Physical financial statements and personal documents tend to pile up with every financial transaction that takes place. While keeping important files and documents in a locker for safekeeping is quite popular among most Indians, maintaining and safeguarding these documents manually can be a cumbersome affair.
However, you cannot overlook the importance of organising all your important documents in one place so that they can be easily accessed by you and your family when required. If the thought of maintaining and storing all your physical files gives you palpitations, you’ll be glad to know there is a much easier way of going about safeguarding your documents. You can now store your financial information and all your important financial documents in a digital locker – an online document storage facility.
Yup! You can now store all your financial information important financial documents in a digital locker, or in other words, an online document storage facility.
Here’s everything you need to know about digital lockers:
Digital lockers? What’s that?
Digital lockers allow you to store important documents and financial information in digital format i.e. on the cloud.
These e-lockers allow you to store, sign and share your important documents, like your Permanent Account Number (PAN), voter ID, school and university certificates etc, in an electronic format. By doing so, you can access your data from anywhere and at any time. You can also sign an e-document and upload it online.
How does it work?
Here’s a simple three-step-guide on how to store your financial records online:
Step 1: Digital locker services are provided by the government, banks and even private companies. The process to sign up for a digital locker might differ with each service provider, but here’s the typical way to go about it.
Go to your preferred digital locker service provider’s website and navigate to the account opening page. You will need your Aadhaar number to open a digital locker account. Once you enter your Aadhaar number, a one-time password (OTP) will be sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number. You can change the password once the account is created.
Step2: Once the registration process is over, you can start uploading your financial documents such as Permanent Account Number (PAN), voter ID, school and university certificates, mark sheets etc.
Step 3: Click submit and you are done! Your documents are safe and secure in your digital locker.
Besides ease of use, digital lockers are extremely convenient. Here’s an example:
You have to submit the necessary KYC documents to get a passport. Instead of going the traditional way of submitting bundles of papers, you can take the faster and smoother digital route. Just give the passport office your Aadhaar number and send them your digitally verified documents online. Easy-peasy!
Multiple options
There are several options available when it comes to choosing a digital locker. There are many digital lockers like DigiLocker (offered by the government) and ICICI Bank’s Smart Vault to name a few. There are also private players like Kleeto.
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Digital lockers and Digital India
DigiLocker is an important step taken by the Government as part of the Digital India initiative. You can get access to your own digital locker using the following address – http://digitallocker.gov.in. On signing up, you get 1GB storage on the cloud to keep documents like your PAN Card, Passport and other important certificates safely. These e-lockers are issued by both the Central and State Government.
A DigiLocker can hold two types of documents —those issued by the government and those uploaded by you. Issued documents are e-documents issued by various government agencies in electronic format directly from the original data source such as Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Central Board of Secondary Education. Uploaded documents, on the other hand, are the scanned documents that you upload.
So, the next time a traffic policeman asks for a copy of your licence, you just need to show a digital copy of your licence that you have uploaded on DigiLocker. The government also plans to create a single repository for all government-issued documents.
Smart Vault by ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank provides a unique digital locker service called ‘Smart Vault’, which is fully automated and accessible around the clock.
The bank also provides physical document storage facilities in safe vaults that are controlled by robotic arms. You can gain access to the safe vault with your ICICI Bank Debit Card or by registering your biometric information.
If you want digital storage, ICICI Bank offers a document storage facility called e-Lockers.
Kleeto
Kleeto is a document management system that offers customers digital and physical data storage solutions. It provides a secure online platform for document storage, giving you instant access to all your important documents.
Users can access their documents upon logging into the system. As a part of their digital locker features, Kleeto offers intelligent indexing and optional restricted access to select users.
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How safe are Digital Lockers?
Digital lockers adhere to a high level of encryption to ensure the safety of stored documents. Digital lockers use security measures similar to those used by most internet banking platforms, so there should be no cause for worry about Credit Card or other types of fraud.
Additional Reading: 10 Smart Ways to Avoid Credit Card Frauds
What to remember
Digital lockers are not free of cost. Some may be, while others may require a fee. You must compare the price options available before selecting one. Some digital locker providers offer the option of both digital and physical storage. Find one that suits your requirements and needs.
Also, don’t forget to opt for digital lockers that comply with Indian regulations.
Protect and safeguard your important documents right away. Take the right step and go PAPERLESS! Also, don’t forget to check out our amazing offers on loans and Credit Cards.
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