How to Convert Old Dena, Vijaya, OBC and Other Merged Bank Share Certificates to Demat and Recover Them from IEPF

To convert an old Dena, Vijaya, OBC or other merged bank share certificate, first find out which bank it became and how many new shares you were given. Then update your details with the new bank’s registrar, open a demat account in exactly the name on the shares, and submit the new bank’s shares for demat. If the shares have already moved to the IEPF, you claim them back with Form IEPF-5.

Eight public sector banks were merged into five others in 2019 and 2020. The law cancelled the old share certificates on the day of each merger. It did not cancel what you own: the new bank’s shares were allotted in your name, at a fixed ratio.

Not sure which bank yours became, or whether the new shares ever reached you? Check with Find Your Shares, free.

Which bank did your old bank become?

Find your old bank in the first column. The table shows the bank it merged into, and how many new shares were issued for every 1,000 old ones.

The ratios come from the banks’ own exchange filings. Bank of Baroda used a record date of 11 March 2019. The 2020 mergers used record dates in March 2020, and the new shares were allotted on 1 April 2020.

No one received part of a share. Where the ratio gave a fraction, the bank paid its value in cash, either into the bank account on record or by warrant.

Is your old bank share certificate still valid?

No, not as a share certificate. Each merger scheme says the old certificates are automatically cancelled. So an old Dena or Syndicate Bank certificate cannot be converted to demat as it is, and a demat request on it will be rejected.

But do not throw it away. The new bank’s shares went to the shareholders on the old bank’s register on the record date. Your old certificate and folio number are the best proof that you were one of them, and the quickest way for the new bank’s registrar to find your new folio.

This is the one big difference from most old certificates, which stay valid for life. See are old share certificates still valid for the general rule.

Where are the new shares now?

They were issued in your name. Where they are now depends on what happened next. At the merger, the banks credited demat accounts directly. For paper holders, they posted a new share certificate to the address on record.

• You have the new certificate. You hold the new bank’s shares on paper. They can be converted to demat.
• It never arrived. If you had moved, the certificate may have been returned undelivered. The shares are still registered in your name with the new bank’s registrar, waiting to be claimed.
• The dividends went unclaimed for years. The shares may now be on their way to the IEPF, or already there. See the next sections.

Cash for a fraction of a share, and dividends paid since the merger, may also be waiting if your bank details were never updated.

What are your old bank shares worth today?

Multiply the number of old shares by the ratio, then by the new bank’s price. Here are some worked examples at the 2 November 2026 closing price:

• 500 Dena Bank shares became 55 Bank of Baroda shares, worth about ₹13,484.
• 1,000 OBC shares became 1,150 Punjab National Bank shares, worth about ₹1.42 lakh.
• 100 Syndicate Bank shares became 15 Canara Bank shares in 2020, plus cash for the remaining 0.8 of a share. Canara split each share into five in 2024, so that is 75 shares today, worth about ₹8,936.
• An old Corporation Bank certificate for 100 shares of ₹10 became 500 shares of ₹2 in a 2015 split, then 165 Union Bank shares in 2020, worth about ₹30,690.

Prices change every day, so treat these as a guide. Dividends paid since the merger, if not yet claimed, come on top.

Can bank shares go to the IEPF?

Yes, since 1 August 2025. Until then, nationalised banks could move only unclaimed dividends to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), not the shares themselves. The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 changed that for the banks nationalised under the 1970 and 1980 acquisition laws.

All five of today’s banks, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India and Indian Bank, were nationalised in 1969, so the rule covers them. Shares on which dividends stay unclaimed for seven years in a row can now be moved to the IEPF. Bank of India, for example, has already transferred shares whose owners did not claim them by 7 March 2026.

The shares are not lost if this happens. You claim them back on Form IEPF-5, after getting an entitlement letter from the bank. State Bank of India went through the same change; see our SBI shares and IEPF guide. Our IEPF claim service can file the claim for you.

Before a transfer, the bank must write to you and publish a notice. If those letters went to an old address, you would not have seen them.

How do you convert the new bank’s shares to demat?

Start with the new bank’s registrar, not with a demat request. The registrar keeps the share records. Its name is on the bank’s investor-relations page.

1. Write to the registrar with your name, your old bank’s name, the old folio number and a copy of the old certificate. Ask for your folio and share count in the new bank.
2. Update the folio’s details on Form ISR-1: PAN, mobile number, bank account and signature. Since April 2024, dividends on paper folios are paid only after this is done.
3. Fix any name or signature mismatch at the same time. Signatures change over the years, so your bank may need to confirm yours on Form ISR-2.
4. Check that the shares have not moved to the IEPF. If they have, the route is an IEPF claim, not a demat request.
5. Open a demat account in exactly the name on the shares, if you do not have one.
6. If you have the new bank’s certificate, submit it for demat through that account. If it never reached you, ask the registrar to credit the shares straight to the account.

Our guide to converting physical shares of any company to demat covers each step. Or let our physical shares to demat service do it for you.

What if the shareholder has died, or the certificate is lost?

Both can still be fixed. The shares pass to the heirs, and lost certificates can be issued again.

• The holder has died. The heirs claim the new bank’s shares by transmission. Since 22 August 2026, paper holdings worth up to ₹10 lakh per company need only a notarised indemnity bond and an affidavit-cum-NOC from all the heirs. Above that, a legal heir certificate is accepted. See whether a legal heir certificate is enough and our transmission of shares guide.
• The certificate is lost. The registrar can issue the shares again, straight into your demat account. Up to ₹10 lakh, one affidavit-cum-indemnity bond is enough. See how to get a duplicate share certificate.
• Both the old and the new certificates are missing. Your name, address and any old dividend letters can still be used to trace the folio. It takes longer, but it can be done.

Our transfer of shares after death and recovery of lost shares teams handle both.

Why not just ask a local agent to do it?

Because a merged bank adds a step most people miss: the certificate in your hand is no longer the one that counts. Anyone can file a demat request. We get you the shares.

• The true holding comes first. A local agent who files a demat request on an old Dena or OBC certificate gets it rejected, because that certificate was cancelled. We trace the new bank’s folio first, with the right number of shares, any cash for fractions and any dividends waiting. Then a vetted local partner handles paperwork in your city, right the first time.
• Ask who is paid for what. An agent is paid for filing, whether or not the shares ever reach you. We are paid only when they do.
• The paperwork is only the start. The registrar, your folio details, the demat account and any IEPF claim all have to line up. We see the whole chain through, so nothing stops halfway.

Zero advance — you pay only once the shares are credited to your demat account.

Have an old bank share certificate? Start with Find Your Shares →

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to my Dena Bank shares?
Dena Bank merged into Bank of Baroda on 1 April 2019. Shareholders on the record date, 11 March 2019, received 110 Bank of Baroda shares for every 1,000 Dena Bank shares, with cash for any fraction. Paper holders were posted new certificates.

What happened to Vijaya Bank shares?
Vijaya Bank also merged into Bank of Baroda on 1 April 2019. Shareholders received 402 Bank of Baroda shares for every 1,000 Vijaya Bank shares.

How many PNB shares did OBC and United Bank of India shareholders get?
From 1 April 2020, Oriental Bank of Commerce shareholders received 1,150 Punjab National Bank shares for every 1,000 OBC shares. United Bank of India shareholders received 121 PNB shares for every 1,000.

What did Syndicate Bank shareholders get?
158 Canara Bank shares for every 1,000 Syndicate Bank shares, from 1 April 2020. Canara Bank split each share into five in 2024, so that is 790 Canara shares today for every 1,000 old Syndicate shares.

What did Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank shareholders get?
Both merged into Union Bank of India on 1 April 2020. Andhra Bank shareholders received 325 Union Bank shares for every 1,000. Corporation Bank shareholders received 330 for every 1,000 shares of ₹2. An old ₹10 Corporation Bank share became five ₹2 shares in 2015.

What did Allahabad Bank shareholders get?
Allahabad Bank merged into Indian Bank on 1 April 2020. Shareholders received 115 Indian Bank shares for every 1,000 Allahabad Bank shares.

Is my old Dena, OBC or Syndicate Bank certificate still valid?
Not as a share certificate. The merger schemes cancelled the old certificates automatically. But the new bank’s shares were issued in your name, and the old certificate and folio number are the best proof for tracing them.

Can I sell my old merged bank shares?
You can sell the new bank’s shares, once they are in a demat account. Update your details with the new bank’s registrar, open a demat account in the same name and submit the demat request.

Can bank shares be transferred to the IEPF?
Yes, since 1 August 2025. The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 lets nationalised banks move shares to the IEPF when dividends stay unclaimed for seven years in a row. You can claim them back on Form IEPF-5.

What does SharesRecover charge?
Zero advance — you pay only once the shares are credited to your demat account.