SBI Buddy to permit cash withdrawals

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, has decided to impose a charge of ₹25 per transaction for cash withdrawals, irrespective of the amount, from its wallet — SBI Buddy — through automated teller machines from June 1.

As of now, this feature is not there in the ATM, but SBI will shortly introduce this service.

According to a new service charges list, that was put up on the bank’s website, cash withdrawals from the wallet, via business correspondents will attract a charge of 0.25% of the transaction, with a minimum charge of ₹2 and maximum of ₹8. From business correspondents, a wallet user can withdraw a maximum of ₹10,000.

One need not insert debit card in the ATM for withdrawal from the wallet. “We are integrating the wallet with Interbank money transfer (IMT) interface. There is an option in the wallet which allows to transfer money from the wallet to a suspense account. For cash withdrawal, the customer will get a code which they need to key in the ATM. So the debit card is not needed for such a transaction,” a top SBI official said.

About 60% of ATM of SBI’s 59,000 ATMs will be enabled to disburse money from SBI wallet in the initial phase. “There will be a menu in the ATM for IMT that the customer needs to opt for withdrawing money from the wallet,” the official added.

SBI also said there will be a service charge if a customer wants to exchange a soiled not, if the number exceeds 20 pieces and 5000 by value.

State Bank of India