Trust me it is very difficult to get a Safe Deposit Locker from Bank..I faced this trauma thrice in life…Now U must be wondering, i must be super rich and hired 3 lockers but to clarify as & when i changed cities during professional journey, i required locker in new cities…The crux of the matter is to get a locker from bank is like snatching a piece of flesh from the jaws of a Lion.
As some wise men said “Experience makes men wise & so as I”… After 3 traumatic experiences, i understood “How to play with psychology of bank staff” & i would like to share with all.
Basically Lockers are cash cows for banks…It is basically a tool to hook super rich & rich customers with branch..The 1st thing which they check is how rich the customer is i.e. how much business they can generate from customer…If customer fits in their profile then getting a locker is cake walk…All the hard work comes into picture, if u don’t fit into bank’s customer profile…. Whenever u approach any running branch of PSU or Pvt Bank, u will get a standard reply that “No locker is available”…Let me clarify, it’s not the case specially with PSU Banks..Banks always reserve some lockers for emergency allotments e.g. u tell bank that give me a locker, I will book FD of 5 Lac Rs then check whether locker is available or not.
Be assured that u need to open savings/current account in branch where u r availing locker facility, the bank will give reason that it is easy to recover locker rent therefore its essential to open account, even though u might have an account in same bank in some other branch.
Some of the common traps by Banks for allotting locker are (in same order)
- Invest in Insurance or investment plans: Insurance is most difficult to sell and 1st priority of bank is to sell Insurance policy..They always pitch insurance for family as premium is high for these plans
- FD’s: In metro cities, FD of 5 Lac is pre-requisite for Locker..This amount vary from bank to bank & can go upto 20 lac for MNC banks
- Savings Account for Family Members: This option is least preferred option by bank, if bank is unable to get customers. It is mostly offered in new branches of bank where biggest challenge is to get customers.
- Open account with High Value Cheques: This option is provided if bank has many vacant lockers and if customer is not ready for any of above mentioned option. Its highly unlikely.
Now tricks of the trade (to get locker without much hassle)
(a) Never approach a bank for locker directly..Just visit the bank branch where u wish to hire a locker. Just make a query about investments, u r planning in near future.
(b) Inform the bank that u already have an account in some other bank like Citi Bank, HSBC or Stan C & also create impression that u r regular investor in mutual funds, insurance and Gold coins
(c) While discussions, just inform that u have locker with existing bank but its inconvenient to operate as the branch is too far & u r also looking out for locker facility in vicinity..Secondly u r not happy with services of ur existing bank & is also considering transferring ur investments from existing bank to new bank.
(d) After discussing investments, just ask whether bank has Locker available or not..I can bet u r through.
The basic principal is to just showcase that u r a regular investor and will invest in various financial instruments over a period of time. Secondly just create a situation that bank needs u and u don’t need bank…If u show that u r in a need of locker then bank will start taking advantage of urs.
After the bank principally approve to provide u a locker, besides opening an account if bank persists for investments..It’s better to go for FD…Just open the FD, Get Locker Key and close the FD :)…Now bank can’t do anything and u got ur Locker.
I tried this trick and got locker very fast. This trick will not work in PSU banks as they are least bothered about all these things…They only provide locker based on relationships & networking…Another trick for PSU banks is to find out from internet, name of some bank official at good position in same bank’s head office & tell bank executive that this person is ur close relative and u can get his reference…This trick might work as few of my frnds got lockers by using this trick..It might or might not work.
Happy Locker Hunting !!!
Copyright © 2011-2012 Nitin Bhatia. All Rights Reserved.
Hi Nitin,
Thanks for this post. But what ever you told is nothing but a back door or rather psychological game to win the bank staff and book a locker. I am not 100 % sure, but think that there should be some banking guidelines which any Pvt / PSU bank can not neglect when serving a customer. You rightly said, that you should have a savings bank a/c or a current a/c with that branch. They insist so. But I think as per law they can not deny you to open a locker, until you are ready to book a investment with them.
Recently, I faced the similar trauma when trying to open a new locker for me. Now I tried to go through the “The Banking Codes And Standards Board of India” Website – http://www.bcsbi.org.in/ . And downloaded a guidelines they proposed along with RBI regarding the general guidelines to the retail banks offering various products / services. The guideline was published in 2009 Aug. Under this, section 8.8 (Page – 22) gives you a bank’s guideline regarding a safe deposit locker. It says in a nutshell that the bank must give you the eligibility criteria to open a locker. Now I do not think, any bank in India will tell you officially that, you need to invest for 1 Lac / 5 Lacs to get a locker in that branch. Most of them officially states – You need a bank A/C with that branch and you should be an Indian national or Indian company.
You can always log a grievance call to that bank ( Currently all PSU / and specially Pvt banks) has a higher official to look into the BCSBI code & guidelines grievance if you site this information in the branch and still the bank is not ready to open a locker for you.
Regards
Samrat
Hi Samrat,
I completely agree with u & infact u put across very valid point…Just to add that unfortunately there are only guidelines related to this issue but no regulation from RBI in this regard…Banks are not bound to follow guidelines…My request to all reader’s lets write to RBI to bring directive in this regard, then only things will improve…
Hi Samrat,
I completely agree with u & infact u put across very valid point…Just to add that unfortunately there are only guidelines related to this issue but no regulation from RBI in this regard…Banks are not bound to follow guidelines…My request to all reader’s lets write to RBI to bring directive in this regard, then only things will improve…
Hi Nitin,
I have a safe deposit locker with SBI for 6 years now. I made a fixed deposit for Rs 20000 before opening the locker, and it was made for 3 years. Then, it was auto renewed for the next 3 years. I went to the SBI branch to close the FD, and they are saying they can’t close the FD because it is held with the locker. I am paying the locker rent for the last 6 years from the savings account on 1st april without fail. Is SBI correct in saying that they can’t close the FD? What should i do?
It depends on the bank policy depending on the risk assessment of the customer. As per RBI guidelines, it is not mandatory. You may check your locker agreement and if there is no such condition to maintain FD then you may proceed to break the FD.
Are PSU banks lockers much safe than pvt ? Can you suggest any good pvt bank for lockers which provide hood security ? Tried in PSU banks but no luck. Should one go with pvt banks in the first place or avoid them completely ?
As an account holder perspective, banks have NIL liability towards locker. You are availing this facility solely at your own risk. Please check locker agreement for more details.
I will prefer locker from PSU banks because of lower charges.