A MISSED CALL TO KNOW YOUR BANK BALANCE, LAST TRANSACTIONS

A Missed Call To Know Your Bank Balance, Last Transactions

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Often, we need to know the latest bank balance. For this we may log in through the net or go to the nearest ATM centre or call the branch. Some of us may be using phone-banking. But all these options are time-consuming, particularly, the phone-banking facility, where you have to press some numbers if you want to know something, and then another number for going to a particular menu and then giving PIN and then… and it continues! If you call the branch, the concerned staff member will ask you a few questions to know your identity. However, some banks do not entertain such requests over the telephone for security reasons.

Readers will be delighted to know that most banks have introduced a unique facility which is very easy to use and not at all time-consuming. Give a missed call to a specific number. It gets disconnected automatically after one or two rings and, within seconds, you get an SMS on your mobile giving details of your account number and the balance. Generally, the first four and the last five digits of the account number are shown in the SMS and digits in the middle are encrypted with either XXXX or *****. Such SMS also gives details like date, time and balance in the bank fixed deposit that is linked to your account.  Remember one thing; your mobile number must be registered with your bank for availing this facility. If not, simply fill up a form available at the branch, sign it and hand it over to the officer. Also, enquire if there are any charges for the missed call and clarify whether there are any hidden charges, particularly for the SMS that is sent by the bank. Most banks do not levy any charge for missed-call banking facility; but do check with you own bank. An official from HDFC Bank told Moneylifethat there are no charges, for either the SMS sent by the Bank or the call made by customers on its toll-free number for balance enquiry. A wonderful thing in core banking environment is that you can link all your accounts within the bank and then register your mobile number for all of them. In such a case, only one SMS from the bank will give your balance in all these accounts along with account type and account number. Again, the balance shown is the real-time balance, that is, the balance available in your account/s at that specific time when you gave a missed call. If a cheque is presented through clearing even after a second, it will not be considered. Very rarely, it may happen that you do not receive an SMS. This generally takes place when the data server is under tremendous pressure. So please try again after a few minutes. We give below, for ready reference, the phone numbers of some prominent banks. Please try out. If there is no response, please verify the number. If your account number is not linked with your mobile, you will receive an SMS. If your bank name does not appear in the list, please contact them, to get the number, if any.