BANKING

Banks are institutions that usually involve with the money of individuals and corporates. Banks pay interest on the money deposited by individuals or organizations, they provide loans to people for business or personal use. They generally offer a wide range of services which are like exchange of foreign currency, giving advise related to investment and insurance and acting as trustees. With the Information technology boom, a new dimension has been added to the face of banking. The banking operations have been computerized to provide more efficient and timely service to the customers. Most banks are now offering the facility to use ATM card so that cash can withdraw or money can be deposited via cheque 24 hours a day.

Each and every bank provides a credit card facility these days to the customers to make life simpler. Not only this, with the wide prevalence of the Internet, lot of banks offer online information to the customers - one can just go to the web site and get information about the account balance, etc., sitting at the desk. Home banking as a service is provided by certain banks, wherein a bank representative visits the customer's home to open an account for him/her. There is a tremendous competition in the banking sector to come up with innovative and customer friendly schemes. Most of the banks have all their branches connected via the computer network. There is a growing need for better and better banking facilities due to international trade and industrial liberalization which have contributed a lot to the change in the banking environment. All this has created an increase in opportunities in banking jobs and a requirement for people with marketing and technological skills apart from financial background.




There are various different levels at which a person can join the bank namely clerk, a Grade I officer, a Grade II officer or as a manager. A bank manager is a person who is mostly responsible for profit, people and resource management and strategic planning to generate more profits. There is a lot of competition due to entry of various foreign banks and financial institutes in the Indian market. Aggressive marketing and innovative policies are the main cause to the success of the bank operations.

A manager should be able to judge this based on the area where the operations are carried on, and the type of customers that the bank is catering to. Manager should provide a very good and constant support and motivation to the staff so that they give the best possible service to their customers. Managers need to very much interact and communicate with CEOs of corporates who are interested in getting their operations funded and then following up on the big customers who avail loans from the bank. With most banks getting computerized, it has become absolutely necessary for a person to be a computer literate so that he/she is able to use the software packages to perform the daily transactions.

A bank clerk is involved usually in various operations like keeping a record of accounts, loans, mortgages, providing services like payrolls and inventory accounting to the customers. The other positions in a bank are for typist, secretary, receptionist, safe deposit attendants, messengers, file clerks and custodians. In small banks there is a lot of job rotation of an employee, hence the responsibilities are not very clearly demarcated. However, in bigger banks each employee is very much specialized in his/her role. There is an intensive training course which been provided in the actual work involved in the bank operations. Each employee here goes through such a training and is allocated responsibilities which he can perform the best.



Merchant banking implies investment management. This includes management of mutual funds, public issues, trusts, securities and international funds. It involves dealing with the corporate clients and advising them on various issues like - mergers, acquisitions, public issues, capital structure decisions, etc. This being the era where mergers and acquisitions are hot, the scope of merchant banking has grown to a large extent.



This aspect of banking is becoming increasingly important as the forex flow in the country is increasing and the international markets are funding the operations of the corporates in India. The success of any business is measured by the fund management, this makes treasury management as a very critical finance function. Management of treasury profit center requires a wide variety of knowledge in the area of global money markets and financial instruments such as deposit certificates, treasury bills, forecasting, source evaluation and cost of domestic and foreign currency funds.

Treasury and risk management ensures cost effectiveness in planning strategies in this era of deregulation. The currency values, interest rates, share index and commodities affect the financial derivatives like futures, swaps and other tools of risk management. Corporates therefore employ well trained professionals mostly to manage treasury and forex functions so that they can ensure competent management.In a forex marketing job, which is an interbank job, a person needs to assess various markets on behalf of the bank to advise corporates or other banks who need foreign currency. The job requires one to be constantly updated about the policies of the regulatory bodies, monitoring the current prices, making predictions based on analysis of trends, etc.

Personality A good banker is a person who has a well-organized mind with an eye for detail. It helps in maintenance of records accurately and neatly. The person should have a mathematical aptitude. Employees joining as officers should be able to lead, motivate and manage the bank staff. Good verbal and written communication skills which help in effective interaction with the clients as well as the staff is a necessity. Integrity and honesty play a major role in all dealings related to money, staff and clients. A person responsible for foreign exchange transactions needs to have a sharp, quick and analytical mind.



Candidates get recruited at 2 levels in the banks - clerical level and officer level. The procedure of selection usually varies with nationalized and international banks. Selection procedure for RBI- The Reserve Bank of India is the topmost financial institution in India which makes all the policies and regulations for the other banks. It conducts tests for three types of entry level positions:

Banking Clerical grade Grade A officers Grade B officers The entry point for clerical staff is in the cash department as examiners of coins and notes. They are promoted to the next grade when they successfully clear the relevant examinations after 5-10 years of service. There is an All India Exam conducted for class I posts. Graduates, Post Graduates, CA's, MBA's in the 21-26 years of age group are eligible. The candidates are tested in logical reasoning, mental ability, numerical aptitude and general English. The examination is in parts. Paper I is a written test comprising of General Mental Ability (Objective type). Paper II is a subjective one which has English Essays/ Comprehension/Precise writing, etc. Paper III is on Economics and Social problems.

Selected candidates are shortlisted for an interview which forms the basis for the final selection.

Selection procedure for other nationalized banks- Anyone in the age group of 18-26 years having a degree is eligible for appearing in the written test. The format of the test is similar to the RBI examination. Test is followed by an interview. Clerical staff get recruited through regional boards. The eligibility and test format are the same as for PO examination. Selection procedure for nationalized Commercial banks regularly advertise through their Banking Service Recruitment Board (BSRB) to recruit Probationary Officers ('PO'). Each region has its own BSRB which carries out the recruitment. Eligibility is a graduate in any discipline with an upper age limit of 28 years.



Written Test - The test of reasoning judges the analytical and problem solving skills of the candidate. The English language test focuses on the grammar, synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary, etc. General awareness tests are mostly understanding of environmental and social issues, people and events, etc.The quantitative aptitude test measures the numerical ability and accuracy in mathematical calculations. The questions range from purely numeric calculations to problems of arithmetic reasoning, graph and table reading, percentage analysis, categorization and quantitative analysis.

The subjective part of the paper typically involves imagining oneself in a situation such as observer in a public meeting. One has to then comprehend the situation, provide unique observations and analysis. Interviews - Selection in the interview is based on the knowledge of the subject of study, personality and awareness. Candidate's communication skills and leadership qualities are judged mostly during the interview. Typically 30% of the candidates get selected after the interview. Banking is one of the most sought after career choice among the students. It is an entry into a well paid, secure and status career. Though it may appear that these jobs are meant for commerce/economics students but the fact is that majority of bank officers are from different streams of education. Further, it is also not a fact that top positions in Foreign/Multinational Banks are held by MBA's from Premier Management Institutes.

Though the Public sector Banks are now appointing management graduates, CAs and CFAs, bright graduates from any subject can get entry in the Public sector Banks through an All India Examination conducted by them. The emergence of technology-driven anda new private banks have broadened the scope and range of banking service and entry of Financial Institutions are into the short-term lending business, is resulting in need for more professionals. Now banks are in the mutual funds, securitisation, business credit cards, consumer loans, housing loans, besides trading in gold and forex activities.Generally banks look for good communication and also interpersonal skills, the ability to deal with customers, an alert nature, and basic knowledge of the industry.

However to join foreign or private sector banks at higher than entry level one needs specialisation in some specific areas. For example expertise in project analysis, credit appraisal skills, managing huge loan portfolios, general and foreign exchange and money .Good computer knowledge is always preferred. There are front office personnel in all banks, and then there are supervisors who handle most back office operations like completion of transactions, general ledger work, overall supervision.Banks are now offering good salary packages. Most Public sector officers can begin in the Rs 6000-8000 per month scale. MBAs recruited by private and foreign banks are given plum packages to the extent of about Rs 25000-30000 a month.


The following types of Commercial Banks are found in India:

• Public sector Banks


• Private sector Banks


• Foreign/Multinational Banks