State Bank of India has launched a nationwide drive to raise awareness about the activation of inoperative accounts. One has to do a fresh KYC to activate inoperative accounts. The bank emphasised the importance of carrying out regular transactions in accounts and preventing categorization into inoperative accounts, according to the SBI press release on November 30, 2024.
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When is a bank account considered inoperative?
If a customer does not conduct any transactions in a savings or current account for more than two years, the account is considered inactive. A fresh KYC is required to activate these accounts.
When an SBI account becomes inoperative, activities such as debit transactions, ATM transactions, cheque deposit, change in address, or applying for new debit card cannot be carried out.
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According to the RBI notification on “Inoperative Accounts /Unclaimed Deposits in Banks- Revised Instructions” as on January 1, 2024, “The banks shall inform the account/deposit holders in writing through letters or email or SMS (if the email and mobile number are registered with the bank) that there has been no operation in their accounts/deposits in the last one year, as the case may be. The alert messages shall invariably mention that the account would become ‘inoperative’ if no operations are carried out during the next one year and, the account holder would be required to submit KYC documents afresh for reactivating the account in such case.”
How to activate an inoperative account in SBI ?
Step 1: Customers with inoperative accounts can visit any SBI branch with their most recent KYC documents.
Step 2: Customer should make a request to the branch for activation of account along with KYC submission.
Step 3: Branch will activate the account based on the KYC documents submitted by the customer.
Step 4: Customers will be informed through SMS / e-mails about the activation of the account.
All requests received by the bank branches for activation of account will be processed within three working days from the receipt of the complete application.
The transactions in account which are in the nature of:
According to the SBI website, these are customer induced transactions
- A financial transaction initiated by or done at the behest of the account holder by the bank/ third party such as cash withdrawals / Deposits, RTGS, NEFT, NACH, Dividend etc. or;
- A non-financial transaction such as an enquiry or request for any product/ service initiated by the account holder through any ATM or internet banking or mobile banking application of the bank or through Third Party Application Providers, which requires two-factor authentication (2FA) and leaves a trail for audit purposes or successful log-in to the internet banking/ mobile banking application etc. or;
- KYC updation done in face-to-face physical mode or through digital channels such as internet banking or mobile banking application of the bank.
Individuals (Documents acceptable as proof of identity/address)
- Passport
- Voter’s Identity Card
- Driving Licence
- Aadhaar Letter/Card
- NREGA Card
- Letter issued by the National Population Register containing details of name and address.
