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Banking GK Questions 2026

The static part of banking awareness is mostly banking and the economy; history and geography get a smaller share than in SSC exams. The test names say so: General/Economy/Banking Awareness including RBI circulars in IBPS PO, General Awareness/ Economy/ Banking Knowledge in SBI PO, and General/Financial Awareness in the clerk exams. Questions keep returning to the RBI and its functions, monetary policy tools such as the repo rate, CRR and SLR, types of banks and accounts, NPAs, KYC, priority sector lending, payment systems such as UPI, NEFT and RTGS, regulators such as SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, development institutions such as NABARD and SIDBI, the Budget and the Economic Survey. RBI Grade B and NABARD Grade A go further, with full papers on Economic and Social Issues, and NABARD on Agriculture and Rural Development: agronomy, irrigation, animal husbandry, climate change and rural development schemes. Some static GK still appears: headquarters and heads of banks, currencies and capitals, and important days. This page gathers GK24's topic-wise GK notes for banking exams, in English and Hindi, in short facts and tables. Read one topic at a sitting, then take its topic quiz to see what you remember.

Banking GK Questions with Answers

Q2962.EconomyMedium

What was the average daily coal supply to the power sector in October 2026, and how did it compare with the supply plan?

  1. A.2.21 MT a day, below the plan
  2. B.2.37 MT a day, equal to the plan
  3. C.2.49 MT a day, above the plan
  4. D.2.65 MT a day, above the plan
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 2.49 MT a day, above the plan

Coal actually delivered to the power sector averaged 2.49 MT a day in October 2026 while the plan for the month provided for 2.37 MT a day, so supply ran ahead of the programme and bettered it on nine of the first ten days.

Q2966.Banking & Financial AwarenessAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2018, GS Paper IEasy

Which one of the following best describes the term "Merchant Discount Rate" sometimes seen in news ?

  1. A.The incentive given by a bank to a merchant for accepting payments through debit cards pertaining to that bank.
  2. B.The amount paid back by banks to their customers when they use debit cards for financial transactions for purchasing goods or services.
  3. C.The charge to a merchant by a bank for accepting payments from his customers through the bank's debit cards.
  4. D.The incentive given by the Government to merchants for promoting digital payments by their customers through Point of Sale (PoS) machines and debit cards.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The charge to a merchant by a bank for accepting payments from his customers through the bank's debit cards.

The Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is the fee a bank charges a merchant for processing payments the merchant receives from customers by card.

Q2968.Banking & Financial AwarenessHard

India's own secure financial messaging backbone, used for RTGS, NEFT and inland letters of credit, is:

  1. A.The Structured Financial Messaging System
  2. B.The National Automated Clearing House
  3. C.The Cheque Truncation System
  4. D.The Centralised Payment System
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The Structured Financial Messaging System

Developed by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology at Hyderabad and built on the INFINET network of the banking sector, it carries the secure, standardised messages behind the Reserve Bank's Real Time Gross Settlement and National Electronic Funds Transfer, and is also used for inland letters of…

Q2969.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, how much may a resident individual remit abroad in a financial year?

  1. A.Twenty-five thousand US dollars
  2. B.One hundred thousand US dollars
  3. C.Two hundred and fifty thousand US dollars
  4. D.One million US dollars
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Two hundred and fifty thousand US dollars

The Liberalised Remittance Scheme allows a resident individual, including a minor, to remit up to that amount in a financial year for any permitted current account purpose such as travel, education, medical treatment, gifts and maintenance of relatives, and for permitted capital account purposes such as buying property or shares…

Q2970.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

In July 2022 the Reserve Bank of India allowed the settlement of international trade in Indian rupees through which mechanism?

  1. A.Special Rupee Vostro Accounts
  2. B.Exchange Earners Foreign Currency accounts
  3. C.Non-Resident External accounts
  4. D.Resident Foreign Currency accounts
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Special Rupee Vostro Accounts

Under the arrangement, an authorised dealer bank in India opens such an account for the correspondent bank of a partner country.

Q2973.Banking & Financial AwarenessHard

In correspondent banking, a mirror account is:

  1. A.A duplicate account opened for a customer in another branch
  2. B.The record a bank keeps in its own books, in home currency, of its nostro balance
  3. C.A joint account of two banks for settlement
  4. D.A dormant account revived after ten years
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The record a bank keeps in its own books, in home currency, of its nostro balance

The nostro account itself lies in the books of the foreign correspondent and is denominated in foreign currency.

Q2975.Banking & Financial AwarenessEasy

A nostro account of an Indian bank is:

  1. A.A rupee account kept by a foreign bank with the Indian bank
  2. B.The Indian bank's foreign currency account with a bank abroad
  3. C.A rupee account of a resident individual for foreign travel
  4. D.An account of the Reserve Bank of India with the Indian bank
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Indian bank's foreign currency account with a bank abroad

Nostro means ours, and the full sense is our account with you.

Q2976.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

Which statement about SWIFT is correct?

  1. A.It settles payments between banks and holds their funds
  2. B.It is a messaging network that carries instructions but does not itself transfer funds
  3. C.It is a currency exchange run by the International Monetary Fund
  4. D.It is the clearing house for all cross-border cheques
Show answer
Correct answer: B. It is a messaging network that carries instructions but does not itself transfer funds

SWIFT transmits standardised, secure messages such as an instruction to pay a beneficiary or to issue a letter of credit.

Q2977.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

The headquarters of SWIFT is located in which country?

  1. A.Switzerland
  2. B.Belgium
  3. C.The United States of America
  4. D.The United Kingdom
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Belgium

SWIFT is headquartered at La Hulpe, in the outskirts of Brussels, and it is therefore incorporated under Belgian law and supervised by a committee of central banks with the National Bank of Belgium as the lead overseer.

Q2978.Banking & Financial AwarenessEasy

SWIFT, used by banks for cross-border messages, stands for:

  1. A.Secure Worldwide International Funds Transfer
  2. B.Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
  3. C.System for Wire Transfer of International Financial Transactions
  4. D.Standard Worldwide Interbank Funds Transfer
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

The word Society is the key, because SWIFT is a cooperative society owned by its member financial institutions rather than a company or a public authority.

Q2979.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

Under the ICC Incoterms, in a contract on CIF terms the seller bears the cost of:

  1. A.Only making the goods available at its own premises
  2. B.Carriage and marine insurance up to the named port of destination
  3. C.All import duties and taxes at the destination
  4. D.Inland carriage within the buyer's country only
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Carriage and marine insurance up to the named port of destination

CIF stands for cost, insurance and freight: the seller pays the cost of the goods, contracts and pays for the freight to the named destination port, and takes out marine insurance for the buyer's benefit.

Q2980.Banking & Financial AwarenessHard

After the large fraud detected at Punjab National Bank, which instrument did the Reserve Bank of India discontinue in March 2018 for trade credit on imports?

  1. A.Letter of credit
  2. B.Letter of undertaking
  3. C.Bank guarantee
  4. D.Standby letter of credit
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Letter of undertaking

In March 2018 the Reserve Bank discontinued the issuance of letters of undertaking and letters of comfort for trade credit relating to imports into India.

GK Questions for sub-exams