State Bank account holders face woes over changed Indian Financial System Code

Hyderabad: State Bank account holders are facing new problems following the failure of automatic updation of Indian Financial System Code (IFSC).

All the associate banks of State Bank were recently merged with the State Bank of India which lead to confusion and panic among public with regard to the change of their account numbers. Now, due to the failure of automatic updation of IFSC code, transactions have become a tedious task for account holders.

R Rajashekhar, a contractor who had an account with Baglingampally State Bank of Hyderabad branch, now carries out his transactions from Nallakunta branch. Rajashekhar laments that due to the failure of automatic updation he was never notified about the change in IFSC code. “I usually go to the bank twice a month but following the recent developments now I am visiting regularly.

However, to my surprise I came to know that even the IFSC code was changed. Now, how I can know that my account had been credited by my clients,” he questioned. Adding to his troubles, the bank authorities informed him that if he fails to withdraw the amount within a week, the amount would be retracted to the source.

Rajashekhar shocked by the developments, lodged a formal complaint on the SBI website, whose response came after a couple of days. He recalls that even the officials who responded found this kind of problem to be new. The bank authorities requested individuals to update their IFSC code with the help of bank employees at the earliest. 

Kamlesh Babu, an activist and former bank union leader based in city, found that there was lack of coordination between SBI and SBH employees, even though the process was started a year ago.

This is adding to the woes of customers who were originally associated with SBH, prompting the people to choose other banks for transactions. “I used to send money to my landlord using the SBH account, but now he was unable to receive money due to the change in IFSC code. The money retracts to my account. My landlord has asked me to now send money using city bank’s account,” he explained.

It is believed that lakhs of account holders of State bank of Hyderabad are illiterate and beneficiaries of schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, besides factory workers and some other beneficiaries. They would not know about the change unless they visit their bank for enquiry. “Even LIC policy holders will not know whether their amount was credited to their accounts on maturity.