Banker - Customer Relationship

Ingredient: Accepting deposits from the public; What it Means: Deposits must come from the general public — not only the proprietor's family or a closed group.

Ingredient: For the purpose of lending or investment; What it Means: The deposits must be used for onward lending or investment, not merely warehoused.

Ingredient: Repayable on demand or otherwise, withdrawable by cheque / draft / order; What it Means: The depositor must be able to withdraw at will, using a negotiable instrument.

A bank account (deposit / loan / current / SB / RD / FD / locker / DEMAT) has been opened in his name.

The bank has accepted the account (proper introduction + KYC compliance under Sec. 35A of BR Act).

The transactions are of a banking nature (not, say, mere purchase of a banking product like a gift card across the counter).

"The money paid into a bank ceases altogether to be the money of the principal; it becomes the money of the banker, who is bound to return an equivalent by paying a similar sum to that deposited with him." This is the locus classicus that established the debtor-creditor characterisation of the…

The banker's liability to repay is not automatic — it arises only on demand at the branch where the account is kept, during business hours. Hence the famous principle: a deposit account is a demand debt, not an actionable debt at all branches.