UIDAI, the authority that issues Aadhaar, allows people to check online if their bank account has been linked to Aadhaar with its Bank Mapper website. This online service involves an OTP sent to the user’s registered mobile number, which must be keyed in to see which bank the Aadhaar number has been linked to. However, there is another way to check this that, unfortunately, does not have the authentication safeguard of the OTP. This means anyone with your Aadhaar ID can see which bank account it was linked to.

In late December, the UIDAI tweeted a number that allows anyone to check the bank account linked with Aadhaar via SMS. Here’s how the process works:

Dial *99*99*1# from your phone. You will be charged 50 paisa for this message. You will get a dialogue box asking you to enter the 12-digit Aadhaar number. When you enter the Aadhaar number, it will ask you to either confirm the number or change it. It will then show the bank it is linked to.

The SMS-based service by UIDAI does not involve an OTP being sent to the Aadhaar holder’s registered mobile number. Moreover, they are not even notified that someone checked their bank-linking information. For example, we entered the Aadhaar number of a colleague, and the service returned the name Allahabad Bank.

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It does not seem to work for all banks though. For example, we tried the number of a person whose Yes Bank account is linked to Aadhaar, but the service did not show the name of the bank. Moreover, if your Aadhaar is linked to multiple bank accounts, it returns the name of only one bank.