Banking Awareness

Structure of the Indian Financial System

How the Indian financial system is organised: the regulators, the money market and capital market, banking and non-banking intermediaries, and where the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA fit.

Types of Banks in India

Scheduled versus non-scheduled banks, commercial banks (public sector, private, foreign), regional rural banks, cooperative banks, and the differentiated banks - small finance banks and payments banks - and what each is allowed to do.

Deposit Accounts

The four core deposit products - savings, current, fixed and recurring - how demand and time deposits differ, the ideas of nomination, joint operation, and TDS on interest, and where deposit insurance fits.

Negotiable Instruments: Cheques, Bills and Promissory Notes

What a negotiable instrument is under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the three named instruments, the parties to a cheque, crossing and endorsement, and how cheque truncation (CTS) clears a cheque without moving the paper.

KYC and Anti-Money-Laundering Basics

Why banks must Know Their Customer, the elements of customer due diligence, officially valid documents and periodic updation, the anti-money-laundering framework under the PMLA, and the roles of FIU-IND and the RBI.

Deposit Insurance and the DICGC

How the DICGC insures bank deposits up to a fixed amount per depositor per bank, which deposits are covered and which are excluded, how the limit applies across joint accounts and different capacities, and when the DICGC pays — with a worked calculation of a depositor's insured amount.

The Banking Ombudsman and Grievance Redressal

The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021: the 'One Nation, One Ombudsman' design, the escalation ladder from the bank's own complaint desk to the Ombudsman, what counts as a 'deficiency in service', the compensation limits, and the appeal to a Deputy Governor.

Credit and Loan Products

Fund-based versus non-fund-based credit, the difference between a term loan, cash credit, overdraft and bill discounting, how banks take security through mortgage, hypothecation and pledge, the loan life-cycle, and a worked drawing-power and loan-eligibility calculation.

RBI: Establishment, Structure and Functions

When and how the Reserve Bank of India was set up, how it is governed, and its main functions - note issue, banker to the government and to banks, monetary policy, regulation and supervision, foreign-exchange and payment-system oversight, and development roles.

Monetary Policy Instruments

The objective of monetary policy and the tools the RBI uses: the policy repo rate and the liquidity corridor (SDF and MSF), the bank rate, CRR and SLR, open market operations, and the role of the Monetary Policy Committee. Current numeric values are given only as a dated snapshot.

Priority Sector Lending and Financial Inclusion

What priority sector lending (PSL) is, the categories it covers, how targets and shortfalls work through instruments like RIDF and PSL certificates, and the main financial-inclusion tools - no-frills accounts, the business correspondent model, and the JAM stack.

Financial Inclusion Schemes

The government schemes that run on the banking system: PMJDY and the Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account, the JAM trinity behind Direct Benefit Transfer, the PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY social-security schemes, and the business-correspondent model for last-mile delivery.

Government Financial Schemes

The credit-guarantee and targeted-lending schemes exams ask about — PMMY/MUDRA, Stand-Up India, CGTMSE, PM SVANidhi, KCC and PMEGP — grouped by whether they guarantee a loan, subsidise it, or simply target a borrower group, with a note that ceilings change by notification.

Payment Systems: NEFT, RTGS, IMPS and UPI

The four everyday electronic fund-transfer rails in India: how RTGS (real-time gross) differs from NEFT (deferred net), what IMPS and UPI add, who operates each, and the legal and institutional backdrop - the PSS Act, 2007 and NPCI.

Asset Quality and Non-Performing Assets

When a loan turns bad, how NPAs are classified as sub-standard, doubtful or loss, the SMA early-warning buckets, and the gross NPA, net NPA and provision coverage ratios — with a worked calculation and the life-cycle of a bad loan from slippage to resolution.

Basel Norms and Capital Adequacy

Why banks hold regulatory capital, how risk-weighted assets work, the CRAR formula and its CET1 and Tier 1 sub-ratios, the Basel III minimums and buffers, and RBI's stricter Indian implementation — with a worked capital-adequacy calculation.

NPA Resolution and Recovery

Once a loan is an NPA, the routes to recover it: SARFAESI enforcement of security without a court, the Debt Recovery Tribunals under the RDDBFI Act, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code with its NCLT process, and settlement routes like Lok Adalats and one-time settlements — with the RBI's stressed-asset framework sitting above all of them.

Money Market and Capital Market

How the short-term money market (call money, treasury bills, commercial paper, certificates of deposit) differs from the long-term capital market for shares and bonds, who regulates each, the split between primary and secondary markets, and how open market operations link the money market to monetary policy.

Development Financial Institutions

What a development financial institution is, what 'refinance' and 'apex institution' mean, and the mandates of NABARD, SIDBI, EXIM Bank, NHB and NaBFID — plus how a DFI differs from a commercial bank.