Now, pay Rs 500 to close your HDFC Bank savings account

MUMBAI: HDFC Bank, the lender with the highest proportion of low-cost deposits to total, has raised charges on closure of savings bank accounts and other services as it attempts to ring fence customers from flocking to rivals who offer higher rates on these deposits.

It is the first lender to raise such charges probably to save its profitability after the Reserve Bank of India freed up the rates that banks pay their customers in their savings bank accounts, said two bankers who did not want to be identified.

For closure of savings account, an HDFC Bank customer, depending on the nature and tenure of the account, will have to pay a fee of Rs 500 and if the average monthly balance falls below Rs 20,000 in nonurban centres, it will charge Rs 500 a month, according to its website listing various charges effective January 2012.

Source: EconomicTimes