RBI said, in order to comply with KYC needs of the correct address of the person, fresh address proof may be obtained from customers upon such transfer by the transferee branch.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Friday, instructed commercial banks not to insist on opening of fresh accounts by customers when they approach them for transferring their account from one branch of the bank to another branch of the same bank. In a notification on its website, RBI said: Such insistence (by banks) on opening of fresh account or making the customer undergo full KYC process again causes inconvenience to them resulting in poor customer service.

The central bank said it is not reasonable in view of the fact that “most bank branches are now on CBS and KYC records of a particular customer can be accessed by any branch of the bank.”

RBI made it clear to banks that KYC once done by one branch of the bank should be valid for transfer of the account within the bank as long as full KYC has been done for the concerned account. The customer should be allowed to transfer his account from one branch to another branch without restrictions. At the most, RBI said, in order to comply with KYC needs of the correct address of the person, fresh address proof may be obtained from customers upon such transfer by the transferee branch.(NSSNS)