Bank statement PDF password format, bank by bank

Almost every bank in India emails statements as password-protected PDFs, and almost every bank uses a slightly different formula. The password is never random — it is built from details you already know, so you can work it out even without the bank's email in front of you.

The single most reliable source is the email or SMS the statement came in. It states the exact format for your account type. The formats below are the common ones, but they vary between account statements and credit card statements, and banks do change them — so treat the email as the final word.

Passwords are case-sensitive and contain no spaces or special characters unless stated.

The common formats

SBI

• Statement downloaded from net banking / mobile banking: your 11-digit account number.
• Statement emailed to you: last 5 digits of your registered mobile number + date of birth as DDMMYY.
• YONO app statement: DDMM of birth + @ + last 4 digits of registered mobile (for example 1210@5467).
• SBI credit card statement: the 16-digit card number, or the first 4 letters of your name + DDMM of birth.

HDFC

• Account statement: your Customer ID / User ID (8–10 digits), found in the mobile app profile, net banking, your welcome kit, or any earlier statement.
• Credit card statement: first 4 letters of your name + DDMM of birth (for example RAJE1503).

ICICI

• Account statement: date of birth as DDMMYYYY (eight digits, for example 15081991).
• Credit card statement: first 4 letters of your name + DDMM of birth.

Axis, Kotak, PNB and most others

• The near-universal pattern is first 4 letters of your name + DDMM of date of birth, or date of birth as DDMMYYYY. Check the statement email for which one your account uses.

If a format uses "the first 4 letters of your name," that is normally the name as the bank has registered it, and the case (upper or lower) is sometimes specified in the email — try it as written there first.

Found the password — now stop retyping it

Knowing the formula is only half the problem. You still have to type it every time you open the file, and you cannot merge, compress or forward the statement while it stays locked. So enter it once and remove it:

1. Open Unlock PDF and add the statement.
2. Enter the password using your bank's format above.
3. Download the unlocked copy — it opens instantly from then on, with its real text intact.

Crucially, this happens inside your browser. Your statement and your password are never uploaded. An upload-based unlocker would receive both your financial document and the key to it on a server you cannot audit — the one thing you should never do with a statement. (More on why that matters.)

A note on getting it wrong

If a format is rejected but you are sure of your details, you probably have the wrong account type (an emailed statement and a net-banking download can use different formats), or a letter-case difference. Re-read the exact wording in the statement email. If you have genuinely lost the password, here is what that means — short version: download a fresh statement from the bank.