Banking News

EAC-PM calls for bank consolidation without compromising market competition

India should make efforts to consolidate banks in such a manner that a few big banks of equal size would be created, without compromising market competition in the industry, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) said in a working paper. The paper titled 'Reforms, Efficiency, and Productivity of Indian Banking Sector in the Last Decade : A DEA Approach' further said this will help support the growing credit need of the economy as India strives to be Viksit Bharat by 2047. "Though the concentration in the Indian banking industry is low, the market share of the banks varies significantly, starting from 20 per cent to below 1 per cent. "In this context, India should make efforts to consolidate the banks in such a manner that a few big banks of equal size would be created, without compromising market competition in the industry," the EAC-PM said. The paper noted that the bank consolidation was intended to create institutions with stronger capital bases, wider ...

DFS urges RRBs to sustain performance, strengthen credit flow to last-mile

Department of Financial Services DFS Secretary Sanjay Lohiya on Tuesday urged Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to sustain good financial performance and further strengthen credit flow to the last mile. The net profit of RRBs increased to an all-time high of Rs 10,176 crore in 2025-26 against Rs 6,820 crore in FY25, a jump of 49 per cent. Both gross non-performing assets (GNPA) and net non-performing assets have reached all-time lows of 5.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively, the finance ministry said in a statement. Reviewing the financial performance here, Lohiya appreciated the commendable performance of all RRBs during 2025-26. At present, 28 RRBs are operating through 22,273 branches across 26 states and 3 Union Territories, covering about 700 districts. The total business of all 28 RRBs has crossed Rs 13.5 lakh crore, surpassing the business level of a few individual public sector banks (PSBs) in FY26. RRBs also continue to achieve all targets and sub-targets prescribed unde

SBI's total business may double to ₹200 trillion by 2030: Chairman

State Bank of India's total business could potentially double to around Rs 200 lakh crore by 2030, when the bank celebrates its platinum jubilee, given the current growth trajectory, Chairman C S Setty said. SBI came into existence on July 1, 1955 through an Act of Parliament, which, among other things, provided for the transfer of the undertaking of the Imperial Bank of India. The country's biggest lender crossed the landmark of Rs 100 lakh crore total business, which is an aggregate of total loans and advances in the second quarter of the last financial year. This further increased to Rs 110.01 lakh crore at the end of June 2026. Whether the bank had set a specific target for its platinum jubilee year, Setty said there was no formal milestone, but the bank's growth trajectory could take its total business to Rs 170-180 lakh crore and potentially as high as Rs 200 lakh crore by 2030. "We don't have any milestone, but if you take the current growth rate, I think we should be around

RBI swap window boosts deposits, but may trim bank NIMs by 3-15 bps

Banks have already mobilised $52.3 billion under RBI's concessional swap window, helping deposit growth and LDRs, but analysts expect NIM dilution of 3-15 basis points

FM asks PSBs to target youth with simple, personalised 24x7 banking service

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked public sector banks to keep pace with youth's expectations of simple, intuitive, personalised and round-the-clock banking. Speaking at the PSB Confluence here, she asked public sector banks to launch a month-long 'Banking for Youth' campaign commencing October 2, 2026, with particular outreach to citizens above 16 years of age. The minister said banks should take the campaign directly to youth rather than wait for them to come to branches. Colleges, universities, skill-building institutions and other campuses can become important touchpoints for the campaign through account-opening initiatives, financial awareness and direct interaction, she added. Each of the 12 PSBs should develop its own strategy to attract and engage youth, based on its product offering, regional presence and institutional strengths, she said, adding the larger objective should be to build a long-term banking relationship from "campus to career and beyond", ..

At 15.4%, bank deposit growth highest since December 2016: RBI data

The current account deficit widened to $6.2 billion in June from a $1.2 billion surplus in June 2025, as the merchandise trade deficit increased to $30.2 billion from $19.2 billion

Banks seek more from ATMs as non-cash services remain largely unused

ATMs offer fund transfers, bill payments and several other services beyond cash, but low awareness and the rise of mobile banking have left much of this capacity underused

India sees sharp expansion in retail, MSME credit access since 2021

Retail bureau coverage rose 1.7 times to 78.9 crore borrowers by 2026, while active MSME borrowers more than doubled to 1.9 crore over the five-year period

IndusInd Bank lays out 3-year roadmap, eyes industry outperformance by FY29

The lender plans to restore industry-aligned growth in FY27, accelerate expansion in FY28 and outperform peers by FY29 after strengthening governance and its balance sheet

RBI says bulk deposit norms aim to improve transparency, standardisation

Governor Sanjay Malhotra says the RBI's revised bulk deposit framework seeks to improve transparency and standardise deposit rate disclosures without making major changes to existing norms.

Persistent Systems upbeat on banking, insurance to drive growth: CEO

Strong deal wins across the US and Europe are expected to offset weakness in parts of the healthcare business, while the Nagarro acquisition will strengthen its Europe presence.

UP gains credit-active consumer share as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu decline

TransUnion Cibil data shows Uttar Pradesh posted the sharpest rise in credit-active consumer share between March 2017 and March 2026, while Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu lost ground

BCRC seeks dedicated equity fund and wider access to RBI support schemes

The self-regulatory body for business correspondents has sought a dedicated equity fund, access to financial inclusion support and a pricing review to strengthen last-mile banking

RBI allows banks to link bulk deposit rates to liquidity profile

Banks can now price bulk deposits based on liquidity characteristics under the LCR framework, while continuing to follow uniform interest rate norms

Datanomics: Chandigarh tops RBI ombudsman grievances rates in FY25

RBI data shows bank complaints rose 13.6% in FY25, with loans leading grievances as the central bank pushes lenders to strengthen internal ombudsman mechanisms

IBPS Clerk Registration 2026 starts from August 1; check full schedule

According to the released exam schedule, the preliminary IBPS Clerk exam will be held tentatively in October 2026, while the main examination has been likely to be on December 2026

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank's Q1 net profit surges 35% to ₹412 crore

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) on Monday reported a 35 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 412 crore for the first quarter ended June 30 on improvement in its core income. The bank had a net profit of Rs 305 crore in the June quarter of the previous fiscal. The total income rose to Rs 1,901 crore during the June quarter of the current fiscal year from Rs 1,617 crore in the same quarter of FY26, TMB said in a regulatory filing. Interest earned by the bank improved to Rs 1,662 crore, as compared to Rs 1,386 crore in the June quarter of FY26. Net Interest Income of the bank rose by 32 per cent to Rs 765 crore from Rs 580 crore in Q1 of the previous financial year. In a post-result interaction with media, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank MD and CEO Salee Sukumaran Nair said the bank is exploring an option of opening a representative office overseas to mobilise deposits from NRIs. With regard to IT spending, he said the bank would spend Rs 280 crore on improving infrastructure, mobile app etc.

Private bank attrition eases in FY26 amid digitisation-led workforce cuts

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank reported lower attrition in FY26, while HDFC Bank saw a marginal rise as technology and digitisation reduced headcount

Punjab and Sind Bank hopes to surpass ₹1,000 cr recovery target in FY27

Bouyed by better-than-expected recovery in the first quarter, Punjab & Sind Bank expects to surpass the target of Rs 1,000 crore in the current fiscal. During the first quarter, total recovery was Rs 366 crore compared to Rs 350 crore in the same period a year ago. "We will be able to do much better than our guidance on recovery for the current financial year given our huge focus on NPAs reduction," Punjab & Sind Bank MD and CEO Swarup Kumar Saha told PTI in an interview. There are a lot of inventories on which the bank can depend for recovery, he said. Besides, he said, the bank has given a lot of focus on upgradation of old non-performing assets (NPAs) accounts. The bank is undertaking various actions, including One Time Settlement, action under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, he said. "So, overall we created a mechanism so that not a single rupee goes to waste for the bank ...

PNB to foray into acquisition finance in third quarter: CEO Ashok Chandra

Punjab National Bank (PNB) managing director and CEO Ashok Chandra has said that the bank would enter into acquisition finance in the third quarter of the current financial year as the RBI recently opened the window for lenders. Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank came out with final guidelines on acquisition finance by banks, increasing the lending limit to up to 75 per cent of the deal value from the 70 per cent proposed in the draft rules. "The acquisition finance market is a very, very big market and ample opportunities are there in the system. We have got our policy approved for the acquisition financing in the last board meeting," he told PTI in an interview. "We are looking for a good partner and then maybe from Q3 onwards, we will be initiating some work in the acquisition financing," he said. To begin with, he said, the bank would be starting acquisition finance with the domestic entities, and this will help the bank to diversify their asset portfolio. While permitting th