Procedure for Change of Bank Account and documents required

Bank account is mandatory for mutual fund investment

As per SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations, it is mandatory for mutual fund investors to provide their bank account details in their application for purchase of Units in the specified section, without which the application is liable to be rejected.

Application for purchase of Units typically consists of space to provide details of one bank account (due to limited space), wherein the details of the bank account of the applicant (first applicant in case of multiple applicants) must be provided.

However, Mutual Funds also provide a facility to individual investors to register up to five bank accounts against a folio, which could be done separately / subsequently.

Why Change of Bank account ?

Most banks in India have since migrated to Core-Banking system (CBS), whereby the banks have revised the existing bank account numbers, and have allotted new 15 or 16 digit account numbers in lieu of the original account numbers.

In case there has been any revision in bank account on account of migration to CBS, the MF investors should promptly notify their new bank account number AND the IFSC to all mutual funds where they have invested, following the procedure and documentation explained above.

Under the CBS, the new 15 or 16 digit account number and IFS Code are printed on the cheque leaf. [IFSC stands for Indian Financial System Code and is an alpha-numeric code containing 11 characters, allotted by the RBI to uniquely identify bank-branches in India similar to the MICR code]. Registering the IFSC and the new CBS account number would facilitate speedy payments of redemption or dividend proceeds through NEFT/RTGS.

There may other reasons/occasions wherein mutual fund customers may want to or need to change their bank account - for example, when a person moves to another city. In such a case, it is necessary for the customer to promptly inform the concerned mutual fund using the prescribed bank mandate form and provide details of the new bank account along with the requisite supporting documents to replace the existing bank details.

Steps for change of Bank account details with a mutual fund:

• For registering change in bank account details, the investor needs to submit the prescribed bank mandate form to the mutual fund / its Registrar along with a cancelled cheque leaf or such other documents* of the new bank account.
• One may use the stand-alone Change of Bank Mandate form in case only a single bank account is required to be updated.
• To register or change more than one bank account, the investor needs to use the “Multiple Bank Account Registration Form” and submit the same duly completed along with cancelled cheque leaf or such other documents* in respect of each of the (new) bank account number to be registered.

* mentioned below

Default bank account in case of multiple bank accounts:

While registering multiple bank accounts, the investor has to specify one of the bank accounts as the ‘primary’ or “default” bank account into which the redemption / dividend payments would be credited. While making a redemption request, an investors may specify any of the bank accounts for receiving the credit of redemption proceeds. If no account is specified in the redemption request, the redemptions proceeds shall be credited /remitted to the default bank account.

List of requisite documents

Along with the prescribed bank mandate form, investors need to submit the original or a self-attested photocopy alongwith the original (for verification & return across the counter) or a copy duly attested by the Bank, of any one of the following documents:

• Cancelled original cheque of the new bank mandate carrying the first unit holder’s name and bank account number printed on the face of the cheque; OR
• Self-attested copy of latest bank statement or bank passbook with current entries not older than 3 months; OR
• Bank’s Letter certifying the bank account details, duly signed by branch manager/authorized personnel of the bank.

Additionally, based on the Mutual fund’s internal Risk Management policies, the investor may be required to submit a cancelled original cheque leaf of the old (currently registered) bank account (with first unit holder name and bank account number printed on the face of the cheque) or a copy of the bank passbook/statement containing the account number and the name and address of the account holder duly certified by the branch manager/authorized personnel of the bank with his/her full signature, name, employee code, bank seal and contact number.

In case the bank account is already closed, a duly signed and stamped original letter from the concerned bank on the official letter head, confirming the closure of the said account may be submitted in lieu of the cancelled cheque.

The rationale for asking for supporting documents in respect of the old bank account is to ascertain the authenticity of the request, with a view to safeguard the interest of the original/bona-fide unitholder and prevent any unauthorized/fraudulent transactions.

Cooling period:

Whenever any change of bank mandate request is received simultaneously with, or just prior to submission of, a redemption request, mutual funds / RTAs allow a cooling period of ten days as a matter of precaution against unauthorized/fraudulent transactions.