India

Here is a shortlist of the best zero-balance accounts in India for 2026:

Kotak Mahindra Bank: Kotak 811

This remains the gold standard for zero-balance accounts in India due to its friction-less onboarding. A “true” zero-balance account with no hidden strings. The virtual debit card is free. Their ActivMoney feature automatically sweeps excess funds into a higher-interest FD, giving you the benefit of an investment account without the manual work. Please note: The physical debit card costs around ₹299/year, but you can opt out, so stick with the virtual card.

AU Small Finance Bank: AU Digital Savings Account

These two services – Jupiter and Fi – used to be truly zero balance, not anymore. They charge ₹200-₹300 per month if the balance is not maintained. They still are worth checking out. Both are powered by Federal Bank. They are built specifically for “Money Bucketing.” If you don’t want the hassle of managing multiple bank accounts (read: How Many Bank Accounts Do You Really Need?), you can create digital “Pots” or “Jars” within the app to separate your Fixed Costs money from your Emergency Fund.

State Bank of India: The largest bank in India, the best option for your emergency fund. Their interface can be a pain in the a** compared to the options listed above, but that’s good because you don’t want to be touching your emergency fund often, do you?

With well over a billion people, of whom a majority are barely above the poverty line, it just boggles my mind that there’s not a single cellular network service provider offering a bare-bones plan for talktime. A plan that just lets you talk on the phone. No data or Perplexity or Zee5 subscriptions needed, just some damn talktime. No JioSaavn or AirTel Wynk Music or whatever music streaming service they are offering, conditions applied, just give us some good old talktime.

Some single mothers are barely able to make ends meet. There are lakhs of people with home or work WiFi connections who do not necessarily need data services on their SIMs. So why is there no bare bones talktime plan that is affordable?!