Are you an SBI customer? These cheque books will become invalid from today

If you are an account holder of SBI's erstwhile six associate banks including Bharatiya Mahila Bank, your cheque books will become invalid from today. Earlier, the deadline was September 30, however, the State Bank of India later extended the date to December 31, 2017.

Last week on Friday, the SBI issued a final reminder, saying: "All account holders of banks which were merged with SBI in April 2017 have to get the cheque book bearing the new IFSC code latest by 31st Dec 2017. Visit the branch or apply via internet banking, SBI Anywhere, SBI Mingle (Web App) or at the ATM."

Read MoreThe bank in an earlier reminder said: "The validity of cheques of former associate banks has been extended till 31st December, 2017. Apply now for a new SBI cheque book." The bank further asked the account holders to apply for new cheque books before the deadline to avoid any inconvenience. The customers can also apply for the new cheque book by using internet banking, mobile banking or by visiting home branch.

Last year in September, country's largest bank issued a notification asking the customers of SBI's former associate banks to apply for new SBI Cheque books as soon as possible. The notification had come months after the government merged the SBI with its five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

The state-run SBI's six subsidiary banks were Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Raipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad and Bhartiya Mahila Bank.

The government had in February 2017 approved the merger of these five associate banks with SBI. Later in March, the Cabinet approved merger of BMB as well. With this merger, the state-run bank joined the league of top 50 banks globally in terms of assets. The customers need to submit applications for new cheque books for replacement of the old cheque books.

The new cheque books will bear the new IFSC code. Recently, the SBI changed names and Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) Codes of nearly 1,300 of its 25,000 branches in the country's major cities owing to its merger with five associate banks and a Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

The IFSC is an 11-digit alpha-numeric system that uniquely identifies all bank branches participating in the Reserve Bank of India's fund transfer system. The IFSC Code is mandatory to send or receive money online from one bank account to another. Most changes with regard to name and IFSC Code have been done in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow.