Bangalore: What according to you can be the best place to ensure the safety of your jewellery, important paperwork and other precious items? Bank lockers and safe deposit vault are the instant answers. Though the answer looks so easy, deciding on a locker is pretty difficult. The availability, sizes, charges and requirements varies from bank to bank. Here is a guide, as reported by The Economic Times that gives you the best options to avoid common mistakes, while selecting a locker. Keep an Eye on the Cost The charges for lockers not only vary from banks but from branches to branches, depending on the location like metro city or semi-urban area, commercial area or boondocks. The small-sized lockers are the cheapest ones and are referred to as A-class. The size increases in alphabetic order, which makes the L/K lockers usually the largest and the most expensive lockers. The public banks and private banks have a huge disparity in terms of rates. For example, a private bank charges a rental up to 20,000 a year for a medium sized locker, but the same locker can be charged one-sixth of this price in public sector. The rates vary with type of accounts you have in the bank. For example, if you are a classic owner (means if your average quarterly balance is 1 lakh) in HDFC Bank, then the bank is willing to waive 50 percent of the rent. But in bank like HSBC, an account holder will have to pay an annual rent of 6000 for a medium sized locker, and premier customer will pay only 4, 500 for the same. It's not only rentals; you have to factor other requirements as well. Banks offer lockers to existing account holders, so customers can easily link rentals to the bank account for hassle-free payment. All banks ask for security deposits, a bank can ask for a security deposit covering rent up to three years at the time of allotment, according to Reserve Bank of India. Public banks are cheaper than private banks. For instance, Bank of Baroda offers 10 percent discount on rent if it is paid in advance for three years or more.