How to Add or Change a Bank Nominee 2026

Reviewed on 2026-06-20 by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.

A nominee is the person your bank pays your deposit to if you die. Naming one, and keeping it current, is the single cheapest thing you can do to spare your family months of paperwork later. This guide gives you the exact 2026 procedure, what changed under the new rules, and what to do if the branch drags its feet.

The Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 2025 (Gazette notification G.S.R. 790(E), dated 27 October 2025) came into force on 1 November 2025 and replaced the old 1985 rules. Two practical changes matter to you.

First, you can now name up to four nominees for one deposit account, not just one. Second, banks may now let you nominate, change or cancel online through netbanking or the mobile app, where the bank has built that facility.

For a deposit account you choose how your four nominees work:

• Simultaneous. More than one nominee is active at the same time, each with a fixed share that you specify. The shares must add up to 100 per cent. Good for splitting a deposit between, say, two children.
• Successive. You set a priority order. The second nominee becomes active only if the first has died, and so on. Good when you want one main nominee with backups.

For a safety locker or articles in safe custody, only the successive order is allowed.

Ask your branch for the Nomination Form, or download it from your bank's website. Under the 2025 rules there is now one combined form that covers nomination, cancellation and variation, so you do not need to hunt for separate forms. If your bank offers e-nomination, you can skip paper entirely and do it in netbanking.

Write each nominee's full name, relationship, address and date of birth. If you are using the simultaneous option, write each person's share so the total is 100 per cent. If a nominee is a minor, you must also appoint an adult to receive the money on the minor's behalf.

For a single-holder account, you sign alone. For a joint account, all the depositors must sign together: a nomination, change or cancellation on a joint account is not valid unless every holder signs. Submit the form at the branch, or complete the e-nomination online.

The bank must give you a written or electronic acknowledgement that it has registered your nomination. This is your proof. Save it. If the branch takes the form but gives you nothing in writing, ask for a stamped, dated acknowledgement before you leave the counter.

If you nominate through internet or mobile banking, the rules require two-factor authentication to confirm it is really you. Complete the OTP or other second step, then download the on-screen confirmation. Doing it in netbanking is the easiest way to verify your nominee is recorded, so log in and check the nominee field after a day or two.

You do not need a special change form. Under the 2025 rules, to change a nominee you simply file a fresh nomination. Every new nomination automatically cancels and replaces the earlier one. To remove a nominee without naming a new one, submit a cancellation through the same form or e-nomination.

A few points worth knowing:

• Your nomination does not lapse just because a fixed deposit is renewed. It carries over.
• You can ask the bank to extend the same nomination to your other accounts in that bank, so you do not repeat the exercise per account.
• On a joint account, again, every holder must agree to the change.

If you have a locker, the rules differ slightly on access and there are RBI norms on locker agreements worth reading. See our guide on bank locker rules in 2026.

Figure: step-by-step flow. If a step stalls, use the grievance or RTI route shown.

A nomination request should be a counter job, not a project. If the branch loses your form, refuses to register it, or will not give an acknowledgement:

1. Put your request in writing and get it date-stamped, or send it by email so you have a record.
2. Escalate to the bank's grievance / nodal officer, named on the bank's website, and ask for a complaint reference number.
3. If there is no proper reply within 30 days, raise it with the RBI Banking Ombudsman through the complaint portal at cms.rbi.org.in.

For a public-sector bank you can also lodge a grievance on the central government portal. Our walkthrough on how to file a CPGRAMS grievance shows the exact route.

A registered nominee is not the same as legal ownership: it lets the bank pay out quickly, but heirs can still claim under succession law. If there was no nominee and a depositor has died, the family faces a different process and may need a legal heir certificate. Where a nominee exists but the bank delays a deceased-account payout, read our related guide on a delayed deceased-account claim.

Up to four, since 1 November 2025. For a deposit account you can make them simultaneous, each with a fixed share totalling 100 per cent, or successive, in a priority order. For a locker or safe-custody articles, only the successive order is allowed.

Most banks do not charge for registering, changing or cancelling a nomination. Charges are not fixed by the rules, so confirm the current position with your own bank before you assume it is free.

Yes, if your bank offers e-nomination. You can nominate, change or cancel through netbanking or the mobile app. The rules require two-factor authentication for the app or internet route, so be ready with your OTP, then save the on-screen confirmation.

Yes. On a joint deposit, any nomination, change or cancellation is valid only if every depositor signs it together. One holder cannot add or remove a nominee on a joint account alone.

You can name a minor, but you must also appoint an adult, who is not a minor, to receive the deposit on the minor's behalf if you die while the nominee is still a minor. Write that guardian's details on the same form.

No. A nominee is a trustee who can collect the money quickly from the bank. Legal ownership still follows your will or succession law, and heirs can claim their share from the nominee.

File a fresh Nomination Form or e-nomination naming the new person. Under the 2025 rules every new nomination automatically cancels the old one, so there is no separate change form. Keep the new acknowledgement as proof.

Submit the request in writing and get a dated acknowledgement, then escalate to the bank's grievance officer with a complaint number. If you get no proper reply within 30 days, complain to the RBI Banking Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in.

• Banking Companies Nomination Rules 2025, Gazette G.S.R. 790E PDF
• https://ddnews.gov.in/en/key-nomination-provisions-under-banking-laws-amendment-act-2025-to-take-effect-from-november-1/
• https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2181734
• https://cms.rbi.org.in