How to update your bank account with EPFO when you switch employers or salary banks

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Your employer decides where to send your salary based on the bank details you provide. EPFO is not involved in that monthly credit at all. What EPFO does hold is the bank account linked to your UAN, and that is where your PF withdrawals, advances, final settlements and EPS pension payments go. If you have shifted your primary banking relationship, it is wise to update this EPFO bank record, too, so that future payouts land in the right place.

Step one: make sure your new account is ready

Before going on the EPFO portal, confirm that your new bank account is fully active, KYC-compliant and in your own name, with the same name format as on your Aadhaar and EPFO profile. Joint accounts are best kept as “either or survivor”. Check that mobile banking and SMS alerts are working, because EPFO and your bank will both rely on OTPs and alerts while the change is processed. Small mismatches in spelling or initials are one of the most common reasons for KYC rejection and delayed claims.

Updating bank details on the EPFO member portal

Once the new account is ready, log in to the EPFO member e-Sewa portal with your UAN, password and captcha. Go to the “Manage” menu and select “KYC”. On the KYC page you will see several options such as bank, Aadhaar and PAN. Under “Bank”, add your new account number, your name exactly as in bank records and the correct IFSC, then save. The new bank entry will first appear with a “pending” status. Traditionally this meant waiting for your employer’s digital approval, after which EPFO would verify the account with the bank before marking it “approved”. In practice, this is still how many establishments work.

How Aadhaar-based seeding is changing the process

Over the past year EPFO has been simplifying Aadhaar-based KYC and giving members more control over their own profiles, including in situations where the employer is closed or unresponsive. Some of these changes allow Aadhaar and bank details to be seeded or corrected directly by the member using OTP authentication, either on the member portal or through the UMANG app, with fewer layers of employer approval than before. In other words, if your UAN is already correctly linked to Aadhaar and your mobile, you may find that bank updates go through with minimal back-and-forth with HR.

Using the UMANG app for EPFO updates

If you are more comfortable on your phone, you can also use the UMANG app to access EPFO services. After logging in with your UAN and OTP, you can view and sometimes update KYC details, including Aadhaar and bank, and then track the status of approvals. EPFO has been steadily moving routine profile changes, claim tracking and even a “Passbook Lite” view into this app to cut down on multiple logins and speed up claim handling. For someone in the middle of a bank switch, this makes it easier to keep an eye on whether the new account has actually been accepted.

What if your employer has shut down or will not cooperate?

Many salaried employees discover a bank mismatch only when they leave a job and the employer is no longer reachable. In such cases you still have options. EPFO lets members use Aadhaar-based composite claim forms and updated KYC guidelines specifically for people tied to closed establishments or where the employer’s digital signature is no longer active. You may need to visit your regional EPFO office with identity proof, a cancelled cheque of the new account and the filled-in form so that staff can verify and push the change from their end. It is slower than an online update but better than having settlement money bounce back because it was sent to a dead account.

How long the change takes — and when to worry

If your employer is active and responsive, a straightforward online bank change usually shows as approved in a few days and appears correctly in your passbook and claim screens soon after. When EPFO is doing additional checks with the bank or resolving name mismatches, the process can stretch to a couple of weeks. The red flags to watch for are a “rejected” KYC status with remarks about name, IFSC or account number mismatch, or a claim that has gone into “returned” status because the bank refused the credit. In both cases, you will need to correct the details and re-submit rather than assume the money will somehow find its way to your new account.

A quick checklist before you hit submit

The practical way to think about this is simple: wherever your main savings now sit should be the account reflected in your EPFO profile. Before you file any withdrawal, advance or transfer request, check your KYC page and passbook once to confirm that only the new bank account is active, your Aadhaar is linked, and your mobile number is current. Doing this housekeeping when you change your salary account means that, years later, your PF money will quietly arrive where you actually bank today — instead of disappearing into some forgotten, nearly-closed account from an old job.