Banking Regulation Act, 1949 — back to Table of Contents
Section 45ZA. Nomination for payment of depositors’ money
(1) Where a deposit is held by a banking company to the credit of one or more persons, the depositor, or all the depositors together, may nominate one or more persons — up to a maximum of four — either successively or simultaneously, to whom the deposit amount may be returned in the event of the death of the sole depositor or of all the depositors.
(1A) Where the nomination is made successively (i.e. in a ranked order rather than jointly), only one nominee is effective at any given time, following the order of priority set out in section 45ZG.
(1B) Where the nomination is made simultaneously in favour of more than one person, the nomination takes effect for all of them together, in the proportion declared, subject to these conditions: the nomination cannot name more than four persons; it must explicitly state each nominee’s percentage share; it must cover the whole deposit amount; and if a nominee dies before receiving payment, that nominee’s share is treated as though no nomination had been made for that portion. A nomination that fails to meet these conditions is invalid, as if no nomination had been made at all.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, or any will or other testamentary disposition relating to the deposit, a valid nomination gives the nominee (determined per sub-sections (1A) or (1B), as applicable) all the rights of the depositor(s) in relation to the deposit, to the exclusion of everyone else — unless the nomination is varied or cancelled in the prescribed manner.
(3) If a nominee is a minor, the depositor making the nomination may also appoint, in the prescribed manner, a person to receive the deposit on the minor’s behalf if the depositor dies while the nominee is still a minor.
(4) Payment by the banking company in accordance with this section is a full and valid discharge of its liability, without prejudice to any claim any person may have against the person to whom the payment is made.
Note: Part IIIB was inserted by the Banking Companies (Second Amendment) Act, 1960. Sub-sections (1), (1A) and (1B) as set out above reflect the amendment made by the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025, effective 1 November 2025, which replaced the earlier single-nominee rule with the option of up to four nominees, successive or simultaneous.
