What is Hold or Lien or Stop in Bank Account & How to remove it ?

Banking terms can be super complicated to understand. Being aware of every banking term is next to impossible. We sometimes receive texts from our banks which includes extremely heavy words Like ‘STOPPED’, ‘HOLD’ and ‘LIEN’. We read these words and immediately panic and worry about what exactly has happened. How many of you have received an SMS from your bank saying that your account has been put on hold ? Or even stopped at times ? Have you opened your account details and seen that there is a ‘lien account’ marked ? If you get such a message from your bank do not panic. You start to panic as you think you might have to pay penalties for it.

But before panicking get to know every little detail and stay calm. We are going to help you with understanding these words better. Today we are going to discuss everything about hold, stop and lien. We are here to help you simplify these terms and how to tackle this situation properly. We will also further tell you how to remove the lien amount from various banks and also firstly how to check for the lien amount. Let us first understand what Lien amount is.

What exactly is Lien Amount ?

A Lien amount is basically the amount that is locked or freezes by your bank for some reason. The frozen or locked amount in your bank is not accessible for a specific period of time. The amount will still stay in your bank account inspired of being locked or freezed but you will not be able to withdraw that amount or even transfer that amount to another account. So basically the bank authorities restrict this amount from being used for a specific period of time. The lien amount will stay frozen until the bank authorities decide to remove the lock from your bank account. Also, there is absolutely no specific limit to the locked amount. The authorities of the bank have full rights to even restrict the entire bank balance and then this amount turns into the lien amount.

Firstly do not panic if you get to know that your account has been put on hold. There might be many reasons behind this situation. One of the major reasons behind your bank account being put on hold is ‘Dues on loans’. If you have taken a loan but there is no money in your savings account so the system will automatically lock the EMI amount. The second reason is also to avoid fraud. If the system notices any suspicious action or even fraudulent activity then it locks or freezes the amount for a specific period of time.

There are times when you do not have the locker rent money in your saving account so the banks puts a hold on your account. The fourth reason is one of the most common reasons and that is related to ATM transactions. Sometimes you withdraw money from the ATM but if that money is not debited from your bank account then the bank freezes or locks your account till the problem is resolved. One of the reasons can be pending KYC. In most of banks, you are supposed to do the KYC after every eight years. But if I’m case you fail to do so, then your account is put on hold or locked until further notice.

What is HOLD in Bank Account ?

Let us first understand what is HOLD ?

Lien is exactly similar to Hold but it is only in because of the due amount on loans. So the bank puts a hold generally on a specific amount from your account. So only that specific amount is restricted and remains unavailable. This means that you can not use that amount until the situation gets resolved or until the bank removes the lock from your account.

Also, till then you can debit or credit money into your account. So normal transactions are allowed even when your account is put on hold. Let’s understand this with a real-life example using actual numbers.

Assume that you have a bank balance of Rs. 50,000. The bank has put a hold on Rs. 10,000 for some reason. So now until the bank removes the lock from this amount you will not be able to use this amount. Which means you can use the remaining amount of Rs. 40,000. You can withdraw or even transfer this amount just like before. But you will not be able to transfer or withdraw the entire 50,000. The amount of Rs. 10,000 will stay restricted. But you need not worry as once the situation gets resolved completely everything will be back to normal and you will still receive interest on the lien amount. So there is no reason to panic or worry. This is what happens when your account has been put on hold.

What happens when your account has been Stopped?

You might receive a message or an SMS stating that your account has been stopped due to pending KYC or due to any other reason. In case of your account is stopped, no transactions can be done. So the entire amount in your bank account becomes restricted. No sort of debit or credit will be allowed in that account until it is released or the situation is resolved. The reasons behind this might be pending KYC, police complaints, fraud, etc. Also, your account is stopped when the system notices any sort of suspicious activity or unusual transactions. These are the major reasons why your account can be stopped. But once the issue gets cleared everything will be back to normal.

What is Lien Marks & Lien Amount

What exactly are Lien marks and understanding Lien amount better ?

As we mentioned above the Lien is exactly similar to the Hold. The lien amount is the locked or the frozen amount which might be because of due loans. This amount is locked or frozen only for a limited period of time. The other thing you should know is what a lien mark on a bank account means. When the borrower permits the lender to lock the amount in accordance with the recovery of money is called a lien mark. This happens mostly when the borrower fails to repay the amount in the given period of time as per the agreed terms and conditions.

This lien mark is usually used by the lender for security. But you still can use the remaining amount in your bank account in spite of having the lien mark. This is because the lien mark is only on the specific amount. So only that specific amount is restricted and remains unusable until further notice or until the problem gets resolved. Now that you have understood what is lien amount and the lien mark you should also understand why the bank might put a lien mark on your bank account.

Why Bank put Lien Mark ?

• There are predetermined rules and regulations set by the bank and the customer strictly needs to adhere to them. Let’s take an example. So suppose you the minimum balance in your bank account should be Rs. 10,000 and if intentionally or unintentionally you do not maintain the minimum balance amount in your account then this might lead to some consequences. The ramifications might differ. You can be charged a penalty for not maintaining the minimum mentioned balance according to the terms and conditions. Also, if your savings account does not have a sufficient amount for deduction even then your account will be marked as a Lien account.
• The second reason is one of the common reasons why an account can be marked as a lien account. So if at times you fail to pay your credit card bills even then the consequence might be that your account will be marked as a Lien account.
• Now if you secure a loan against your fixed deposits then the amount will be freezed or locked until further notice. You will have zero access to this amount. This is done for security purposes as this unusable or inaccessible amount acts as a security towards the borrowed loan. So this specific fixed deposit will be marked as a lien amount by the bank authorities for a specific period of time and you will be restricted to using this money.

• There are a lot of people who do not take paying off taxes seriously. You must understand that paying taxes is super important and you might face severe consequences if you do not do so. Not paying taxes can also result in the bank freezing the specific amount and marking it as a lien account.
• Now some times the reason might be for security purposes. If the system notices any strange activity or any suspicious activity then actions are taken immediately. So the bank authorities will immediately freeze or lock your account if any suspicious activity is detected. This is done only for a specific period of time. Your account will be marked as a Lien account for that specific period of time. You will then have to visit the nearest branch and speak to the manager to resolve the issue. Until then you will not be allowed to do any sort of transactions be it transfers or withdrawals.
• Sometimes if you provide any cheque and if it bounces or if the bank notices any issue with the draft then the bank might mark your account as a lien account in this situation.
• One of the major reasons why and the most common reason why your account might be marked as a lien account is if you have taken a loan and you fail to repay the monthly EMI till the given date. If this happens then the bank has full authority to mark your account as a lien account. But you have to note that in this case, the lien amount will be equal to the EMI amount. So only the amount equal to the EMI amount will remain unusable. You can still access the remaining amount. Let us understand this with an example.

So if you have take a loan of a certain amount and the monthly EMI for that loan is Rs. 20,000. Assume that the total bank balance is Rs. 80,000. So if you forget to pay the EMI this month your account will be marked as a lien account. So this monthly EMI amount of Rs. 20,000 will be restricted for a certain period of time. You can still use the remaining amount of Rs. 60,000 because that amount will not be restricted. Now I am assuming that you must have understood this clearly with the help of this real-life example.

How to remove Lien Mark ?

Now what after your account has been marked as a lien account?

You should take action to remove this mark from your account. In some cases, you will have to visit the bank and you will also have to speak to the branch manager to understand the entire process and resolve the situation. So get in touch with your dedicated bank relationship manager, ask and understand the reason why it happened in the first place, raise a concern and remove the lien amount from your account. Now to make the process simpler for you, we will walk you through how you can remove the lien amount from a few banks.

How to remove SBI Lien Mark ?

How to remove the lien mark from your State Bank of India’s account ?

• The lien mark can be put on your account for various reasons. Let us go through a few reasons and understand what you can do and how you can remove the lien mark on your State Bank of India’s bank account.
• There might be many reasons why the bank might mark your account as a lien account.
• If your account gets marked by the State Bank of India as a lien account for a virtual card then the removal of the virtual card will be the solution to removing the lien mark from your SBI account.
• But if the lien is associated with your credit card then you will have to visit the bank and talk to the bank manager personally and negotiate.
• You might also have to terminate your card if needed in order to remove the lien mark from your bank account.

• The other reasons why your account might be marked as a lien account can be because of due payments.
• So it might be because of pending tax payments or EMI dues for your loan in the State Bank if India.
• Now I’m this case you will have to pay the due amount for your lien mark to be lifted from your bank account.
• If you have recently requested an IPO and since you have been lien marked withdraw it by sending a request for the same to the IPO Register.
• Also at times, you might be charged a penalty.
• As soon as you clear the due payment the bank will for sure lift the lien mark from your bank account.
• The best and the most advisable option is to visit the bank as soon as possible and get in touch with the bank executive so that they tell you the exact reason why they have put a lien mark on your account so that from the next time you will take measure to avoid this situation.

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