Saving Banks Account: Checklist of Documents To Open Bank Account In India

Some of these documents are basically the Know Your Customer documents including proof of identity and address which are verified by the bank before opening the savings account.

There are times when your money remains idle in you bank savings account, and you may not have the time to invest in any particular instrument. In that case you should know that it can also generate returns depending on the amount in your bank’s savings account.  Some of the public banks such as SBI offers 2.7% on savings accounts while private lender such as ICICI Bank offers up to 3% and 3.5% on balances more than ₹50 lakh. On the other hand IDFC First Bank offers 7% and RBL Bank offers 6% interest on savings bank account. As per data from BankBazaar, public sector banks such as IDBI Bank and Canara Bank offer interest rates of up to 3.5 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively on their savings accounts.

In order to open a savings account in a bank, you have to fulfil certain requirements which includes documentation.  Some of the documents include Know Your Customer (KYC) documents – proof of identity and address for the verification. You can start start availing the benefits of a savings account only after the required documents are verified by the bank.

Here is the checklist of documents to open a bank savings account

Proof of Address
In order to substantiate your proof of address you have to submit certain documents to the bank. Below is the list of documents that you can submit:
Aadhaar card
Voter ID
Utility bill (electricity, gas, water, telephone)
Passport
Driving license
Bank account statement or passbook of the bank
Ration card
A letter stamped/signed/recognised from a gazetted officer or public authority to verify the address details of the applicant

  Proof of Identity

  To verify your identity, you have to provide the following documents to the bank:

PAN card
Aadhaar card
Voter ID
Passport
Driving license
Employee ID
Any photo ID card issued by the Central/State government
NREGA job card

Apart from the documents listed above you have to submit latest passport size photographs and a duly filled account opening form. The form can be easily downloaded from the official website/portal of the bank or you can directly visit the nearest branch of your preferred bank to collect the form in-person.
After the documents are submitted, the concerned authority of the bank will verify the details and state whether you are eligible for the savings account or not. Make sure you read the eligibility criteria before submitting the application to avoid any rejection.