Sukanya Samriddhi vs Children Mutual Fund

Who can open?

Can be opened in the name of a boy or a girl child.

Can be opened in the name of a girl child only.

Limitations

There are no limitations in regard to the number of accounts that can be opened for a child.

Only one account can be opened for each girl child.

Age Limit

The maximum age limit for opening a CMF account is 18 years.

The maximum age limit for opening a SSY account is 10 years.

Is Birth Certificate necessary?

Birth Certificate is not necessary for opening a CMF account.

Birth Certificate is compulsory for opening a SSY account.

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Partial withdrawals can be made from CMF accounts after the completion of 3 years.

Only one partial withdrawal can be made from SSY accounts after the girl child reaches the age of 18 years. The withdrawal amount is limited to a maximum of 50% of the deposited amount.

Nomination

Nomination feature is offered on CMF accounts by a number of fund houses.

Nomination feature is not available on SSY account.

Insurance

Some CMFs also offer insurance cover.

SSY does not offer insurance cover.

Online payment options

CMFs offer multiple online payment options.

SSY does not offer online payment options.

NRI Investments

CMFs are generally offered for NRI children as well.

SSY accounts cannot be opened for NRI children.

Minimum Deposit

Minimum annual deposit amount is as low as Rs.500.

Minimum annual deposit amount is as low as Rs.1,000.

Maximum Deposit

There are no limits for deposits in the case of CMFs.

A maximum amount of Rs.1.5 lakh can be deposited annually.

Penalty

There are no penalties for non-payment.

A penalty of Rs.50 is charged for non-payment.

Tax benefits

Tax benefits are not guaranteed.

Avail guaranteed tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.

Eligibility

Some CMFs require the child to be at least 3 months old to be eligible for the account.

There are no such minimum age requirements in the case of SSY.

Interest rate

The interest rates are variable and depends on the performance of the funds in the market.

The interest rate is fixed for SSY.

Where you can open?

You can open a CMF account at different public and private sector financial institutions.

You can open a SSY account at any one of the 28 authorised banks or the post office.

Risk factor

The risk factor is relatively higher.

There are no risk factors in the case of SSY.

Maturity benefit

In the case of CMF, the maturity benefit payout is dependent on the exit load.

In the case of SSY, withdrawal of the maturity benefit can be made at any given point in time after the account holder turns 21 years old.

Fund

The fund invested in CMFs are further invested in equities, debt instruments, and so on.

The fund deposited in SSY accounts are used for the development of the country.

Application fee

On the basis of the seller, CMFs may or may not charge an application fee.

No application fee is charged in the case of SSY accounts.