 | 0.05 |
| 5 years | 3.56 | 1.77 | 0.15 | 2.24 | 2.17 | 0.05 |
| Source: www.sbi.co.in | ||||||
All NRIs, PIOs and OCIs are allowed to access the bank's NRI services, SBI mentions on its portal.
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