How to know your Demat Account number?

Today, a demat account is as important as having a bank account as it gives you access to various investment options. With a demat account you can invest and trade in equities, derivatives, currency, commodities, mutual funds and more.

When you open a demat account with a depository participant, who is usually your broker, you receive a unique 16-digit account number known as the demat account number. This unique code allows you to invest and trade in the financial markets. You need to connect your demat account with an online trading account to trade in the various exchanges such as NSE, BSE and MCX.

How to know your demat account number?

When you open a demat account you will receive a letter from the depository house. Depending upon with whom your brokerage firm is affiliated with, it may be sent from the CDSL or the NSDL.

You have to check whether your broker only works with CDSL or NSDL; though it’s better that he works with both. There are very few brokerage houses that work with both; one of them is IIFL. With an IIFL demat and online trading account, you can trade seamlessly through CDSL or NSDL.

Two different demat account number formats

The letter sent by your depository will include a welcome message, important information regarding your demat account and your demat account number. In case you receive the letter from CDSL, your demat account number will be mentioned as beneficiary owner ID or BO ID. Also, the format of the numbering will vary according to the depositories.

Example:

If your depository is CDSL, your demat account number or BO ID will be a 16-digit numeric character such as 4456327821390812. If you open a demat account with NSDL, your demat account number will also be 16-digit long here but it will start with ‘IN’ and will look something like this: IN5673289213 2810.

Anatomy of your demat account number

A demat account is a combination of the depository participant (DP) ID and customer ID. The DP ID is a unique code assigned to a DP such as a broking firm, bank or financial institution by the NSDL or CDSL.

The initial 8 digits of your demat account number represent your brokerage firm’s ID and the latter 8 digits represent your customer ID. For example, if your demat account number is IN56732892132810, then IN567328 represents your broker and 92132810 represents your customer ID.

Difference between CDSL and NSDL

Before you finalize your brokerage firm and open a demat account or an online trading account, it’s important to know whether he deals with NSDL or CDSL. It’s also important to understand the difference between the two.

The NSDL stands for National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and it only deals with securities traded on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). CDSL is the Central Depository Securities Limited and is associated with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

How to open a demat account

To open a demat account you need to approach a SEBI-registered depository participant (DP) such as a brokerage firm, bank or any other financial institution. You can also check the list of SEBI authorised DPs at the CDSL and NSDL websites before settling with a reputed broker.

You can follow these simple steps to open a demat account.

• Fill up the account opening form
• Submit documents such as PAN card, Aadhar card and a passport-sized photograph
• You can carry out the entire process online though the brokerage firm may call you for verification

After opening the demat account, you are given a demat account number and you are ready to invest or trade in the securities market. A demat cum online trading account is the best option as it provides a seamless investing and trading experience.

A demat account opens up many investment avenues for you and gives you an opportunity to capitalise on various market movements in different asset classes. However, you need to carry some due diligence before finalising a broker and at least get familiar with some basic rules associated with operating a demat account and trading in securities.

If you are planning to open a demat account, start with an IIFL demat and trading account. Enjoy zero account opening fee, zero annual maintenance for the first year and up to Rs. 10,000 brokerage cashback on your transactions. With IIFL’s next-generation trading platform and award-winning research team, you can learn to invest and trade smartly with confidence.