Kotak to handle salary account of Indian army personnel

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank will handle the salary account of the Indian army personnel, the bank said on Thursday.

The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army for salary account.

The MoU enables Kotak to offer its salary account proposition, combined with exclusive benefits for the Indian Army, to all army personnel – both active and retired, Kotak said in a release.

"Through the Kotak salary account, all personnel of the Indian army will get access to the full range of Kotak's products and services including a zero-balance salary account that earns up to 4 per cent interest per annum with free unlimited ATM transactions on all VISA ATMs and anywhere banking across the bank's network of 1,603 branches and 2,573 ATMs across India," the bank said.

The salary account will cover other benefits such as a bespoke salary account for the army personnel, enhanced complimentary personal accident insurance cover - for both on-duty and off-duty incidents.

It covers accidental death for total or partial permanent disability.

It will also offer special education benefit for children and additional girl child benefit by covering dependent children of up to 22 years in the event of an accident claim by the salary account holder.

"We have customised the Kotak Salary account to meet the specific needs of the army personnel and their families and we look forward to a long-standing association," said Virat Diwanji, group president – retail liabilities & branch banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Among others, the account will also offer exclusive benefits on loans and credit cards by way of attractive rates and zero processing fees on personal, home and car loans and waiver on joining fees on credit cards.

Zero-balance; family banking accounts, free online payment transactions, unlimited cheque books, best-in-class rates for dematerialised accounts (Demat) and best-in-class brokerage rates on trading accounts are the other benefits, the lender said.

Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters