SBI's Pehla Kadam vs Canara Champ Deposit saving accounts for children: Know features, benefits, other details

Parents often find it difficult to inculcate the habit of saving in their kids. A savings bank account for children might help in this endeavour.

Canara Bank Champ scheme is for children up to the age of 12 years only.

Teaching the value and buying power of money to children often proves an uphill task for parents and one of the best ways to engage them to make them learn this is financial inclusion. You can make them a part of the banking ecosystem and encourage them to spend and save judiciously. While many leading banks offer saving accounts for children/minors, we bring you  a comparison of SBI's Pehla Kadam and Canara Bank's Champ Deposit saving accounts.

SBI's Pehla Kadam: State Bank of India says on its website that 'Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan' are banking products that will not only help children learn the importance of saving money but will also allow them to experiment with the 'buying power' of money.

SBI's Pehla Kadam Features: SBI Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan accounts don't require a monthly average balance (MAB) and come with a maximum balance ceiling of Rs 10 lakhs. The bank provides cheque books and Photo ATM cards to the account holder. The ATM Card comes with a withdrawal/POS limit of Rs 5,000 while per day transaction limit is Rs 2,000. While SBI Pehla Kadam is a joint account with parents for minors of any age, Pehli Udaan is for children above 10 years and less than 18 years.

Canara Bank Champ Deposit Scheme: The scheme is for children up to the age of 12 years only. Canara Champ Deposit also doesn't require maintenance of a monthly balance. The bank, however, doesn't provide a chequebook under the scheme. It also doesn't allow joint accounts to be opened under the scheme. After the child attains majority, the account can be converted to regular SB Deposits. The bank provides a free collection of cheques/DDs gifted to the child up to Rs 25,000 per annum. The bank also gives the account holder an attractive Savings Box to cultivate the habit of Savings among children.