WHAT?

Beginning November 1, 2025, significant changes will take effect for bank customers in India. These reforms are part of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 and related regulatory notifications, aiming to improve transparency, ease of claim settlements, and depositor protection.

What’s Changing?

1. Up to Four Nominees Allowed : Currently, most bank accounts allow only one nominee. Under the new rules, account holders can assign up to four nominees for:

• Savings accounts
• Current accounts
• Fixed deposits
• Other bank deposit products

2. Nomination Allowed for Lockers & Safe-Custody Articles : The reform also extends to:

• Bank lockers
• Assets kept in ‘safe custody’ with banks
• Customers can register multiple nominees either simultaneously, or in a successive order (i.e., primary → alternate nominee)

3. Specify the Share (%) of Each Nominee : Customers can now allocate percentage entitlement for each nominee, making the distribution clear (e.g., spouse 50%, child 30%, parent 20%). This ensures:

• clarity
• reduced family disputes
• smoother legal claims 
• Greater Transparency in Claim Settlement
• With multiple nominees and predefined share distribution, heirs will face fewer disputes after the account holder’s demise
  Claim settlement will be faster and uniform across all banks.
• less number of unclaimed deposits with Indian banking system