It is difficult for most of us to remember a bank savings account number. In light of this, it is surely worthwhile considering the viability and implementation of a system that would enable this most vital information to be portable.

After all, the number of our mobile telephone is portable. Indeed, if a user is unsatisfied with his service provider, he can simply switch the provider but still retain the number. Although in place only recently, the concept of portability of telephone numbers is very well understood. On the other hand, the process of changing the 10 digit number can be at best tedious, while informing acquaintances, friends and family of the change can be nothing less than a Herculean task. Nowadays, one's mobile number is tantamount to one's individual identity.

At first glance, it may be challenging for the man in the street to come to terms with the concept of a portable savings account number – after all, the level of confidentiality necessary to protect one's savings far exceeds that required for a telephone, which is, per se, designed to be shared.

A bank account, whether current, savings, term deposit, or no frills, represents a conduit between the customer and the bank and is governed by the Contract Act. Each bank has its own technology and CBS (Core Banking System) to assign an account number. Even though a savings account number is assigned in a serial order, in some cases, it carries extra meaning. Banks issue account numbers in 10, 12, 14 or 18 digit formats according to their individual internal technical requirements. It would be foolish to underestimate both the difficulty of synchronising numbers across the banking system and the enormity of the IT cost that would entail.

The RBI has issued general guidelines on KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti Money Laundering), which require each bank to frame KYC/AML policy and procedures and record documentation requirements. At present, documentation requirements and the scope and scale of due diligence and risk categorisation varies markedly from bank to bank. But, of course, individual banks are responsible for performing due diligence on new accounts as well as for monitoring and reporting suspicious transactions. Notwithstanding the prospective establishment of a central registry for KYC documents, individual banks would remain the final arbiter of whether to open an account or not. The most straightforward route might be to link savings account numbers to the unique number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Implementation could take place once account holders have been allocated a number by the UIDAI. However, the slow pace of the project to date is indicative of the complexity of consolidating information on this scale.

Savings account portability has farreaching implications for the banking system. Any meaningful change to the CBS system is likely to stretch resources, not only financial but also in terms of man power and technology. At the same time, the extent of the cost-benefit ratio is by no means certain. Indian banks have had limited success in penetrating remote areas, and large parts of the population continue to have scant access to basic banking facilities. Nonetheless, the RBI is seeking to stimulate the expansion of bank branch networks into remote areas by waiving licensing requirements. It is more prudent to use these scarce resources to expand basic banking facilities in remote areas.

In October last year, the Reserve Bank relaxed controls on interest rates on savings account deposits, which prompted some private sector lenders to increase rates to as much as 7%. On the face of it, encouraging investors to switch savings account with the same number portability and pursuing the most attractive interest rate offers little obvious benefit to the banking sector as a whole, especially when enhanced returns are already widely available via term deposits.

Clearly, the cost-benefit ratio and its implementation are not yet fully understood by the banks. So when it comes, the debate can be expected to be lively.