How to keep a bank account active?

[abracadabra]

I wanted to to know how to keep a bank account (SB Acc) active rather than going into a dormant state.
I was leaving the country without a time frame and wanted to know in what manner can the account be kept active. I do not wish to close these accounts for various reasons.

I have a SBI, ICICI and a HDFC acc. All have NEFT/TPT enabled with each other.
Though the min. balances are kept as it is will that amount be frozen?

For SBI its 12 month of NIL activity, ICICI - 18months, HDFC - 6months.

 

[raksrules]

May be do small transactions online every month or six months, may be pay your India related bills and all and use net banking (not credit card) for it.
Setup a auto debit facility from bank account ?
And if you still want to use credit card then make sure you make the payment of the credit card using your net banking.


I have a US bank account which i am keeping alive by doing small transactions (transferring money to India) every 2 months or so.

 

[krishnandu]

Yes the QAB amounts are freezed AFAIK. So as raskrules said, try to pay some bills through each of the A/c or setup seom auto debit facility.

Or if none is applicable for you, just transfer (NEFT) small amounts among your A/c's on different branches.

 

[m-jeri]

yup.. schedule a cycling payment.

 

[abracadabra]

@raksrules @krishnandu @m-jeri ; Thank you guys for the quick pointer. But it does not yet solve the question

I have no outstanding payments or bills to be cleared here!
I have a credit card valid internationally, though not intended to use abroad on stay with current conversion rates and interests! Should I freeze that too?

Elaborate auto debit? Is it ECS payment?
Is auto debit possible for a bank to bank transfer or is it only for the bill payments?

TIA!

 

[m-jeri]

Keep some amount in 1 account. say 5k.

Schedule a transfer of 1000Rs from that account to another account every month 5th or any date. And schedule a transfer of 1000Rs from the receiving account to the third account on the 15th. And on 25th, schedule that account to transfer from this to the first account.

ICICI, HDFC, SBI supports this. AXIS I never tried. perhaps.

 

[krishnandu]

Keep some amount in 1 account. say 5k.

Schedule a transfer of 1000Rs from that account to another account every month 5th or any date. And schedule a transfer of 1000Rs from the receiving account to the third account on the 15th. And on 25th, schedule that account to transfer from this to the first account.

ICICI, HDFC, SBI supports this. AXIS I never tried. perhaps.

@raksrules @krishnandu @m-jeri ; Thank you guys for the quick pointer. But it does not yet solve the question

I have no outstanding payments or bills to be cleared here!
I have a credit card valid internationally, though not intended to use abroad on stay with current conversion rates and interests! Should I freeze that too?

Elaborate auto debit? Is it ECS payment?
Is auto debit possible for a bank to bank transfer or is it only for the bill payments?

TIA!

This is what everyone was trying to say. Yes Axis supports this too.
If for any reason auto debit doesn't work, you can always use Internet Banking to do that.

Another idea is if you family is here, you can ask them to deposit atleast 100/- to each A/c every 2-3 months.

 

[abracadabra]

@m-jeri thank you for the tip[DOUBLEPOST=1377867902][/DOUBLEPOST]@krishnandu thanks again.. but the problem i will be facing is generation of OTP; as i will not be using a registered mobile number. So m-jeri suggestion is what i inferred better, Thank you all .. problem solved

 

[m-jeri]

yup. when you are abroad ICICI is the only one as far as i see supports overseas banking. Rest all are just crap. Faced with HDFC & AXIS. ICICI was very good and helpful. All their services we can use from abroad.

 

[raksrules]

Have used ICICI when I was in USA. The OTP was not coming to my number so I would call their US number (link on OTP page) and they would verify my details (mother's maiden name, DOB, PAN etc) and give me the OTP in call.
In fact for ICICI I would need OTP even for logging in to the account when it detects the account is being used from a non Indian IP.

 

[abracadabra]

@raksrules yes i am aware of this problem NON Indian IP requires OTP, that is a slight cause of concern now.
As I can only schedule standing instruction only for 365days i dont know how to turn this around for more than that time!

 

[raksrules]

@raksrules yes i am aware of this problem NON Indian IP requires OTP, that is a slight cause of concern now.
As I can only schedule standing instruction only for 365days i dont know how to turn this around for more than that time!

You are worrying too much. When using non Indian IP, you just call them up for the OTP (US/UK etc numbers) and they will give you the OTP. Also you do not have to be in say US to call the US ICICI Number. You can be in any random country and still call their US number (usually free on skype if tollfree) and get the OTP.