SBI Online Banking: How to Register and Protect Your Account
SBI Online Banking enables customers to manage their money in a way that is convenient to them. With SBI Online Banking, customers can easily transfer money between accounts, view their banking transactions history. Also, with SBI Online Banking, it is easy for customers to send funds from India to another person within and outside the country.
How to Register for SBI Online Banking
I am here to guide you on how to register for SBI Online Banking, However, before I go into the details of how to do this, it is important you take note of the important information I want to share below so that you don’t expose yourself to people who engage in fraudulent activities online.
You need to understand that the State Bank of India doesn’t send emails to get customer information. So, if you receive a mail purported to come from the State Bank of India requesting your personal information such as Username or Password, you should please beware.
It is also important that you don’t click on any link which promises to redirect you to the Bank website. It is safer to type the Bank URL directly to your browser by yourself. In case you don’t know the website of the Bank of India, the bank’s official URL is https://www.onlinesbi.com/. Even though I have provided you with the link here, it is always safer that you type the URL into your browser instead of clicking the link. The reason is that links may redirect you to a website that is totally different from what is displayed.
Things you need to watch out for in the URL include “HTTPS” and the padlock symbol. The letter ‘s’ the follows ‘HTTP means that any information you supply on the website is secured. You can as well click on the padlock symbol in the address bar to verify the security certificate of the web page. If the website is actually secured with an SSL Certificate, the address bar will turn green. This means that the website meets the Extended Validation Standard. Please do not supply sensitive information on any website that does not meet these two criteria. It is not also safe to supply your personal information in any popup window, please.
Other important security tips I want to mention here are: Ensure you always update your Operating System and Browsers to the latest version that supports the Extended Validation Standard for SSL certificates. Ensure that you enable the firewall on your computer, laptop, or mobile devices. It is good that you apply antivirus signatures not just for the sake of online banking only but for the general protection of your device. You should scan your device regularly with an antivirus so as to keep it safe from Virus or Trojan attacks.
So, back to the reason why you are here which is to know how to register for SBI online banking. To register for SBI online banking, you should follow these guidelines.
- Visit the SBI home page https://www.onlinesbi.com. Don’t forget that I mentioned that it is always safer to type the URL into your browser instead of clicking on the link.
- Locate the Personal banking section and then click on the “New User Registration/Activation” link. But if you have gotten a Pre-Printed Kit (PPK) from the SBI branch for activating the INB facility, you will not need to click on the “New User Registration/Activation” link. Instead, you will use the credential in the Pre-Printed Kit (PPK) to login to SBI Online Banking as will be prompted by an alert message on the Login page.
- So, if you are registering newly, you will choose the New User Registration option from the drop-down menu and then click Next to continue to the next step.
- The next page contains a User-Driven Registration Form where you are going to provide the certain required information. The information you are to supply include:
- Your Account Number: You can get your account number in your passbook and/or statement of account.
- CIF Number: Your CIF Number is also available in your passbook and/or statement of account.
- Branch Code: This is a five-digit code for your SBI branch. This is usually displayed in your passbook. In case you do not know your branch code or it is not readily available, you can click the Get Branch link on the online form to retrieve the branch code.
- Choose your country from the drop-down. If you are from Canada, choose the USA/Canada.
- Registered Mobile Number. This is the mobile telephone number that you registered with the State Bank of India.
- Choose SBI Online Banking Facility Required: This will either be Full or Limited Transaction Rights/View Rights.
- Enter the Captcha code and then click “Submit”.
- A form will be displayed requesting you to enter the OTP sent to your registered mobile telephone number. Check your phone for the OTP. Enter the OTP on the space provided and then click “Confirm”.
- Internet Banking Registration: On this page, you choose an option to complete the SBI Online banking registration. If you already have an ATM card, select “I have my ATM Card (Online registration without branch visit). If you don’t have an ATM card, select I do not have my ATM Card(Activation will be done by branch visit).
- If you selected “I have my ATM Card (Online registration without branch visit), you will be redirected to the Debit Card Validation page where you will need to provide your ATM Card details to validate the ATM credentials. You will provide the ATM card Expiry date, Card Holder Name, and PIN. Enter the Captcha code as shown in the image and then click “Proceed”.
- You will be directed to a page telling you that your request for e-mandate registration is accepted.
- You will be requested to generate a permanent username. Your Username can be up to a maximum of twenty characters and can be a combination of alphabets and numbers only. Ensure you remember your Username as it cannot be changed in the future in case you forget it. Your new Username should not be identical to the User ID you receive from the branch. You are to create a log-in password that is expected to be at least eight characters long and less than twenty characters. The password should be a combination of upper and lower case alphabets and contains at least one number and one special character. It is not advisable to choose a password that is generic in nature or guessable. I need to suggest that you don’t use your personally identifiable information such as Date of Birth, Address, Telephone Number, Car Number, ATM Card Number, Social Security Number, Bank Account Number as your Username or Password. You are to re-enter the password to confirm. Then click “Submit”.
- You will be notified that your registration is successful. At this point, you are advised to use your permanent username and password to log in to the SBI Online banking services. When you login into your account, you will do the following:
- Set a profile password. Make sure that your profile password is different from your login password.
- Re-enter your profile password to confirm
- Choose a hit question for your profile from the list of common questions provided.
- Enter your answer for the hint questions.
- Enter your date of birth, place, and country of birth.
- Enter your registered mobile telephone number that you provided at the branch when opening your account.
- Click Submit.
- Your Account Page: Now that you have saved your profile data, a confirmation page will be displayed. You will see some links on your left side such as Account Summary, Account Statement, Pending Statement, Spend Analyzer, Login Password Change, and SBI Rewardz. These links are the list of activities you can carry out within your account. For instance, if you click the Account Summary link, the list of accounts mapped to your username will be displayed. If you registered through SBI online internet banking service, you will only be able to check your account balance or generate your account statement. However, you can upgrade your view rights to transaction rights via the upgraded access level link under the Request and Enquiries tab. Those who registered through Branch Banking Service will have transaction rights immediately.
Back to step 6 above:
Internet Banking Registration: I mentioned that if you don’t have an ATM card, select I do not have my ATM Card(Activation will be done by branch visit).
If you selected “I do not have my ATM Card (Activation will be done by branch visit), you will be displayed a system-generated username. You will be requested to set your login password, confirm the login password, and then click Submit.
You will be displayed a confirmation page. On this same page, you will find your temporary username and pre-printed kit (PPK) number. You will also find a link to download the registration form. You are to print the form and have it submitted at your SBI branch for you to have access to SBI Online banking services.
How to Protect Your SBI Online Banking Account
In other to protect your SBI Online Bank Account, you should desist from writing your password elsewhere. It is safer if you can commit the password to memory. Also, you can make it a practice to keep changing your password on a regular basis. Don’t access your internet banking accounts from shared computers or public places such as cyber cafes. You can also keep checking the last log-in date and time on your login page. In case of any suspected unauthorized access or unauthorized electronic transaction, the numbers to call are listed below:
Toll-free number: 1 800 11 1109
Toll-free number: 94491 12211(Mobile number)
Toll number: 080 2659 9990
Lock and Unlock Internet Banking Access
Customers can lock and unlock internet banking access via the company website. This feature is very good as it can prevent unauthorized access in case a customer perceives that his personal information has been compromised.
In order to lock or unlock user access, you will need to fill a form online. On the form, choose between “Lock User Access” or “Unlock User Access”. Then, you will provide the Username of the User you want to lock or unlock and the account number. You will be asked to enter the Captcha code as shown in the image. Click on “Confirm” to submit.
Please note that this feature is available only for retail customers.
SBI Customer Care Email Address
The Email Addresses you can use to reach SBI Customer Care Service are as follows:
Benefits of SBI Internet Banking
Request for a Cheque Book Online: If you operate SBI internet banking, you don’t need to visit a branch before you can request a cheque book. This can be done directly from your login page
Fund Transfer: Customers can transfer funds from their accounts to other accounts online. Banking activities are not restricted to banking hours. Customers can carry out their banking transactions outside the normal banking hours, weekend and public holidays
No Geographical Barrier: SBI Internet banking can be operated from any part of the world as long as you have access to an internet-enabled device.
Check Account Balance Online: With SBI online banking, customers can easily check their account balance online without visiting the bank or calling the account manager at the bank.
View Transactions in Your Account: Apart from checking the bank balance, customers can actually view transactions that occur in their accounts. In a situation whereby different clients pay bank customers, such customers can easily log in to their bank accounts to ascertain the clients that actually made the payments.
Bank Statement: Instead of writing to the bank before a customer can have his bank statements printed for him, customers can actually generate their own bank statements online.
Convenience: SBI Online Banking makes it easy for an individual to carry out banking transactions right from the comfort of their homes.
Speed: If you are looking for a speedy way to make payment, you make need to consider online banking. Transactions of varying sizes can be carried out within few minutes online. Also, customers don’t need to carry cash around as internet banking provides a safer alternative than carrying cash.