Proving you applied · lično (in person) · pošta (post) · e-mail

How to file so the bank can't wriggle out of it

The bank's deadlines run from the moment it receives your application. So you need two things: proof that it was received, and proof of exactly what you sent.

In short: the best combination

1. Account application: in person at a branch, with a receipt stamp on your copy. If they won't accept it, send it the same day by registered mail with return receipt to the bank's address, with a copy by e-mail.
2. Prigovor (complaint to the bank): by e-mail to the bank's complaints address or through the form on its website. The bank must immediately send a confirmation with the text of the complaint, the date and the time (t. 7 Odluke NBS 51/2025). If no confirmation arrives, send it again by registered mail.
3. Pritužba to the NBS (complaint to the National Bank of Serbia): through the online form on nbs.rs. The backup route is a letter to Poštanski fah 712 (the NBS P.O. box). An ordinary e-mail to the NBS does not count as filing (t. 12 Odluke NBS 51/2025).

In person at a branch

• Print two copies and sign both. At the bottom of your copy there is a POTVRDA O PRIJEMU (confirmation of receipt) block: ask the employee to fill in the date, time, branch and their name, and to stamp it.
• For a complaint (prigovor) this is a direct obligation of the bank: it must accept a written complaint at any branch and give you a confirmation showing the place, the time and the employee's name (t. 6 Odluke NBS 51/2025).
• For an account application there is no specific rule on a receipt, but the bank must answer it in writing. If they refuse to stamp your copy, don't argue for long: write down the date, time, branch address and the employee's name, photograph any notices in the hall, and go and send it by post.
• Refusing to accept a document is already grounds for a prigovor. Any written message that expresses dissatisfaction counts as a prigovor, whatever its heading (t. 2 st. 1 odr. 5) Odluke NBS 51/2025).
• Criminal law does not prohibit recording a conversation you take part in: Art. 143 KZ covers recording conversations “not intended” for the person recording. Publishing such a recording is risky (Art. 145 KZ). The NBS does not consider audio recordings and relies only on documents (čl. 60 st. 4 ZZKFU).

By registered mail with return receipt

• At the post office, say: preporučeno pismo sa povratnicom (registered letter with return receipt). The envelope gets an AR mark. Don't ask for the “Lično” (personal delivery) mark: the letter is for the bank, not for a specific person, and with that mark it may come back undelivered.
• Use the bank's registered address (sedište) from the register, or a separate complaints address if the bank publishes one. Both are on each bank's page.
• Prices from 01.01.2026: letter up to 100 g — 200 RSD, return receipt — 67 RSD, total 267 RSD.
• Keep the posting receipt (potvrda o prijemu pošiljke): no duplicates are issued, and it proves the posting date. Take a screenshot of the tracking page showing “Uručeno” (delivered). Keep the returned receipt card (povratnica) with the recipient's signature and the date.
• The post office issues a certified copy of the delivery record for 50 RSD for up to 18 months. You can file a claim against the post office within 60 days.
• If the letter comes back marked “NE PRIMA” (addressee refused), do not open it. The sealed envelope with the post office's mark proves both the refusal and the contents.

How to prove what was in the envelope

Pošta Srbije has no equivalent of the Russian “list of enclosures” (opis vlozheniya): the law forbids the post office from checking the contents of letters. So:

• Number the pages (“strana 1 od 4”), list the attachments (Prilozi) at the end, and sign every page.
• Before sealing, photograph or film all the pages and the envelope with the tracking number. Keep a PDF of exactly that set.
• On the same day, send the same text by e-mail to the bank's official address. For a complaint, the bank must confirm the contents.
• Write the document's name on the return receipt (povratnica), for example: “Zahtev za otvaranje platnog računa sa osnovnim uslugama od 10.11.2026, 3 str.” The Supreme Court (formerly the Supreme Court of Cassation) considers a povratnica defective if it does not show which document was delivered (VS Rev2 3553/2023, VS Rev 334/2023).
• An “anchor” telegram. On the same day, send the bank a telegram from the post office (up to 800 characters, 350 RSD): «Dana … poslao/la sam vam preporučenom pošiljkom br. RR…RS zahtev za otvaranje platnog računa sa osnovnim uslugama po čl. 73n ZPU (… strana). Molim pisani odgovor u roku od 10 poslovnih dana.» The post office keeps the text of the telegram and, on request, issues a certified copy of it (overeni prepis telegrama), and the delivery shows up in tracking. This is independent confirmation of exactly what you sent. Request the certified copy right away, while the post office still keeps the text.
• The strongest but most expensive evidence is a notarial record of delivery (Art. 87 of the Law on Notaries): the notary either comes to the bank in person or records the contents and the posting. Rough prices: from ~4 300 RSD (a record made at the notary's office) to 8 600–15 000 RSD with a visit; check with the notary.
• Under court practice, it is the sender who must prove what was in the envelope (čl. 231 ZPP; VKS Rev2 2159/2020). So combine methods: letter + telegram + e-mail.
• A bank, as a legal entity, must register incoming documents (Art. 9 of the Law on Archival Materials). In court you can demand this record from the bank (čl. 241 ZPP).

How to count deadlines

• A deadline runs from the day after receipt: the date of the bank's stamp, the date of the e-mail confirmation, or the date on the return receipt.
• The 10 days for the application are “poslovni dani”, i.e. the bank's working days. The 15 days for a complaint are calendar days; if the last day falls on a non-working day, the deadline moves to the next working day.
• You can work out the dates in the deadline calculator.

If the bank says your application is “incomplete”

As a rule, the bank identifies you from your identity document in your presence (čl. 17 ZSPNFT); remotely only if the bank itself offers such identification (čl. 18 ZSPNFT). That is why the application template says you are ready to come in person and attaches copies of your documents. If the bank asks for anything else, ask for a written list and send the items right away.