SBI net banking

SBI net banking: 5 things to keep in mind before using instant money transfer

Digital transactions have become popular in the country in the past few years. Not just day-to-day transactions, people prefer to send and receive bigger amounts via wire transfers due to the timeliness of the channel. For this, the State Bank of India (SBI) offers Instant Money Transfer (IMT) service to its account holders with access to internet banking services. The Instant Money Transfer service by State Bank of India allows the bank's customers to make wire transfers by providing just the basic details of the beneficiary. SBI customers can transfer funds to anyone, anywhere, anytime by only providing the beneficiary's mobile number, name and address.

The SBI net banking website, onlinesbi.com, asks users to register their beneficiaries so that they do not have to input their details again and again for recurring transactions. Registered beneficiaries can even withdraw the money from certain SBI ATMs without using a debit card. The beneficiary will have to withdraw the money sent through IMT in one go, though, as the service does not allow partial withdrawals yet.

How to register beneficiaries

IMT can be created though SBI net banking without any time restrictions, but customers will have to register their beneficiaries first for this. To add beneficiaries, SBI customers need to log in to their SBI net banking accounts. After this, they need to go to Profile section, select Manage beneficiary and then click on IMT beneficiary.

A newly added beneficiary account, if approved by the remitter between 6:00 am to 8:00 pm, will be activated within 4 hours. Any new IMT beneficiary account approved after this time frame will be activated on the next day after 8:00 am.

Transaction threshold limit

A minimum amount that can be transacted via SBI's IMT service is Rs 100. Funds have to be sent in multiples of Rs 100, similar to withdrawing money from ATMs. A maximum of Rs. 10,000 can be sent in one transaction. There is a monthly cap of Rs. 25,000 for each beneficiary and it will be applied automatically by the system.

The maximum amount that can be sent by a sender via SBI's IMT in a calendar month is Rs 50,000. Also, a sender can add only 10 beneficiaries under the IMT service.

Service charges

A service charge of Rs 25 will be exacted from the sender for every transaction. This is a lot lesser than NEFT or RTGS charges levied by SBI. The beneficiary does not have to pay anything to withdraw the received funds.

How to withdraw funds received via IMT

As of now, beneficiaries can withdraw funds received through IMT without a debit card at certain SBI ATMs. This facility is scheduled to be extended to all SBI ATMs in due time. Here's how beneficiaries can withdraw the amount they have received via IMT:

1. Use bottom right FDK/touch screen in idle screen of the ATM against IMT logo

2. Enter Beneficiary mobile number

3. Enter sender code

4. Enter SMS code received on mobile

5. Enter amount (Full IMT amount, partial withdrawal not allowed)

6. Select YES or NO on confirmation screen

7. Collect the cash

Validity of transaction

If the beneficiary fails to withdraw the money sent via SBI IMT within two days of initiating the transaction. In such a case, the amount will be refunded back to the sender's account. The services charges will not be refunded, though.