For the convenience of its customers, STATE BANK OF INDIA allows money transfers to be made using both NEFT and RTGS. These two hassle-free electronic currency transfer standards use IFSC codes to quickly and securely transfer money from one account to another.
National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT):
The National Electronic Fund Transfer standard - most commonly referred to as NEFT - was created and rolled out by the RBI to both facilitate and simplify retail transactions for customers. The protocol itself bears many similarities to RTGS, though in the case of NEFT, money is transferred between accounts in daily batches. NEFT makes it quick and easy for customers and businesses alike to transfer money to any account or any branch located anywhere in the country, just as long as it is a member of the NEFT network.
At the time of writing, there are more than 82,000 branches of 100+ banks in India taking part in the NEFT network. Operations at STATE BANK OF INDIA involve 11 batches of NEFT transactions being carried out on weekdays, along with a further five batches every working Saturday. STATE BANK OF INDIA joined the NEFT network to make it as easy, convenient and safe as possible for its customers to make monetary transfers and payments to other accounts in banks to the NEFT network.
Customers looking to initiate an NEFT transaction are required to first complete a Fund Transfer Instruction Form, which can be picked up from any branch of the bank. Information required includes the name of the beneficiary, the bank and specific branch of the beneficiary, the account type held, account number of the beneficiary and the IFSC code of the beneficiary's branch and bank.
In terms of the sender, the bank and respective branch's IFSC code must be provided, along with the account number, type of account and so on. In the absence of any of these details, it is not possible to make an NEFT transfer with STATE BANK OF INDIA or any bank taking part in this scheme.
Timings and Fees:
As mentioned above, STATE BANK OF INDIA executes NEFT transactions on weekdays (9AM until 6PM) and on working Saturdays 9AM until 12:30PM.
Certain charges are payable in accordance with the amount of the transaction, which at the time of writing are as follows:
- Up to Rs 10,000 = Rs 2.50/- per transaction
- Rs 10,001 to Rs 1 lakh + Rs 5/- per transaction
- Above Rs 1 lakh up to Rs 2 lakh = Rs 15/- per transaction
- Above Rs 2 lakh = Rs 25/- per transaction
These fees and timings are, of course subject to change, so please consult your local branch directly for more information.
Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS):
Real Time Gross Settlement - more commonly referred to as RTGS - is another example of a standardised system for making and receiving electronic payments in India. Devised and introduced by the Reserve Bank of India, RTGS operates as a convenient and secure alternative to personal cheques, enabling banks taking part in the scheme to make transfers using online messages directed through the official RTGS Payment Gateway.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of RTGS is how it eliminates manual cheque-clearing processes and waiting times from the equation. Transactions using RTGS are more or less instantaneous, making it much quicker and easier for payments to be settled and funds credited to their intended accounts - typically within 2 hours.
What's also great about RTGS is its uniquely economical nature when carrying out comparatively large transfers. Unlike other examples of digital transfer standards, the minimum transactions sum to qualify for an RTGS transfer is set at Rs 2 lakh. There are more than 80,000 branches of 100+ banks across India who currently take part in the RTG program.
In order to initiate a transaction using RTGS, the remitter or payer instructs his or her bank to debit the respective account and credit the funds to the account of the beneficiary respectively. The bank then takes over the process of crediting the beneficiary's account with the specified funds from the remitter - the process taking place via the official RBI RTGS Payment Gateway.
As with many other digital transactions standards, the remitter must provide the required information by filling out an Electronic Fund Transfer Request Form, which can be collected in person at any branch of the bank.
In terms of the required information, the sender of the funds must complete all fields including the name of the beneficiary, the name of their bank and the respective branch, account number, the type of account they hold and the IFSC code of the recipient's bank.
The recipient must be able to provide the IFSC code of their branch for an RTGS transaction to be actioned, while the person remitting the money must likewise provide their name, account type, account number and so on. All of these details must be clearly and accurately communicated for an RTGS transaction to take place.
Timings:
Requests for transfers using the RTGS protocol are carried out weekdays (8AM to 4PM) and working Saturdays (8AM to 1PM).
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS):
More commonly referred to as IMPS, the Immediate Payment Service protocol is another example of an electronic payment platform used to crossed India for executing independent retail payments. This banking and financial standard was introduced by the National Payment Corporation of India, making it swift and secure to transfer funds to any business or beneficiary in real-time for commercial purposes.
Transactions using the IMPS protocol can be requested and actioned on a 24/7 basis, 365 days a year. This means that payments can be sent and received at any time, irrespective of standard bank opening times and/or operational hours.
In this instance, customers using IMPS are required to provide either a combination of their MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) and their mobile number, or the IFSC code of their respective bank branch and their account number.