Banking Industry

Commercial banks reap windfall from surplus liquidity arbitrage

TREP, CD rates crash as RBI stays away from surplus liquidity absorption

Citi appoints Ankur Khurana as head of commercial banking in India

Ankur Khurana has been appointed head of Citi's commercial banking operations in India and will be responsible for driving strategy, growth and performance of the business

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank adopts Oracle Fusion Cloud to boost efficiency

The private sector lender says Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications have helped unify finance, HR and customer experience operations, driving automation, productivity gains and cost savings

Kotak Mahindra Bank CTO Bhavnish Lathia resigns, Nilesh Chaudhari steps in

Kotak Mahindra Bank said CTO Bhavnish Lathia has resigned citing personal reasons and will step down in February 2026; Nilesh Chaudhari has been appointed his successor

IDFC First Bank Q3FY26 results: Net profit rises 48% to ₹503 crore

IDFC First Bank on Saturday reported a 48 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 503 crore for the third quarter ended December 2025. The private sector lender had earned a net profit of Rs 339 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Total income increased to Rs 12,542 crore during the quarter from Rs 11,123 crore in the same period a year ago, IDFC First Bank said in a regulatory filing. Interest income increased to Rs 10,417 crore from Rs 9,343 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Net Interest Income (NII) increased to Rs 5,492 crore in the third quarter of FY26 from Rs 4,902 crore in the third quarter of the previous financial year. However, Net Interest Margin (NIM) eased to 5.76 per cent in the quarter from 6.04 per cent recorded in the December quarter of the last year. On the asset quality front, the bank's gross non-performing assets ratio moderated to 1.69 per cent from 1.94 per cent a year ago. However, net NPAs, or bad loans, marginally increased to 0.53 per cent from 0

Banking operations hit as unions go on nationwide strike for 5-day week

Banking operations at public sector banks across the country were impacted on Tuesday as the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) went on nationwide strike demanding the immediate implementation of a five-day work week. The strike call by the UFBU, an umbrella body of nine unions representing officers and employees, comes after a conciliation meeting with the Chief Labour Commissioner on January 23 failed to yield a positive outcome. "Since there was no positive outcome and the government did not agree to our demand, hence this strike is forced on us. Bank employees and officers are highly aggrieved that they alone are being discriminated against," All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), a constituent of UFBU, general secretary C H Venkatachalam told PTI. Most branches of public sector banks across the country were either completely closed or partially closed as both employees and officers were observing Tuesday's strike. Services such as cash deposits, withdrawals, cheque ...

Axis Bank Q3 results: Net profit rises 3% to ₹6,490 cr, NII at ₹14,287 cr

Following several quarters of slower growth, lenders reported double-digit loan growth in the Oct-Dec period, as the local festive season and sweeping consumption tax cuts spurred consumer spending

Rate cuts drive stronger loan growth, boosting profits for India's banks

Banks will see loan growth pick up in the October-December quarter after the RBI's rate cuts last year and the 100 basis points cut to the cash reserve ratio in June

Central Bank of India Q3 profit jumps 32% to ₹1,263 cr as bad loans dip

State-owned Central Bank of India has posted a 32 per cent jump in profit at Rs 1,263 crore in the third quarter ended December 2025, aided by improvement in bad loans. The Mumbai-based bank had earned a net profit of Rs 959 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Total income increased to Rs 10,969 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 9,739 crore in the same period of last year, Central Bank of India said in a regulatory filing. The bank's interest income also rose to Rs 9,033 crore during the quarter, up from Rs 8,509 crore in the same period a year ago. However, the Net Interest Income (NII) marginally declined to Rs 3,502 crore, from Rs 3,540 crore of the corresponding period of the previous year. Similarly, the net interest margin (NIM) eased to 2.96 per cent, compared to 3.45 per cent at the end of the third quarter of the previous financial year. The bank's operating profit improved to Rs 2,293 crore, up from Rs 1,963 crore in December 2024. As regards asset qua

Optimum credit-deposit ratio for banks is 76-80%, says SBI report

CD ratio of banks stood at 82% as of December 15

Compliance to compassion: A cultural shift at India's financial regulator

A cultural shift for India's financial regulator - from rule-based monitor to human-centred facilitator

Banker's promise: Building trust for tomorrow in India's banking system

Banks are no longer perceived as buildings or branches but as experiences - instant, intuitive, transparent and ethical

Positive business outlook nudges banks to hire for sales growth: Experts

"In terms of hiring strategies for lenders, hiring is now more focused on the business side rather than collections," said a private sector bankers

Enhanced RBI oversight strengthens banks' operating environment: Fitch

Indian banks are set to benefit from enhanced oversight by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and a more robust supervisory toolkit, which should reduce systemic risks and improve the operating environment, a report said. These shifts, paired with strong economic growth prospects and reduced inflation risks, are credit positive for the sector, global rating agency Fitch said in a report. "We believe regulatory responses to stress events, frameworks for monitoring risks and recovery of impaired loans have improved in recent years. Consequently, weaknesses that contributed to the last non-performing loan spike between the financial year ended March 2016 (FY16) and FY18 have been significantly reduced," it said. Banking system metrics are the strongest in years. However, some more recent reforms have not been tested in a down cycle, it said, adding that the sector non-performing loan ratio fell to 2.2 per cent in 1HFY26 (from a peak of 11.2 per cent in FY18). The common equity Tier 1 rati

RBI sets transaction-level materiality thresholds on related-party loans

For banks with assets exceeding Rs 10 trillion, the ceiling for the materiality threshold has been set at Rs 25 crore

Govt extends tenure of SBI MD Ashwini Kumar Tewari for another 2 years

The government has extended the tenure of State Bank of India Managing Director Ashwini Kumar Tewari for another two years. The central government re-appoints Ashwini Kumar Tewari as Managing Director in State Bank of India (SBI) with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post, beyond his currently notified term, which is ending on January 27 2026, till the date of his superannuation that is December 31, 2027, the state-owned lender said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. This is the second time that Tewari got a two-year extension. The first time he got an extension was in 2024. He was appointed as MD of SBI in January 2021 for an initial three-year term. The SBI board is headed by the Chairman, assisted by four managing directors.

PSBs rework branch strategy to cut costs amid changing customer behaviour

PSU banks are reviewing low-traffic locations, shrinking branch sizes and using AI-driven site analytics as digital adoption rises, leading to more mergers and micro branches in rural areas

Axis Bank plans to hire 50 private bankers amid wealth boom in India

Axis Bank plans to add 50 private bankers and launch multiple funds from GIFT City as it expands Burgundy Private to tap India's rapidly growing wealthy client base

DFS tightens grievance redressal oversight; banks, insurers face rankings

In a key reform introduced in June 2025, DFS began ranking public sector banks, private sector banks and public sector insurers on the basis of the quality and timeliness of grievance disposal

ICICI Bank to maintain over 51% stake in all 3 of its listed entities: ED

The country's second largest private sector lender ICICI Bank is aiming to maintain over 51 per cent stake in all three of its listed entities, a senior official said on Monday. Its Executive Director Sandeep Batra said the bank is also committed to maintaining over 51 per cent stake in the IPO-bound ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, and hence, it is upping stake by 2 percentage points before the entity hits the markets. "We are committed to ensuring all our three listed entities remain our subsidiaries. So, our stake will remain at over 51 per cent," Batra told reporters at a press conference here. The mutual fund arm's Managing Director and Chief Executive Nimesh Shah said that ICICI Bank will pick up the additional 2 per cent stake for the same price as the one which will be paid by other investors as part of its initial public offering. Shah added that at present, the ICICI Bank ownership in the company is 51 per cent, which will go up to 53 per cent post the IPO, ...