RBI may introduce bank account number portability

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India will soon set up a mechanism that will allow a customer to retain his or her existing bank account number while he or she migrates to some other bank, according to a report in The Economic Times.

The decision has been mooted on the lines of mobile number portability or MNP service using which a telecom user can retain his mobile phone number and still can switch to a new service provider by paying a nominal fee.

RBI deputy governor S S Mundra who supported the idea said, "Technological innovation and linking accounts to Aadhaar can make it easier for this to happen."

The move will do away with unnecessary physical strain that a bank customer has had to bear at the time of shifting to a new bank. The woes of holding multiple bank accounts will also go away.

However, banks say this is not going to be an easy task for them as they say, "there are many loopholes that need to be addressed on the technology and data-integration front".

"Banks will have to restructure their account numbering systems. Many of them have different methods and streamlining these will take time," ET quoted Adhil Shetty, CEO of Bankbazaar, as saying.

Shetty also says that the procedure will also require changes in their software integration systems.