personal finance

Got a dream? Banks now account for it


Bengaluru: Banks are trying to make your dreams come true. Many have over the past year created new kinds of accounts that help you see the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, or have a destination wedding at Jagmandir Island Palace, or get your LKG toddler into a good school. It’s a strategy that insurance companies and mutual funds have employed before.

For 36-year-old Mumbaikar Aisha Khan, the Rs 2-lakh trip to Saudi Arabia to visit Mecca and Medina was through her ICICI Bank’s iWish account. A part-savings and part-loan product, the iWish account lets you set goals for anything you desire. And since ICICI Bank has partnered with players like Thomas Cook, bank customers get the precise cost of their dream.

“And if you were planning a surprise birthday party for your grandparent, not only can you contribute, you can also share on Facebook and get all the other party invitees — friends and family — to contribute towards this iWish goal,” says ICICI Bank chief digital officer Madhivanan Balakrishnan. “Even though it’s a fun product, we still find that overwhelmingly people still use it for necessities like their kids’ education (22%) or child’s insurance-cum-savings plan (11%). About 9% use it for big-bash weddings and birthdays and another 9% for their first bike or car,” says Balakrishnan.

Axis Bank’s ASAP Goals account, too, was designed keeping in mind the diversity of millennial needs, be it short-term goals like bikes or making the first down-payment towards a home, says the bank’s head of digital banking and customer experience, Praveen Bhatt.

On the bank’s mobile app, you need to create a specific goal. Automatically, the app will set a monthly savings target to achieve the goal.

HDFC Bank’s Dream Deposit gives you the flexibility to set aside a portion of your salary to reach your goals with interest rates on a par with the bank’s FDs and RDs, and without any of the charges that come with breaking an FD deposit or missing a monthly instalment in an RD.

Kotak Mahindra Bank will soon offer a Holiday RD for those bitten by wanderlust. Customers can deposit a fixed monthly instalment for 12 months. On maturity, the customer will receive a top-up from the travel partner, such that the interest earned and the top-up is equal to one additional instalment. “We are currently in discussions with a travel partner to launch this product,” said a spokesperson.





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