Advantages of Online Mobile Recharge

A mobile phone has become a necessity as it helps us in many ways other than calling and receiving calls. You can avail offers on mobile recharge via online apps. Here, we list the advantages of online mobile recharge:

1. Do It At Home
You can recharge your phone from anywhere that has internet connectivity. You can choose your plan and pay for it via digital wallets or internet banking and start talking and surfing the internet again. It saves time and effort. It protects the cost of transportation that you might have to pay to visit the recharge outlet.

2. 24x7 Availability
You can recharge your phone anytime you wish to. There is no need to wait for your local shop to open and visit there to get your phone operational again. You will also get so many offers on mobile recharge as well.

3. Use Cards and Digital Wallets
You don’t need cash for an online mobile recharge. If you keep withdrawing money from ATMs, it will charge you after a certain number of transactions. So, in that way you save money by charging your phone online. There are many digital wallets with an easy user interface which can recharge your phone with just a couple of taps. 

4. Get Discount and Cashbacks
The government is promoting cashless economy in the country. This move by the government has given an opportunity to many private operators to offer digital payment services. Due to cut-throat competition in this sector, the brand offers a discount and cashback to stay afloat in the market. You can switch between different apps to avail their recharge offers.

5. Prepaid and Postpaid
You don't have the facility of paying your postpaid bill at your local vendor. You are required to visit the office of that operator to pay the bill or deposit a cheque in the bank. With online recharge, you can easily choose between services and recharge immediately.

6. Choose from Different Plans
Sometimes when you visit a vendor for recharge, the vendor decides the talk time plan for your phone. They don't have time to let you know different offers and talk time. In the case of online recharge, you can view all the plans and choose accordingly.

Planning to get a business loan? Consider these 5 types

Business loan is an umbrella term that includes a variety of funding that is given to businesses for their various requirements. Lenders are mandated by law to lend to businesses especially small and medium size businesses.

How to get a business loan:
A business loan can be applied either online or offline through the lender’s branch. Several lenders may pre-approve businesses for a loan. The first step to getting business loans is to check the eligibility criteria that a lender may have.

The most common business loan eligibility criteria relate to minimum net profit and minimum turnover requirements for the business. The business must also have a positive net worth and favourable business ratios. Apart from that, the business has to specify the reason for the loan.

Most lenders have a business loan EMI calculator on their website which helps businesses to calculate their loan eligibility and also find out the funds that they can get from the lender. It is best to use these calculators before applying to different lenders.

Types of business loans:

There are different types of business loans to suit the needs and requirements of different businesses.

1. Term loan:
This is a long term loan taken to buy fixed assets such as land, building, equipment, machinery etc. These types of business loans are long term in nature and are mostly used for capital expenditures. These type of loans are generally secured loans and are backed by the asset that the funds are used to purchase.

2. Cash credit and Overdraft:
An overdraft facility is a type of temporary loan against the current account. Interest is only charged on the actual amount of overdraft. This type of loan is a temporary loan that does not have any fixed repayment tenure.

3. Government scheme loans:
Recently, to promote startups and businesses in the country, there are few schemes under which a business can avail funds:

• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana: Loans under this scheme are given based on the fund requirements and growth stage of the business. These are collateral free loans
• Stand up India: This scheme is specially for women, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe entrepreneurs. These loans are backed by credit guarantee and can be used for any purpose
• Startup India: Under this scheme, startups in particular are provided funding for their growth and expansion.

4. Letter of credit and Bank guarantee:
These types of funding are primarily required by importers while importing goods or services. A bank guarantee provides a guarantee to the opposite party that the sum in question will be paid.

5. Equipment and invoice financing:
Invoices are financed by discounting agencies where these agencies provide the funds upfront and collect the invoice amount from the customers. This is one of the ways to raise quick finance by discounting receivables.

Equipment finance are special finance schemes for businesses that need to buy different equipment. These may be leasing schemes or other finance schemes to acquire the equipment.

5 services every mobile banking app offers

Mobile banking is one of the best ways to conduct banking transactions. It is secure and allows the user to be completely mobile and still conduct a range of different banking transactions. Most major banks offer comprehensive mobile banking applications which have brought banking to a customer’s fingertips.

Using bank to bank money transfer apps is much more simpler and convenient for the customer. All the required transactions can be done within a matter of minutes after logging in to the mobile banking application. But what are the different services

Here is a list of 5 services that every mobile banking app offers:

1. Fund transfer:
Mobile banking apps mainly function as money transfer apps. It is possible to transfer funds easily using any of these different options:

• National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT)
• Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
• Immediate Payment System (IMPS)

Each of these options will transfer funds, however, they all come with terms and conditions. IMPS, RTGS and UPI immediately transfer funds whereas NEFT is transferred in batches taken for settlement at a half an hour period.

2. Balance checks:
It is possible to use your mobile banking application to check the balance in your bank account. Accessing and downloading a historical statement is also possible through the app. The bank may put a restriction on the number of months for which the statement is allowed to be downloaded. However, the details provided as a part of mobile banking for balance check and statement are equivalent to internet banking.

3. New deposits:
Deposits means fixed deposits and recurring deposits. It is possible to open these two types of deposits through the mobile banking application. The amount and tenure of the deposit can be decided and entered in the bank to bank money transfer apps and the deposit will be opened up.

4. Bill payments:
Most mobile banking apps allow for bill payments. This includes utility bill payments such as gas, telecom bills, electric bills, DTH or cable bills, mobile recharges etc. Some banks also allow credit and debit card payments through the app.

5. Investments:
Most mobile banking apps allow people to invest in mutual funds, buy shares, and also invest in insurance through their mobile banking application. However, it is important to check if the investment you want to make is available through the app or not. Banks may sell products such as insurance only for the companies they have a tie up with as compared to offering all alternatives. However, having this option makes investments much simpler.

5 Reasons To Pay Bills Online

Paying your monthly bills is a time-consuming exercise, if you physically go and pay. However, online payments make life easy, as the payment gateways are secure. Here are five reasons to pay bill online.

1. Easy To Use
If you want to pay your bills online, basic knowledge of operating a smartphone and availability of highspeed internet can accomplish your task. The interface is user-friendly, and developers have brought the application in local languages as well.

2. Convenient
When you opt for online bill payment, you avoid standing in queues. There are several public services  such as piped gas, electricity and telephone. Each has separate offices and different procedure to collect the bill. You can avoid all such complications while paying online.  

3. Cost Saving
You can save the cost of transportation by paying the bill from your doorsteps. Paying bills on time helps you in avoiding the fine on late payments. Remember, you also save a lot of other resources like paper when you choose to pay online. Some telecom operators even offer discounts when you want to receive a soft copy of your bills.

4. Discount and Cashbacks
There are so many utility bill payment apps that promote digital payments to expand their business. They offer a lot of vouchers and cashback to retain their customer base. They also collaborate with the bill receiving authorities to send you notifications about the pending bill. So, even if you join the bandwagon now, there will be no shortage of offers and gift vouchers.

5. Track of Transactions
When you pay bills online, the application through which you made the payment, keeps track of the transactions. You can always go to the app and view your bill pay history. It can help you in monitoring your monthly expenses and save your time by maintaining a log. Managing a book of accounts is not required now.

What is a salary account?

One of the first things that companies do when new employees join them is to open new salary accounts for them. These accounts are special accounts where the salary of the employee gets credited every month. But what is a salary bank account? What is so special about them?

Features of a salary account:

1. This account is a zero balance account. What this means is that there is no obligation on the account holder to maintain any minimum balance in this account.
2. Even though a salary account is opened by the company for the employee, it is managed completely by the employee. The employee can make withdrawals, any other payments, receive payments in this bank account.
3. The employee retains the bank account even after quitting the organization. The salary bank account is not tied down to the organization. However, the bank may convert the salary account to a normal savings account in which case the person will have to maintain minimum balance. If the employee joins another company, the account can again be designated as a salary account.
4. The salary account earns the same interest as a savings account i.e the rate of interest for both these accounts is the same. However, some banks may not give the same rate of interest on these accounts. A few of them treat savings bank accounts like current accounts and do not give any interest while others extend a higher rate of interest as compared to a savings account.
5. A salary bank account has features similar to a savings bank account such as debit cum ATM card, credit card facility, loans, cheque book, passbook, internet banking, mobile banking, SMS alerts, branch services such as depositing cheques, passbook updation, Demand draft services, .
6. A salary account cannot be opened by people who are not salaried, i.e it cannot be opened by self employed professionals or businessmen.
7. An existing savings account can be converted to a salary account to receive monthly salary credits from the company. To convert it, the employee needs to fill up a form and give it to the HR department of the company that he works in. The HR department will submit the same to the bank and the existing savings account will get converted into a salary bank account.
8. Some banks may extend other benefits such as insurance, air travel cover etc as well to salary account India holders.
9. It is important to check all the account details when a salary bank account is created.

What are the tax benefits of Sukanya Samriddhi Account?

The Sukanya Samridhhi Scheme is a scheme specially for the girl child. It was flagged off by the Government of India under the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme. This scheme is to ensure that the girl child gets adequate savings of her own by the time she is 21 years of age.

How does the Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme work?

Under the Sukanya Samriddhi scheme, an account can be opened in the name of the girl child from the time she is born till the time she is 10 years of age. The account will remain operational for 21 years from the date of opening of the account or till the time the girl gets married, whichever is earlier. Any contributions made to the account have to be made for 15 years from the date of opening of the account.
The minimum amount of deposit that has to be made under this scheme  is Rs. 250 for the initial deposit. After that, a minimum sum of Rs. 250 and increases in multiples of Rs. 100 has to be deposited every year.

The maximum deposit ceiling is at Rs. 1,50,000.
This account can be opened by the parents of the girl child or any legal guardian. The birth certificate and other documents of the girl child need to be presented to the bank or post office to open this account. An amount of 50% of the balance lying in the Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be withdrawn when the girl child turns 18 years of age for the purpose of higher education or marriage.

Tax benefits of Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme:

To promote investments in the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme, the Government has given a tax deduction to any contributions made to this account. This deduction can be availed under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act up to a maximum of Rs. 1,50,000. This deduction gets reduced from your taxable income and saves tax. However, the total deduction under Section 80C is also restricted to Rs. 1,50,000. Investments such as life insurance policy, National Savings Certificate, Senior Citizen Saving Scheme, Public Provident Fund are clubbed together under Section 80C.

Apart from this, any interest earned on this account is exempt under the Income Tax Act. Exempt income means that income is not considered as taxable income for the purpose of filing the Income Tax return. The tax benefits under the Sukanya Samriddhi account scheme are similar to the Public Provident Fund scheme. This makes it a very beneficial scheme to invest funds for a girl child.

What are the tax benefits of health insurance?

Health insurance is one of the most important requirements for a family today. With the rising costs of quality medical treatment, health insurance is one way to ensure the family savings are protected. Health insurance in India does not enjoy a lot of popularity because people consider it to be a dead investment since it does not show any return. However, it often times pays for itself especially in times of medical emergencies.

How does a health insurance policy work?

Under health insurance plans, a premium is paid to cover the cost of hospitalization. Pre and post hospitalization spends, doctor consultations, day treatments such as cataract surgeries etc., ambulance spends are included depending on the type of health insurance policy. In case a person has to be hospitalized, the insurance company can directly pay the cost of treatment up to the sum assured to the hospital. Health insurance companies generally tie up with hospitals to allow cashless treatment. In other cases, bills for medical expenses have to be submitted to the health insurance company and these are then reimbursed.

Tax benefits of health insurance plans:

Health insurance can protect a family’s savings from medical expenses. To improve the coverage of health insurance India gives an Income Tax deduction for premiums paid for health insurance plans. This deduction can be availed under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act.

This deduction is available in two parts:

• Health insurance plans taken for self, spouse, and dependent children
• Health insurance plans taken for parents of self or parents of spouse

The limit for each category is Rs. 25,000. However, if the parents are senior citizens, then this limit is increased to Rs. 50,000. If the policyholder himself or herself is a senior citizen, then the benefit is Rs. 50,000. Thus the maximum deduction available under this section is Rs. 1,00,000 in case both categories of health insurance plans are for senior citizens.
This deduction for health insurance policy is available if the premium is paid through the following modes:
• Credit or debit card
• Cheque
• Wallets/UPI
• Net banking or mobile banking

Thus any premium paid in cash is not eligible for a deduction under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. Also, a health insurance policy purchased for any other relative or grandparents is not allowed as a deduction.

Any amount received under a health insurance policy for hospitalization or reimbursement of medical expenses is not chargeable to tax since it is treated as a reimbursement of medical expenses and not income. However, any receipt under Section 80D affects any deduction taken under Section 80DDB (deduction for medical treatment for specified diseases). It is important to read through the sections carefully while availing these deductions.