RBL in talks to onboard 160 million Zerodha clients

RBL Bank is in advanced discussions to open bank accounts for Zerodha’s 160 million broking clients — a move that could unlock up to `40,000 crore in sticky deposits and deliver more than 30% overnight boost to the bank’s deposit base — said sources close to the development.

“The potential inflow from Zerodha’s client pool represents a strategic leap in RBL’s retail franchise and CASA ratio,” a source said, indicating that talks between RBL and Zerodha have been going on for some time.

“We would not like to comment,” said Zerodha’s spokesperson, while a query sent to RBL Bank went unanswered.
Zerodha’s client base is essentially traders, making their funds particularly attractive for CASA mobilisation. The `40,000-crore potential deposits are not just a quantum, they represent low churn and high retention money.
For RBL, this could mean a significant improvement in cost of funds and liquidity profile. This could also be a good start for RBL Bank, which has plans to enter the broking and asset management business after the acquisition of a majority stake by the UAE-based Emirates NBD.
Currently, Zerodha’s clients park their trading funds across multiple banks. If RBL succeeds in onboarding these clients into a unified 3-in-1 structure — combining broking, demat, and banking — it could consolidate these fragmented funds into its own deposit base. Zerodha Broking holds a 1.23% stake in RBL Bank.

The talks come at time when Emirates NBD announced its plan to acquire a majority stake in RBL by infusing `26,850 crore via preferential shares last week. This will raise RBL’s capital base to `44,000-45,000 crore. The capital infusion not only strengthens RBL’s balance sheet but also positions it to scale up its retail, corporate and digital banking operations. As of September 2025, RBL Bank has a current deposit base of `1.17 lakh crore.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased banks’ limits for loan against shares (LAS) from `20 lakh to `1 crore, providing an additional benefit for banks to earn income.

Zerodha has had a partnership with IDFC First Bank to provide a 3-in-1 account to its customers. Under the agreement, Zerodha managed trading and demat accounts, while IDFC First Bank provided the bank account facility. This arrangement helped Zerodha’s clients who did not need to transfer funds to their Zerodha account to invest.

While Zerodha’s website still showcases Zerodha and IDFC First Bank’s partnership under resident individuals, IDFC First Bank has recently partnered with Motilal Oswal for its 3-in-1 account.

In a recent interaction with FE, Suresh Shukla, chief business officer at SBI Securities, said, “Banks offering 3-in-1 accounts have seen 2.5 times more sticky money than standalone bank accounts,” clearly highlighting the strategic value of such integrations.

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