SBI, the State Bank of India, is the country’s biggest money lender. It launched a nationwide campaign to promote the activation of inoperative accounts. Before launching this campaign, SBI organised a one-day workshop in Gurugram for its national business correspondents and sensitised participants about inoperative account activation.
Whether savings or current, an account is considered inoperative if its owner doesn’t transact within two years. Reactivating such accounts requires completing a Re-KYC (Know Your Customer).
This workshop illuminated the importance of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Machine Learning (ML) in assessing CSPs (Customer Service Points). This advancement focuses on improving operational efficiency and risk management and ensuring regulatory compliance for the best possible customer service.
The SBI Chairperson, Challa Sreenivasulu Setty (CS Setty), stressed the importance of the Re-KYC exercise in keeping PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana) accounts active. He urged businesses to participate in the DFS (Department of Financial Services) campaign for Jan Suraksha Schemes between October 15, 2024, and January 15, 2025.
Ketan Mukhija, the senior partner at Burgeon Law, explained the risk surrounding inactive accounts and shared that due to reduced monitoring, such accounts are often targeted for scams and identity theft. Even internal bank employees with inactive accounts can misuse them for unauthorised transactions. Inoperative accounts can also be used for money laundering.
The SBI mandated banks to review accounts with no customer activity annually and monitor reactivated accounts for at least six months. India suffered losses of Rs 11,333 crore due to fraud until the third quarter of 2024. So, the bank’s efforts with Re-KYC might solve this problem.
