Banking & Financial Awareness: Everything You Need to Know

Banking & Financial Awareness: Everything You Need to Know

Introduction: 

Why banking & financial awareness in bank exams is a game changer?

Banking & financial awareness is a vital part in a major bank exam preparation strategy. When preparing for banking exams like IBPS PO, IBPS clerk, SBI PO, NABARD, and RBI Grade B, banking & financial awareness is one section that makes or breaks your selection in the banking sector.

If you are serious about cracking the bank exam in the first attempt, this blog concludes everything you need to know about banking & financial awareness.

What is Banking & Financial Awareness?

Banking & Financial Awareness is a mix of strategic knowledge and current developments in the financial world. 

It includes:

  • Basic banking terms and concepts 

  • Government schemes and financial inclusion efforts

  • Monetary tools and economic indicates 

  • Current banking news RBI policy updates and mergers

  • Digital banking and fintech trends 

Why banking & financial awareness is essential:

This section is:

  • Banking & Financial awareness is high-scoring if applicants prepare well.

  • Banking & Financial awareness section is less time-consuming as compared to the quantitative and reasoning section.

  • Banking & Financial awareness is vital for mains exams, interviews, and real-world financial understanding.

What you should study are key areas and key topics:

Basic banking terms:

Terms

Meaning

Repo Rate

At which RBI lends money to banks

CRR/SLR

Cash and liquid reserve banks must maintain

MCLR

Minimum leading rate set by banks

NPA

Non-performing asset: loan not repaid for 90+ days

Reverse Repo rate 

Interest RBI gives when banks park their funds with it

Structure of India’s banking system:

  • Public sector banks (SBI, PNB)

  • Private Sector Banks (ICICI, HDFC)
  • Regional rural banks (RRBs)
  • Payment banks (Paytm, Airtel)
  • Small financial banks (AU,Equitas) 

Financial Markets Simplified: 

Market type

Description

Money market

Short term leading and borrowing (T-bills, CPs)

Capital market

Long term investment (Shares and bonds )

Stock market terms

Sensex, Nifty, IPO, Bull/bear

Important government schemes:

Scheme

Purpose

PMJDY

Bank accounts for all

MUDRA Yojana

Loans to small businesses

Stand up india

Credit support for SC/ST/women entrepreneurs

Atmanirbhar Bharat

Economic self reliance

 

Syllabus for financial & banking awareness:

In most of the competitive banking exams, like SBI Clerk, SBI PO, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RBI Grade B, RBI Assistant, and NABARD Grade A, general awareness is a vast and common section. The General Awareness section includes sub- topics like banking & financial awareness, Static GK, GK and Current awareness in various competitive bank exams. 

Thus it is essential for applicants to check out the latest syllabus of banking & financial awareness for bank exams.

Topics & Subtopics of banking & financial awareness

(A)

Indian banking sector

(B)

Banking & Financial Regulatory Bodies

(C)

Indian & International Banking/Finance System

  • Types of banks in India
  • History of banks in India
  • Loans in banking sector
  • Risks in banking sector
  • Currency System in India
  • Monetary Policy
  • Types of Bank Accounts
  • Types of Cheques
  • Functions of Banks
  • Money and Types
  • Regulators of Banks & Financial Institutions in India
  • National Income
  • Securities in Banking Sector
  • List of Bank & Insurance
  • Companies with their Taglines & Headquarters
  • Public Sector Banks in India
  • Insurance Companies in India
  • Financial Market in India
  • Structure of Banking in India
  • National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD)
  • Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDAI)
  • Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
  • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
  • Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
  • National Housing Bank (NHB)
  • Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM)
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  • Special Economic Zone (SEZ)
  • Foreign Trade in India
  • Capital Market
  • Money Market
  • LIBOR & MIBOR
  • Green Finance
  • Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)
  • Foreign Accounts and its types
  • SENSEX
  • Mutual Funds
  • Primary & Secondary Markets)
  • CAMELS Rating System
  • Countries, Capitals & Currencies
  • International Financial Institutions
  • International Monetary Fund (IMF)
  • World Bank
  • World Trade Organisation (WTO)
  • BRICS
  • Stock Exchanges in India

 

Topics & Subtopics of banking & financial awareness

(D)

Banking Abbreviations & Concepts

(E)

Important Bank and Economy/Finance Acts

Banking Terminologies

Insurance Abbreviations

Banking Ombudsman

Bancassurance

Unit Link Insurance Plan (ULIP)

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

GDP Growth Rate of India

Inflation

Cross-selling and Upselling in Banks

Financial Inclusion

Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

Know Your Customer (KYC)

Digital Banking

Rupee Depreciation

Non-Performing Assets and its Recovery

Base Rate

Balance of Payment

Difference between Mortgage and Charge

Differences Between Cash flow and Fund flow

Marginal Cost of Fund Based Lending Rate (MCLR)

Risk Management in Baking Sector

Key Rates used by RBI

Ease 2.0 Banking Reforms Index

Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934

Indian Companies Act

Cooperative Societies Act

New Economics Policy (NEP), 1991

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY)

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002

Prompt Corrective Action (PCA)

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA)

Latest Banking Regulation Act, 1949

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

SARFAESI Act, 2002

Kisan Credit Card Scheme (KCC)

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016

 

Weightage of Banking & Financial Awareness in bank exams:

After going through the syllabus of banking & financial awareness in the banking exam, you need to know the weightage of both banking & financial awareness in most of the bank exams.

Bank exam name

Exam-wise questions weightage of banking & financial awareness

Prelims

Mains

SBI PO

-

22-25

IBPS Clerk

-

20-22

IBPS PO

-

18-20

RBI Grade B

30-35

100 (Paper III: Finance & Management for General stream)

RBI Assistant

-

18-20

SBI Clerk

-

20-25

NABBARD Grade A

8-10

 

 

Books for Banking & Financial awareness for bank exams that applicants need to know 

Book name for banking & financial awareness

Author/Publication

Banking awareness

RPH Editorial Board

Banking Awareness

Arihant Publications

Banking & Financial Awareness

Kiran’s Publication

Banking Awareness for SBI & IBPS Bank Clerk/ PO/ RRB/ RBI/ LIC exams

Disha Experts

Economic Survey

Government of India Ministry of Finance

       Mock test to practice banking awareness 

Top preparation tips for banking & financial awareness which you need to know:

Given below, preparation tips help you to score more in competitive exams.

Must follow reliable sources to study to ace banking & financial awareness

  • To score more in banking & financial awareness, stay updated with:

  • Newspapers: Read newspapers like The Hindu (Business), Business Standards, and Economic Times to get knowledge about banking & financial awareness.

  • Apps and YouTube channels: Applicants have to follow various apps and YouTube channels, which helps them to score more banking & financial in bank exams.

  • Websites: RBI.org.in, SEBI.gov.in, PBI. gov. in

  • Make it a habit to read at least 20-30 daily banking & financial awareness news.

  • Practice quizzes and MCQs for the banking & financial awareness section:

  • Attempt daily current affairs quizzes of banking & financial awareness.

  • Solving banking & financial MCQs 

  • Take a sectional test on GA to stimulate final exam pressure. 

  • Focus on last 6 month current affairs:

Most of the competitive bank exams focus on last 6 months of current affairs, especially on topics like:

  • RBI monetary policy

  • Mergers & acquisitions in banking 

  • Appointments & resignations in financial institutions

  • Financial reforms

  • Budget highlights  

  • Economic survey

Tip: Create a proper revision timetable to cover each month’s key news regarding banking & financial awareness, which applicants need to know about.

To Practice Banking awareness click here 

  • Make short notes for banking & financial awareness:

  • Maintain a notebook that includes key topics with the use of highlighters or digital flashcards for banking & financial awareness key terms.

  • Maintains a separate notebook for both banking & financial awareness key terms, which you need to know about.

  • Revise weekly:

Candidates have to set a weekly revision schedule. Don’t wait for last month’s revision of banking & financial awareness.

  • Revise important events/news from Monday to Saturday. 

  • Take a full GA quiz on Sunday.

  • Review highlights points or flashcards.

  • Consistent revision helps in long-term retention.

  • Don’t neglect the interview angle:

During the interview for bank exams, many interviewers asked about banking & financial awareness questions such as:

  • Latest RBI policy 

  • Banking reforms 

  • Impact of inflation, cryptocurrency, etc. 

  • Role of fintech

Being confident with everything you need to know in banking & financial awareness gives you an edge in interviews too.

In final words: 

Mastering banking & financial awareness: Everything you need to know is essential to crack banking exams in the first attempt. With Stay Updated, practice consistent, focused preparation, and let success in the competitive banking exams become inevitable.

FAQs: Banking & Financial Awareness: Everything You Need to Know 

Q1. What is banking awareness?

Ans. Banking awareness refers to knowledge of banking concepts, terms, financial systems, and recent developments in the banking sector. Banking & financial awareness is an important topic in most of the competitive banking exams, like IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO, NABARD, RBI Grade B, and other bank recruitment exams.

Q2. Why is financial awareness important for banking exams?

Ans. Financial awareness helps candidates understand the economy, government policies, financial institutions, and banking regulations. In exams like IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO, NABARD, and RBI Grade B questions on current financial affairs are often the deciding factor of the cutoff.

Q3. What topics do I need to know under banking & financial awareness?

Ans. Important topics under banking & financial awareness are:

  • RBI Policies & Functions 

  • Banking Abbreviations 

  • Basel norms 

  • Monetary and fiscal policy 

  • Digital banking 

  • Indian financial system etc.

Q4. How can I improve my Banking and Financial Awareness for Bank exams?

Ans. Improving your Banking and Financial Awareness requires consistent reading of current affairs, understanding key financial terms, and practicing questions regularly. You can also explore some well-structured practice resources that provide topic-wise mock tests and explanations to strengthen your preparation.

Q5. How can I stay updated with banking & financial awareness?

Ans. The best way to stay updated with banking & financial awareness is:

  • Visit daily current affairs websites. 

  • Follow RBI & SEBI notifications.

  • Read the daily newspaper.

  • By monthly banking & financial awareness capsules.

Q6. Can banking & financial awareness help during an interview?

Ans. Definitely yes, most of the time interviewers often ask topics from banking & financial awareness about recent RBI policies, global financial trends, and budget highlights. Strong preparation of banking & financial awareness boosts confidence and the chance of selection in banking exams.

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