Mumbai: AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB), India’s largest
Small Finance Bank and the first institution in over a decade to receive in‑principle
approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to transition into a Universal
Bank, and Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL), one of India’s leading
diversified financial services groups, today jointly announced a significant
enhancement to their 3‑in‑1 Account proposition. The upgrade introduces a new
fund‑blocking feature designed to make trading more seamless, efficient,
and financially rewarding for investors.
A 3‑in‑1 account is an integrated banking
solution that combines a savings account, a trading account, and a demat
account into a single, seamless platform, allowing customers to manage
their money, invest in shares, and hold securities without the need to move
funds between different accounts.
The enhanced AU–Motilal Oswal 3‑in‑1 Account
integrates AU SFB’s Savings Account directly with the Motilal Oswal Riise
App, enabling customers to invest and trade without the need for repeated
fund transfers between their bank account and trading platform.
Earlier, customers were required to manually
transfer funds from their AU SFB Savings Account to their trading
account before placing a trade. This approach presented two key challenges:
- Funds
moved out of the Savings Account, resulting in a loss of savings account
interest during the period between fund transfer and trade execution.
- Customers
had to navigate the repetitive and time-consuming process of transferring
funds each time they wished to trade.
- The
unutilised funds would remain in the trading ledger for which payout
request had to be placed
To make the process seamless, AU SFB and Motilal
Oswal Financial Services have redesigned the experience from the ground up:
·
Once a customer opens an AU–Motilal
Oswal 3‑in‑1 Account, the AU Savings Account is seamlessly linked to the
Motilal Oswal Riise App.
·
At the time of placing a
trade, only the required amount is placed on hold, instead of being
transferred out of the Savings Account.
·
The remaining balance
continues to stay in the AU SFB Savings Account, allowing customers to earn
savings account interest right up to trade execution.
This enhancement eliminates the need for customers
to choose between earning interest and staying ready to trade; both now happen
simultaneously. By removing operational friction and delivering a tangible
financial benefit, the new feature makes trading simpler, more transparent,
and more rewarding, particularly for active investors.
Sanjay Agarwal, Founder, MD & CEO, AU Small
Finance Bank, said, "At AU, we continuously
look for ways to remove friction from everyday banking and investing
experiences. With this enhancement to our 3‑in‑1 Account, in partnership with
Motilal Oswal, we have addressed a key customer pain point, ensuring that funds
remain in the savings account and continue to earn interest until a trade is
executed. By bringing together strong banking fundamentals
with a seamless trading ecosystem, we are making investing simpler, more
efficient, and more rewarding for customers. As we move forward on our journey
towards becoming a Universal Bank, our focus remains on building thoughtful,
customer‑centric solutions that combine convenience, transparency, and long‑term
value.”
Ajay Menon, MD & CEO, Wealth Management,
Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, "At
Motilal Oswal, we believe that investor experience improves when operational
friction is reduced. This enhancement to our 3-in-1 Account with AU SFB
addresses the need to pre-transfer funds before trade execution, ensuring that
customer funds remain in their savings account and continue to earn interest
until the point of actual trade settlement. Our association with AU SFB is
longstanding; as early-stage investors, we have observed AU's growth from a
regional NBFC to India's largest Small Finance Bank, now awaiting transition to
a Universal Bank. That history reflects a shared commitment to transparent,
customer-centric financial services. This feature is a step toward making
investing more efficient and financially optimal for our customers, and we look
forward to deepening this partnership with AU."
The enhanced AU–Motilal Oswal 3‑in‑1 Account is
expected to strongly appeal to both new‑to‑bank (NTB) and new‑to‑investing
customers. For first‑time investors, the upgraded proposition offers a
compelling combination of the safety and interest‑earning benefits of a bank
savings account with the convenience of seamless trading access, all within a
single integrated platform.