Opening a bank account is something every youngster looks forward to. Well, at least I did. Plus if you are getting an ATM card along with it!! Wow, nothing like it! My friend told me, about this freedom account of HDFC bank. This account could be opened with Rs 1000 cash as the initial payment and the minimum balance required was nil! Yes u read it correctly; the minimum balance was indeed nil. There was a nominal fee of Rs 25 per month, which they deducted from the account at the end of the year. Till then all other banks offering ATM cards were asking customers to keep minimum balance of Rs 5000! So, it wasn’t a bad deal! This was in the year 1997.
Till then I had an account in one other bank with all the normal paper work done to get the account. So I had some idea about the kind of paper work needed to open an account in a bank. So to start with, I went to the bank to get the form and believe me, I was shocked to see a smiling banker! I could actually sit across the counter and fill up the form. I did not have the photocopy of my proof of residence. So the banker took the ration card in original and photocopied it in the bank itself, while I was still filling up the form. The photograph, which I carried along, was a b/w one and they needed a coloured one. I was pleasantly surprised, when the banker took out a Polaroid camera from the cabinet and took my photograph instantly. This was just the start to the excellent service I received after that.
The working hours of the bank were such that it suited all customers of theirs. The Sunday banking was another great feature. Personal advise on savings and fixed deposits was the best thing they did. I could so easily convert some of the fixed deposits to cash and get a demand draft on a Sunday when it was urgently needed. Phone banking, net banking etc was later on added as an additional feature with no extra charge. This freedom account became such an instant success, that HDFC bank was named the “ Best bank in India” by the Dalal Street Journal in the year 1999. Now the bank does not offer freedom account to new customers. And quarterly average of Rs 5000 has to be maintained in the account, by new account holders. This was done because the number of freedom accounts has exceeded the allotted quota. The only bad part about this bank is the high fee it charges to make a demand draft. Incase of a demand draft, while all other banks may charge Rs 10 to Rs 50, HDFC charges Rs 75 for even a draft of Rs 100!
HDFC bank has ATM centers all over India and has tie ups with all major banks to use their ATMs, incase there is no HDFC ATM there. Now, all other banks too have followed the suit and have such attractive schemes, which may even be better than those, offered by HDFC. Still HDFC bank will still be known as the bank, which brought about this change and brought the ATM, in the common man’s life.