How Many Bank Accounts Can I Have?

Having multiple bank accounts can be amazing as well as a problem, it depends on your requirements and your ability to manage all those accounts.

With Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and related schemes and products, the banking landscape has enlarged and more and more people now have access to a bank account.

India is one of the largest countries with a population having a bank account. Being home to the world’s largest population, the 78% bank penetration is far greater than the population of the USA or Europe.

To top it all up, the banks also provide various banking features to the customers like net banking, UPI, and Cheque checkbook facility and some banks provide these for free. You do not need to pay or maintain the Average maintenance balance for using the bank.

With such a liberal policy for bank account opening, the problem is that people often try to open more and more bank accounts.

Here, in this article, we will answer the question of how many bank accounts can have, what are its benefits, etc.

Why Do You Need Multiple Bank Accounts?

You need multiple bank accounts for various reasons, which we have enlisted below, and based on your needs and requirements, you can choose multiple bank accounts-

Budgeting

Whether it’s salary or business payment, most of the transaction happens using digital payments which goes directly to our bank account.

Using a bank account, you can create a budget for everything necessary for you to spend like bills, Entertainment account, food and grocery, rent, etc.

Spreading your monthly finances amongst this account will help you create a budget plan and allocate the finances as per the budget.

You can then use the allocated money to purchase the designated items that you intend to spend. At the end of the month, you can collect the remaining amount into a single account and save it in a high-interest savings account or invest it in an FD Account.

Tracking Financial Goals

You can use multiple accounts for tracking your financial goal, which can be anything from purchasing a new home to a car, Your financial goal can be anything but to complete it, you’ll need a tracking mechanism to keep you motivated as well as provide you insights into the requirements.

Keeping Your Money Guaranteed

When you use one bank account to save a large sum of money, it may lead to high-risk prospects. You are risking all that money when you choose to keep it in one place.

On worst days, if you lose that money due to fraud, bank bankruptcy, etc. then you do not have much of an option but to wait for the RBI to issue further clarification.

But if you diversify your bank account, then you’ll always have a backup and risk distribution. Also, RBI runs a deposit insurance scheme that provides insurance for all bank deposits which gives insurance claims for such things up to Rs.5 Lakhs. So, anything over this limit is something that you may lose forever.

Separating Finances

In your house, you may have your wife, kids, parents, etc. so separating finances is necessary to ensure that it does not conflict with you and that there is some sort of financial freedom offered to them as well. When you have multiple accounts like a salary account for salary, a joint account with your wife, and an account for kids it will be easier to manage.

Benefits of Having Multiple Bank Account

The following are the benefits of having multiple bank accounts-

• If you are a high ATM Card user, then having multiple accounts can reduce your ATM charges
• You can have a bank account dedicated to UPI Payments which can be used for daily purchases. Keeping this account separate from other accounts helps you keep your bank statement simple and clean
• Keeping multiple bank accounts can reduce your risk and help you reduce your dependency on a single bank

Drawbacks of Having Multiple Bank Accounts

The following are the drawbacks of having multiple bank accounts-

• Managing finances with multiple bank accounts can be tough and requires higher management skills.
• Maintaining a minimum balance can increase your cost of account
• Any account which is not been used for more than 2 years, then that account will be converted into a dormant account and some of these accounts can get dormant if not used regularly

What is the Ideal Number of Bank Accounts?

There is no single answer to this question, everyone has their own financial goals and needs Hence, the best number of bank accounts is something that you’ll have to answer for yourself.

But a minimum of two accounts is enough for most of the everyday tasks. If you are a businessman then you may require another account as well like a current account so you can open these accounts on a requirement basis.

Before opening a bank account, you should always make a cost and benefit analysis to ensure that you are making the right decision.

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