SBI account holder? Alert! Your bank ATM withdrawal limit has been slashed

Are you an SBI account holder? You have just suffered a big setback! As the festive season is nearing, in a major bad news, the largest lender State Bank of India, has slashed its account holders' daily ATM withdrawal cash limit. It looks like SBI customers will have to cut short their spending. From October 31, the SBI customers will only be able to remove Rs 20,000 at any ATM! This will really hamper the public as earlier, the daily limit was Rs 40,000 at its ATMs. Generally, festivals are taken as positive moments to do big thing in life. These can be anything, like purchasing houses, going for vacation, or buying vehicles. Even jewelries are in massive demand.  Considering India is such a festival rich country, cash is much  in demand for shopping of jewelries, sweets, furnitures and home appliances, etc. and the biggest fests are looming large - from Dhan Teras to Diwali.  

However, in his reaction, SBI managing director PK Gupta hinted at it being business as usual. He said, “Our internal analysis shows most actual withdrawals are of smaller amounts. So, Rs 20,000 should be adequate for most customers. We are trying to see whether smaller withdrawals could minimise frauds.” He was speaking to Economic Times.  

Reportedly, a bank communique said, “In view of the increase in the number of complaints received by banks around fraudulent transactions at ATMs and to encourage digital and cashless transactions, it has been decided to decrease the cash withdrawal limits of debit cards issued or being issued on ‘Classic’ and ‘Maestro’ platforms.”

Gupta further stated that, customers with a requirement for more can ask for card variants that offer higher withdrawal limits. 

The new limit will come into effect from October 31 just few days before Diwali festival. 

While chalking down the cash withdrawal limit ATM, the SBI today on its official Twitter account, motivated its customers to apply for SBI EMV Chip Debit Card without any fee charge. 

The bank said, “Do not take a chance; get enhanced security for your #debit card by applying for the SBI EMV Chip Debit Card without any fee at your branch or through OnlineSBI.”

At SBI, currently daily cash limit at ATMs is at minimum Rs 100 and maximum Rs 40,000 which will change to Rs 20,000. 

Secondly, SBI has made no changes in its limit on Point of Sale (POS) or e-commerce platform, which clearly indicates that the lender is trying to push more of digital transaction. At present there are no minimum limit at transactions made on POS or e-commerce, however, the maximum limit is up to Rs 50,000.