I am somuch used to SBI that Iam continuing it even as my salary account(which i guess is very very rare in general). Probably the very simple and easy to use interface for online banking is the one thats making me to stick to it. Also, I feel like my money is safe as its a Govt. bank. Let me share my good,bad and ugly experiences with sbi in recent times.
Whats bad?
I had to transfer some money to a HDFC account. As usual i initiated a NEFT inter bank transfer using online sbi. While selecting the options, instead of pay now, the radio button Schedule Later got selected. Might be by right and left arrow keys. So, one sincere suggestion "ALWAYS TRY TO USE MOUSE INSTEAD OF KEYBOARD WHILE MAKING ANY ONLINE TRANSACTIONS". I didn't notice that i selected an option like that (over confidence :P), not did i note any details of the transaction. This was made on friday and by default if u select schedule later and don't select any future date it will be scheduled to next day, so saturday.
On saturday when i checked my account statement, money is not debited. I tried a lot to find the details of the transaction and finally somehow found it in scheduled transactions list( You can see the scheduled transactions from enquiries->scheduled transactions). I was not able to cancel it as it says u cannot cancel a transaction scheduled for today and i was not able to reach the customer care with the number i have. Saturday over, sunday over but money not debited. On monday i called the customer care and they very nicely replied "Contact the home branch"(one common phrase u hear from SBI customer care representatives :D). I went to branch and they were also not able to track the transaction and said transaction surely would have been aborted as its already three days. But somehow transaction took place and money got debited on tuesday. No wonder people(not all sections) are crazy about private banks.
Whats ugly?
I was not able to reach he customer care on saturday and sunday, but able to talk to them on monday. So, the first thing i asked them was " Is this service 24 X7?". The answer was yes and she asked me the number through which i am reaching them. I told them the number. For God's sake, they don't know that such number exists and very surprised how i was able to reach them. Very funny :D :D and very ugly too.
Whats Good?
As the bank people suggested that transaction didn't take place and i have to transfer money asap, i went to HDFC bank and tried to deposit money directly into the account. I know that there will be some inter city handling charges and iam ready to bear that. I know that SBI for inter city deposits charges Rs.25 till 50,000 which is pretty reasonable. I was thinking on the same lines w.r.t HDFC. I was shocked to hear that HDFC charges Rs. 115( almost five times to SBI). No wonder we find long queues in SBI and flies and bank employees in HDFC :D :D. Later i heard from my friend that ICICI charges Rs.165(don't know how far its true though). This made me feel like SBI is THE BEST, THE BEST and THE BEST.....
Final Word:
Private banks are for Hi Tech. people who are so lazy and try to get their things done via phone and internet. and SBI is the best for traditional banking( which byfar majority of indians do).
P.S. In this post iam not making any references to other Govt. banks. My post is primarily between SBI and private banks and in particular SBI vs HDFC.
