How to update your SBI nominee, online and at the branch

Once a bank learns of a death, it stops operations on the person's sole accounts until a claim is settled. Whether the family gets the money in weeks or spends months on paperwork often comes down to one thing: whether a nominee was registered. Since 1 November 2025, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 lets you name up to four nominees on a bank deposit, either together with set shares or one after another. SBI, the bank most Indian families have at least one account with, lets you add or change a nominee online for many accounts, and at the branch for all of them.

Before you start: have these ready. Your account number. Your customer ID (CIF number, printed on your passbook and visible in NetBanking under Profile). The nominee's full name as it appears on a government ID. The nominee's date of birth. Their relationship to you (spouse, son, daughter, parent, brother, sister, etc.). Their address. If the nominee is a minor, the date they will turn 18 and the name and contact details of the guardian who will receive the money on their behalf.

Route 1: YONO mobile app (savings accounts and FDs). In YONO, look for the nominee option under Services & Requests (it has been listed as Account Nominee, then Manage Nominee). Choose the account, add or change the nominee's details and, if you name more than one, their percentage shares, then confirm with the OTP sent to your registered mobile. Note the service request reference number. Menus change from time to time, so if you can't find it, ask your branch.

Route 2: Internet banking (savings accounts and FDs). Log in to OnlineSBI and look for Online Nomination under Requests & Enquiries. Choose the account and enter the nominee's details. Online nomination has generally been available for accounts operated by one person; joint accounts may need the branch. If you name several nominees together, their shares must add up to 100%.

Route 3: The branch, with the nomination form (needed for lockers and often for joint accounts). Under the Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules 2025, one Nomination Form now covers adding, changing or cancelling a nomination for deposits, articles in safe custody and lockers, replacing the old DA-1, DA-3 and SL-1 forms. Get it from SBI's website or the branch, fill in the account and nominee details, sign exactly as on your account opening form, and hand it in with your ID. The nominee does not need to visit. Ask for a stamped acknowledgement and keep it: if anyone ever questions the nomination, that is your proof.

PPF nominee. PPF is a government scheme with its own rules, separate from the bank's. The nomination is made in the account opening form (Form 1) or later at the branch that holds the account, and there is no fee to add or change it. When the holder dies, the account is closed, nobody can continue it, and the nominee is paid the balance with interest up to the end of the month before the month of payment. See our PPF article for the claim process.

Locker nominee. For a locker you can name up to four nominees, but only one after another, not together. Joint hirers make the nomination together. The locker nomination is separate from the account nomination: updating one does not update the other. After a death, RBI's rules give the locker nominee access, with the contents listed in front of two independent witnesses, and the bank must fix a date for access within 15 days of getting the papers. The nominee holds what they take out for the legal heirs. Lockers often hold jewellery, property papers and original wills, so this is worth getting right.

What to do after updating. Take a screenshot of the updated nominee in YONO or OnlineSBI, or keep the stamped acknowledgement. Save it in your Sort My Legacy Documents, and note the nominee against the account in your Financial Inventory. Write down the service request reference number. Tell your nominee, by name, that they are nominated and on which account; families too often find out about a nominee only after the death. If you have more than one nominee, tell each of them the shares in writing.

Common mistakes. Forgetting to update the nominee after a marriage, divorce or death in the family is the biggest one. The bank pays the nominee on its records, even an ex-spouse or a sibling you haven't spoken to in years; that person then holds the money for the legal heirs, and getting it back can mean a dispute. A nominee update takes a few minutes. Sort My Legacy's Annual Review reminds you once a year, and a calendar alert on family birthdays works too.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws and rules change, so check with a qualified lawyer or CA before you act.