Difference between SBI’s Insta Savings account and Digital Savings account

State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender offers its customers many benefits. As time has gone by the bank apart from offering other benefits, has allowed its customers to open an SBI account from the comforts of their home. This can be done using the bank’s one-stop YONO app. Individuals can open the Insta Savings account and Digital Savings account that the bank offers using the YONO app.


Here, we take a look at some of the basic differences between both the savings accounts offered by SBI:

• The Insta Savings account which SBI offers can be opened and operated only by a single person while the digital savings account can be operated both on a single and joint basis. It needs to be mentioned here that the YONO app enables the individual to open the account on a single basis, which can be later changed to joint account by visiting an SBI branch.
• The Insta savings account offers customers the facility of ‘instant account activation’. This facility ensures that the individual who opens the account need not visit the bank branch for activating the account. As for digital savings account, the applicant is required to go to an SBI branch for activating the account.
• As per State Bank of India, applicants who open an insta savings account are offered a free RuPay debit card. While to those who open a digital savings account, the bank issues a personalised platinum debit card.
• The bank offers customers who avail the digital savings account the option of converting their account into a salary account. However, no such facility is provided to customers who avail the Insta savings account.
• Customers who open either of the two accounts offered by the bank i.e the digital savings account or the insta savings account need not maintain a certain amount of average balance in a bid to avoid penalty charges. The offer has been provided to the customers by the bank till the end of the current financial year i.e 31 March 2019.
• SBI offers the applicants who open digital savings account the option of cheque book facility. If the customers wish to use the facility, they would be required to pay applicable charges. The facility is not provided under the insta savings account offered by the bank.
• Both the accounts offered by the bank can be opened by resident Indians who are above 18 years of age. It needs to be mentioned that while opening both accounts, the applicant is required to provide a mandatory nomination.
• While opening both the accounts, the applicants are not required to submit physical copies of the acceptable documents as the accounts are opened on a paperless basis.
• Applicants who wish to open either of the two bank accounts using the YONO app need to provide information mentioned on their Aadhaar card and PAN card. They need to provide the card numbers of both the documents either through the YONO app or through the website for availing the accounts offered by the bank.
• The bank has stipulated an aggregate end of day balance of up to Rs.1 lakh and total annual transactions of up to Rs.2 lakh in the case of Insta Savings account. While for the digital savings account, the bank has restricted cash withdrawal to a maximum of Rs.1 lakh using the Platinum debit card. To withdraw money in excess of Rs.1 lakh, users of digital savings account would need to visit the bank branch and carry out the transaction using the Green Channel Counter (GCC).