Know All About ESAF Small Finance Bank And Interest Rates

Savings is an integral part of everyone's life. Everyone has to save to secure their future mainly to tackle the unforeseen situation which may affect anyone badly. Savings form the part of income which is not spent or deferred consumption. People can save there hard earned money by reducing expenditure and by promoting the habit of savings.

ESAF Small Finance Bank And Interest Rates

Popular Savings Schemes in India

People can save their money in various schemes offered by many nationalized banks, private and public sector banks, post offices and so on. Some of the famous saving schemes prevalent in India includes Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra, Post Office Monthly Income Scheme, Post Office Time Deposits, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme.

In India, people prefer to invest in those schemes or in banks which offers a good rate of interest on the principal invested amount. Nowadays, many small finance banks are offering an attractive rate of interest to the individuals who invest their money.

What is Small Finance Banks in India?

Small Finance Banks basically a type of niche banks in India. These banks provide basic banking service in the form of accepting the deposits and lending loans. These small finance banks should secure a license from the Reserve Bank of India before starting their operations. The main aim of these banks is to provide financial inclusion to sections of the economy which is not being served by other banks like small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganized sector entities.

One such small finance banks which are offering best service amongst the group is ESAF Small Finance Bank. The ESAF Small Finance Bank was previously known as ESAF Microfinance. Prior to becoming a bank, it served its customers as a non-banking finance company and microfinance institution (NBFC-MFI).

The headquarters of ESAF Small Finance Bank is located in Thrissur city in the state of Kerala.

Journey of ESAF Small Finance Bank

ESAF started its journey in 1992 at Thrissur, with the main objective of the sustainable holistic transformation of poor and marginalized people. K. Paul Thomas and Mereena Paul along with few friends started ESAF which stands for Evangelical Social Action Forum on March 11, 1992.

In 1995, ESAF's founder K. Paul Thomas launched Micro Enterprises Development services which resulted in the formation of ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt Ltd in the year 2008. The main focus towards microfinance earned this small finance enterprise to secure a place amongst top ten microfinance institutions in India.

The bank received a license from RBI in the year 2015 and launched ESAF Small Finance Bank.

ESAF Small Finance Bank Interest Rates

The ESAF Small Finance Bank provides an attractive rate of interest for its customers. The bank offers Current Account, Savings Account, Fixed Deposits, NRI Account for the benefit of the customers.

Most of the banks in India offer only 4% interest rate on the savings bank deposit amount. The State Bank of India provides rate of interest of 3.50% per annum on savings deposits balance up to Rs 1 crore and 4.00% per annum on the savings deposits with balance above Rs 1 crore.

The ESAF Small Finance bank offers an alluring interest rate of 7% for both normal as well as senior citizens on deposits of more than Rs 10 lakhs.

The following is the interest rates offered by ESAF Small Finance Bank for Savings Account

ESAF Small Finance Bank Interest Rate for Savings Bank Account

Savings Bank Account	Rate of Interest Applicable from 1st April 2018
	Normal	Senior Citizen
Domestic
Up to and including 1 lakh	4.00%	4.00%
Above 1 lakh up to and including 10 lakhs (i.e for incremental amount above INR 1 Lakh only)	6.50%	6.50%
Above 10 lakhs (i.e for incremental amount above INR 10 lakhs only)	7.00%	7.00%
a. With cheque book facility
Up to and Including 1 lakh	4.00%	4.00%
"Above 1 lakh up to and Including 10 lakhs
(i.e for incremental amount above INR 1 lakhs only)"	6.50%	6.50%
Above 10 lakhs (i.e for incremental amount above INR 10 lakhs only)	7.00%	7.00%
a. No Frills Account/Basic Savings Bank Account
Up to and Including 1 lakh	4.00%	4.00%
Above 1 lakh up to and including 10 lakhs (i.e for incremental amount above INR 1 lakh only)	6.50%	6.50%
Above 10 lakhs (i.e for incremental amount above INR 10 lakhs only)	7.00%	7.00%

The country's largest lender the State Bank of India offers 6.65% per annum for fixed deposits whose tenure in in the range of 1 year to less than 2 years for normal citizens and it is 7.15% in case of senior citizens.

Whereas the ESAF Small Finance bank offers interest of up to 9.25% for senior citizens for a tenure ranging between 365-727 days (approximately 1-2 years) and for normal citizens it offers 8.75% interest on fixed deposits for the same tenure.

The following is the interest rates offered by ESAF Small Finance Bank for Fixed Deposits

ESAF Small Finance Bank Fixed Deposit Interest Rates for 2018

Retail Term Deposit (Less than INR 1 Cr)	"Rate of Interest Applicable from 1st April 2018"
Domestic
Tenure	Normal	Senior Citizen
7 - 14 days	5.75%	6.25%
15 - 59 days	5.75%	6.25%
60 - 90 days	6.50%	7.00%
91 - 179 days	6.75%	7.25%
180 - 363 days	7.50%	8.00%
364 days	5.60%	6.10%
365 - 727 days	8.75%	9.25%
728 days	6.80%	7.30%
729 - 1091 days	8.00%	8.50%
1092 days	5.66%	6.16%
1093 - 1819 days	7.00%	7.50%
1820 days	5.65%	6.15%
1821 - 3652 days	7.00%	7.50%