Know more about your ATM / Debit Cards

Receipt of Card and the PIN

It is common practice for banks to give savings bank accountholder an ATM or a Debit Card. A debit card can as well be called as an ATM cum debit card. However, after opening the account, you may have to wait for a few days to get your card in hand. In this connection, please note:

(a) The bank may send you the card and the PIN by separate couriers in a space of few days;

(b) The PIN is a four digit number which you have to use while operating the ATMs;

© You are advised to sign on the reverse side of the card, to prevent its misuse in case you lose it;

(d) Every card comes with an expiry date. Please note it and arrange to renew your card in time to avoid potential inconvenience and embarrassment.

Charges

Whether ATM or a Debit Card, the bank may levy two fold charges on you. First, the card issuance charges. Second, the yearly renewal charges. The quantum of charges varies across banks. However, some banks may exempt you from these charges depending on the average balance you maintain in your account. You need to check.

Differences between ATM and Debit Cards

The basic difference between ATM and Debit Card is that the former can be used only for operating ATM machines while the latter can be used in both ATM machines and also for making purchases in various shops and establishments including online purchases. Both these have a ceiling on the amount of cash that can be drawn in a day. The ceiling may differ across banks and this itself is a selling point for them. Between ATM and debit cards, the ceiling is usually higher in respect of the debit cards. Nowadays most banks issue debit cards instead of plain ATM cards.

Cash withdrawals using cards

(a) You can withdraw money from any ATM of your bank spread across the country up to the limit specified;

(b) You are also allowed to withdraw money from ATM of any other bank. You can do so five times in a calendar month free of any charge. Beyond that you would be levied with a fee for every additional transaction. (There are exceptions e.g., some banks offer unrestricted free of charge ATM access in select ATM networks to their valued customers;

(c) Few banks (like ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank etc) allow their customers to draw cash even from the POS (point of sales) terminals of their member establishments by using PIN based debit cards. The daily limit is Rs 1000.  The withdrawal is permitted whether or not the cardholder makes any purchases from the concerned shop / establishment;

The next post will deal with making purchases using cards issued by your bank.

Bank Support Contact Numbers (I to Z)

Some more bank support numbers:

Bank	Toll Free No	Other Number	Purpose
ING Vysya Bank	18004259900	080-30309900	24X7
ING Vysya Bank	18004209900	009118004259900	From outside India
J & K Bank	1800220600	0194-2481936
Karnataka Bank	18004251444		From BSNL/MTNL
Karnataka Bank		9108022021507
Karur Vysya Bank	18001021916	ATM/PoS/Debit Card, Internet, Mobile Bkg
Kotak Mahindra Bank	18001026022
Lakshmi Vilas Bank	18004252233
Oriental Bank of Commerce	18001801235	18003452424	ATM
Punjab National Bank	1800 180 2222	0120-2490000
SBBJ –State Bank	18001806005
South Indian Bank	18008431800	1800425 1809
South Indian Bank		91-484-2365657
South Indian Bank	91-484-3939345	9146475458	Report lost/stolen ATM card
State Bank of Hyderabad	18004254055*	18004251825
State Bank of India	1800112211	18004253800
State Bank of Mysore	18004252244	080-22300020	Other than BSNL/MTNL
State Bank of Patiala	18001802010
State Bank of Travancore	18004255566
Syndicate Bank	1800 4256655	1800225092	Credit Card*
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	18004250426	9842461461	Help Desk
UCo Bank	18001030123
Union Bank	1800 222244	022-25751500
Union Bank		912225719600	In nine languages
United Bank of India	18003450345	18001033470	ATM card hot
United Bank of India		18001033470	-listing/blocking
Vijaya Bank	18004259992	18004254066	Internet Bkg
Yes bank	18002000	912230993600	From outside India

Bank Support Contact Numbers (A to I)

Following are some useful bank contact numbers. These have been collected on 11th June, 2012.

If you have any corrections / new information, please post a comment.

Bank	Toll free no	Other Number	Purpose
Axis Bank	18002095577	18002335577	Credit Card-loss
Axis Bank		022-67987700	Debit Card -loss
Bank of Baroda	1800 22 33 44	1800 22 0400	Debit Card
Bank of India	1800 22 00 88	1800 425 1112
Bank of Maharashtra	18002334526
Canara Bank	1800 425 0018
Catholic Syrian Bank	18002669090
Central Bank	18002001911
City Union Bank	18001035506
Corporation Bank	1800 425 3555	1800 22 6606	Credit Card
Corporation Bank		1800 425 2407	ATM/Debit Crd
DCB Bank	18002095363
Dena Bank	18002336427	Internet/Mobile/ Debit & ATM Cards
Dhanalakshmi Bank	18004251747	08067213000
Federal Bank	18004201199	914842630994	From outside India
IDBI Bank	1800221070	18002001947
IDBI Bank		1800226999	Debit Card
Indian Bank	180042500000	18004254422	ATM Cards
Indian Overseas Bank	18004254445	18004257744	Credit Card
IndusInd Bank	1800220061	02244066666
IndusInd Bank		18005005004	Premium bkg

How to get a Savings Bank Account - III - Cheque Books

Ensure you get it as per your choice

You may or may not be given the cheque book immediately upon opening your account. If the bank concerned has a centralised system for despatch of cheque books, it takes a few days. It may be sent to you at your address by courier. Note the following points with regard to the cheque book:

(a) It is usual for banks to issue a cheque book containing 10 leaves. If you require more leaves, please check with the bank officials and tell your requirements with reasons therefore e.g., the need to issue EMI cheques;

(b) Try to use ECS facility for regular payments instead of cheques. It is more convenient. I would describe the ECS mechanism with its attendant benefits later on;

(c) Depending on the value of your account, your bank may issue you a PAP cheque book. PAP stands for ‘payable at par’ at all branches of the bank across the country. For example, if you have a PAP cheque book issued by a branch of Bank X in Delhi, you can make payment to a party at Bangalore with such a cheque and that party can obtain the payment at any of the branches of X Bank at Bangalore. He can also deposit the same cheque in his account in Bangalore and that Bank can get it cleared for him at the local clearing. PAP cheque thus can be used in lieu of bank drafts or other forms of remittances to some extent;

(d) Some banks get your name printed on the cheque book issued to you. This gives you some measure of psychological satisfaction. It normally feels good to issue a cheque with your name printed on to it. Even the party who takes the cheque may somehow have a better perception about your creditworthiness;

A few basic things about the contents of the cheque leaves:

(i) MICR number – At the bottom of the cheque leaf runs a line containing four sets of numbers punctuated by delimiters e.g., 812321 400229055 647000 29

In the above line, the first six digits denote the serial number of the cheque. The next 9 digits signify the MICR no. Of these 9 digits the first 3 digits signify the place e.g., 400 refers to Mumbai. This is followed by three digits (here 229) signifying the code of the bank (229 refers to ICICI Bank) and the last three digit representing the code of the branch. The next six digits constitue the account number field and it is optional. In case of givernmnt cheques issued by RBI, this field is of seven digit length. The last two digits represent the transaction code e.g., savings bank. Government cheques drawn on RBI has code of three digits.

Please note that MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. This number is printed on the cheque leaves in special ink or toner that carry magnetic property making itself machine readable. Using this MICR band, it is possible to segregate hundreds of thousands of cheques according to banks, branches and account types in the quickest possible time and accurately so. This property of MICR is also used for electronic clearing system like ECS.

You are advised never to fold the cheques in a manner that could damage the digits printed in the MICR band, because this robs its machine readability. If you have done so by mistake, and the cheque requires to pass through bankers’ clearing system, it may not be accepted by banks for the purpose of collection.

(ii) IFSC number: IFSC stands for Indian Financial System Code. 

IFSC has been used earlier as the addressing code between banks for message transmission through structured financial messaging system. However, its benefit has now begun to touch large number of bank customers because of its use in money transfers using modern technology driven systems especially RTGS, and NEFT. Banks have been gradually allocating unique IFSC numbers to their branches in phases to reach the benefit to increasingly more customers. IFSC number is supposed to be just above the cheque serial number in the MICR band. It is a 11 character alphanumeric code as below:

  (a) first four characters represent the bank code;

  (b) 5^th character is zero (it is reserved for future use;

  (c) last six characters signify the branch code;

It is possible to transfer the funds accurately and expeditiously to the target branch using the IFSC number.

In April this year the RBI has advised banks to print the IFSC code in their customers’ passbook or bank statements.

How to get a Savings Bank Account - I

Let me begin a planned long series of discussions on various banking products and services with the vast community of bank customers across the country with savings bank account. My intention is to bring to your notice some points which to my mind should be known by all users.
Today, I propose to examine several features of a savings bank account some of which are basic, elementary whereas some are comparatively uncommon. Due to the length of the subject a subset of topics will be dealt with in this post and the remaining in next parts.

Opening a savings bank account

A savings bank account, in a way is like the root of a tree. All other accounts in fact issue forth as its branches. Usually, money is transferred to fixed deposit or recurring deposit from this account, interests credited into it and on maturity the principal with interest come back to it. Similarly, while you take a loan, the margin money (your contribution) is taken from your savings account whereas periodical installments are also recovered from it. It is only in the fitness of things that you duly complied with bank’s rules and regulations at the time of opening the account itself. 
Remember that once you have opened a savings account, you are eligible to deposit every cheque, draft or pay order drawn in your name into this account. The bank then collects these instruments from respective banks and credit to your account.

Introduction

Your bank would like to ensure itself about your identity. Remember after your account is opened, your bank is committed to collect all cheques, drafts etc on your behalf. If later on a dispute arises as to the ownership of these instruments, your bank has to prove to authorities concerned that it had taken due care in opening the account. It does in any one or both of the two ways:
(a) It insists that you are introduced to the bank formally by any of its existing customers, staff or a local person of repute;
(b) It insists that you submit at least two standard documents – one, proving your identity and another, evidencing your address;
Practices vary amongst banks as regards ‘introduction’ and the ‘documents’ that they would accept as proof of identity and address. Some banks, particularly belonging to the private sector, may consider two or even one of these specified documents e.g., Voter I Card (serving dual purposes) as adequate and dispense with introduction by another customer. 
Practice also varies across regions. In some places banks may accept ration cards or even rent / lease agreement as sufficient address proof. At the end of the day, you have to address the bank’s rules so that it can satisfy itself about your identity and the correctness of your address.
Some of the common documents usually accepted by the banks are furnished in the table. However, you may check with the bank concerned to avoid any last minute inconvenience:

Document accepted as ID proof	Document accepted as address proof
Passport	Passport
Driving license	Driving license
PAN Card	Voter I card
Employee I Card issued by Government department	Electricity bill
Voter I Card	Ration Card
Photo I card issued by Defence	Telephone Bill (BSNL/ MTNL)
Valid photo pension book	Recent Credit Card statement
Valid freedom fighter's pass	Employer’s certificate on letter head

You need to submit:
(a) copies of two documents one for ID proof and another for address proof;
(b)  two copies of recent passport size photographs
Please self attest the copies of the two documents. Also carry the original for verification by the bank officials. Those would be returned to you.

Documents to sign

You have to sign an account opening form and append your specimen signatures either on the form or separate specimen signature cards as per concerned bank’s system.
Remember the specimen signature well because you have to sign exactly the same way in future when signing cheques or issuing any operational instructions to the bank.

Nature of relationship with the bank

The account opening form constitutes the contract between you and the bank. The legal position between you and your bank is that of creditor and debtor respectively. The bank has a further obligation of making the payment of your cheque if properly drawn and presented upon it.

Joint account

There is theoretically no restrictions on the number of persons who can open a savings account jointly. However, it is necessary that savings account is not opened and used for business purposes. Usually, two or at the max three to four persons of same family, social or professional group etc open joint accounts.
Take care to properly mention the ‘repayment condition’ and ‘operational condition’ in a joint account.
Repayment condition – This would apply at the time of closing the account. You can give specific instructions about to whom the balance standing to the credit at that time ought to be paid. Examples of options are as below:
(a) Jointly to all
(b) Either or survivor (in case the account is held by two persons)
(c) Any one of us (in case the account is held by more than two persons)
(d) No 1 only, or No 2 only or No 3 only
(e) No 1 only or survivors, etc


In the next post, operation of the SB account, nominations, minimum balance, cheque books, ATM / Debit cards etc will be dealt with.