Banking & Financial Awareness GK Notes
हिंदी में पढ़ेंBanking awareness for bank exams: RBI, types of banks, payment systems, banking terms, regulators and financial inclusion.
36 topics447 MCQs76 previous-year questions73 quizzesUpdated
Banking and Financial Awareness covers how India's banking system is built and run. The notes begin with the History of Banking in India, the Types of Banks in India and the Functions of the Reserve Bank of India, then move to Bank Nationalisation and Mergers, Banking Terms and Abbreviations, and Loans, Advances and Interest Rates. Later topics explain Negotiable Instruments and Cheques, the payment systems NEFT, RTGS and IMPS, NPCI, UPI and RuPay, Deposit Insurance and DICGC, Financial Inclusion Schemes such as Jan Dhan and MUDRA, and the key Acts behind banking regulation.
It matters most for bank exams. IBPS PO and Clerk Mains, SBI PO and Clerk Mains, RBI Assistant, RBI Grade B, NABARD and LIC AAO all test it in the General or Financial Awareness section. Typical questions ask what CRR, SLR and the repo rate mean, which Act governs cheques, who regulates payments banks, and what a recent RBI decision changed. SSC and railway papers ask only the basics, such as the RBI's role and bank nationalisation.
Read the topic-wise notes in syllabus order and finish each with its practice MCQs. Previous-year questions carry the exam and year, so you can see how IBPS or SBI has framed a term before. Mixed quiz sets combine all topics for last-week revision, and GK24 publishes every note in English and Hindi.
Topic-wise notes
- 1
History of Banking in India
The Bank of Hindustan, the presidency banks, the swadeshi banks, the founding and nationalisation of the RBI, the 1969 and 1980 bank nationalisations, RRBs, NABARD and the reforms after 1991.
12 MCQs6 previous-year questions
- 2
Types of Banks in India
Scheduled and non-scheduled banks, public sector, private and foreign banks, Regional Rural Banks, cooperative banks, payments and small finance banks, the central bank and development financial institutions.
13 MCQs7 previous-year questions
- 3
Functions of the Reserve Bank of India
Establishment, nationalisation and the monetary, currency, banker, regulatory, foreign exchange, payment system and developmental functions of the RBI, with the tools and Acts exams ask.
17 MCQs8 previous-year questions
- 4
Bank Nationalisation and Mergers
The nationalisation of the Reserve Bank and of commercial banks in 1969 and 1980, and the amalgamations from 1993 to 2020, with the years and numbers banking exams ask.
12 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 5
Banking Terms and Abbreviations
Full forms and meanings of the banking terms exams ask: NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, UPI, IFSC, MICR, CRR, SLR, NPA, SARFAESI, CASA, DICGC and the regulators behind them.
14 MCQs6 previous-year questions
- 6
Bank Accounts, Deposits and KYC
Savings, current, fixed and recurring accounts, basic savings and small accounts, NRI deposits, deposit insurance and the KYC rules banking, SSC and State exams ask about.
12 MCQs
- 7
Loans, Advances and Interest Rates
Types of bank loans and advances, security by pledge, hypothecation and mortgage, the base rate, MCLR and external benchmark regimes, policy rates, NPA classification and priority sector lending.
15 MCQs5 previous-year questions
- 8
Negotiable Instruments and Cheques
The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881: promissory notes, bills of exchange and cheques, crossing, endorsement, dishonour under Section 138 and the section numbers banking and SSC exams ask.
13 MCQs5 previous-year questions
- 9
Payment Systems: NEFT, RTGS and IMPS
How RTGS, NEFT and IMPS differ in operator, settlement and limits, with the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, the National Payments Corporation of India and the IFSC, MICR and MMID codes.
11 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 10
NPCI, UPI and RuPay
How NPCI was set up and what it runs: UPI and its features, RuPay cards, IMPS, AEPS, NACH, FASTag and BHIM, with the law and regulator behind India's retail payments.
14 MCQs4 previous-year questions
- 11
Cards, ATMs and Digital Banking
Debit, credit and prepaid cards, the kinds of ATM, and the digital rails NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, UPI, AePS and FASTag, with the body that runs each one.
15 MCQs7 previous-year questions
- 12
Regional Rural and Cooperative Banks
Regional Rural Banks, their Act and shareholding, the three tier and two tier cooperative credit structure, urban cooperative banks and the role of NABARD and the Reserve Bank.
12 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 13
Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks
The RBI guidelines on differentiated banks: what payments banks and small finance banks may do, their capital, deposit and lending rules, and the firsts exams ask.
11 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 14
Basel Norms and Capital Adequacy
The Basel Committee and the three accords, the tiers of bank capital, the capital to risk weighted assets ratio, the Indian minimums set by the Reserve Bank, and the buffers and liquidity standards.
12 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 15
Deposit Insurance and DICGC
How deposit insurance protects bank depositors in India: the DICGC and its Act, the five lakh cover per depositor per bank, the premium banks pay, the deposits left out and the ninety day interim payment.
12 MCQs
- 16
Priority Sector Lending
The priority sector under the Reserve Bank Directions of 2025: the eight categories, the 40, 18, 10, 7.5 and 12 per cent targets, loan ceilings, weaker sections, the shortfall rules and PSLCs.
11 MCQs
- 17
Banking Ombudsman and Customer Rights
The Banking Ombudsman Scheme and the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme of 2021, compensation limits, the Internal Ombudsman, the Charter of Customer Rights and the consumer protection route, as banking exams ask them.
13 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 18
Financial Inclusion Schemes: Jan Dhan, MUDRA and Others
Jan Dhan, PMJJBY, PMSBY, Atal Pension Yojana, MUDRA, Stand Up India and PM SVANidhi: launch dates, age bands, premiums, overdraft and loan limits as the banking exams ask them.
12 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 19
FEMA and Foreign Exchange in Banking
FEMA 1999 from FERA: commencement, the 182-day residence test, current and capital account sections, authorised persons, penalties and appeals, the Liberalised Remittance Scheme and NRI accounts.
11 MCQs
- 20
Headquarters and Taglines of Banks
Head offices of the Reserve Bank, the public sector and private banks and the development institutions, with the taglines by which each is known.
15 MCQs4 previous-year questions
- 21
International Financial Institutions: BIS, ADB, AIIB and NDB
The founding years, headquarters, members and work of BIS, ADB, AIIB and the New Development Bank, with the Basel norms and the facts banking exams ask.
12 MCQs
- 22
Banking Regulation and Key Acts
The statutes that govern Indian banking: the RBI Act 1934, the Banking Regulation Act 1949, the Negotiable Instruments Act, SARFAESI, the DRT Act and the IBC, with the sections exams ask.
12 MCQs
- 23
Important Committees on Banking and Finance
The committees and working groups behind Indian banking, from Hilton Young and Narasimham to Nachiket Mor and Urjit Patel, with the subject of each report and the institution or rule it produced.
10 MCQs
- 24
Small Savings Schemes: PPF, NSC, Sukanya Samriddhi and Others
Tenure, eligibility, deposit limits and tax treatment of the PPF, NSC, Sukanya Samriddhi, Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra for banking exams.
10 MCQs
- 25
NBFCs and Microfinance Institutions
Definition and registration of NBFCs, the fifty-fifty test, Scale Based Regulation, how they differ from banks, and the Reserve Bank's microfinance loan framework.
13 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 26
Financial Regulators of India: Who Regulates What
RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, IBBI and NABARD: the statute behind each regulator, its headquarters, the market it supervises and the appeals that lie from it, as banking and SSC exams ask.
12 MCQs
- 27
Credit Rating Agencies and Credit Bureaus (CIBIL)
CRISIL, ICRA, CARE and the SEBI rating scale from AAA to D, and the four RBI-registered credit bureaus with the 300 to 900 credit score, as banking exams ask.
12 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 28
Digital Rupee (CBDC), Fintech and Account Aggregators
The Digital Rupee and its two pilots, how a CBDC differs from UPI and cryptocurrency, NPCI payment systems, the Account Aggregator framework and the digital lending rules.
13 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 29
Anti-Money Laundering: PMLA and FIU-IND
Stages of money laundering, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002, reporting duties of banks, the roles of the Enforcement Directorate and FIU-IND, and the FATF framework, for banking and SSC exams.
12 MCQs
- 30
Lead Bank Scheme and Service Area Approach
The 1969 Lead Bank Scheme, the Gadgil and Nariman recommendations, SLBC, DCC, DLRC and BLBC forums, the Annual Credit Plan and the Service Area Approach of 1989, with the facts banking exams ask.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 31
D-SIBs, Prompt Corrective Action and Bank Supervision
How RBI supervises banks: the D-SIB framework and its buckets, the revised PCA framework with its three parameters and risk thresholds, the Board for Financial Supervision and the capital norms examiners ask about.
12 MCQs
- 32
Bank Frauds, Cyber Safety and Customer Liability
Types of bank and digital payment fraud, RBI's rules on limiting customer liability in unauthorised electronic transactions, reporting windows, the Central Fraud Registry and grievance redress.
12 MCQs
- 33
Letters of Credit, Bank Guarantees and Trade Finance
Parties to a letter of credit, the UCP 600 rules, types of credit, bank guarantees under the Indian Contract Act, pre- and post-shipment export finance, Incoterms, EXIM Bank and ECGC.
12 MCQs
- 34
SWIFT, Nostro-Vostro Accounts and Cross-Border Payments
What SWIFT is and is not, BIC and MT message types, nostro, vostro, loro and mirror accounts, Special Rupee Vostro Accounts, LRS and MTSS limits, SFMS and the UPI-PayNow link.
12 MCQs
- 35
Bank Balance Sheet and Key Ratios: CASA, NIM and CD Ratio
How a bank’s balance sheet is arranged under Form A, and the ratios read from it: CASA, net interest margin, credit-deposit ratio, CRAR and NPA ratios.
11 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 36
Retail, Wholesale, Universal and Investment Banking
Retail, wholesale, universal and investment banking compared: customers, products and funding, with the Khan Working Group, narrow banking, para banking and bancassurance.
10 MCQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is banking awareness asked in IBPS PO Mains?
Yes. IBPS PO Mains has a section called General, Economy and Banking Awareness, and banking awareness is a large part of it along with recent economic and financial news. Expect questions on RBI's monetary policy tools, payment systems, financial inclusion schemes, banking terms, key Acts and recent RBI circulars. IBPS Clerk Mains and the SBI PO and Clerk Mains test the same ground under General or Financial Awareness.
Which banking awareness topics are most important for SBI Clerk and IBPS Clerk?
Start with the functions of the RBI and its policy rates, types of banks, bank nationalisation and the recent mergers, banking terms and abbreviations, and the headquarters and taglines of banks. Then cover payment systems such as NEFT, RTGS, IMPS and UPI, deposit insurance, priority sector lending, financial inclusion schemes and the Banking Ombudsman. Clerk-level papers stay factual, so lists and definitions matter more than deep theory.
Is banking awareness needed for RBI Assistant and RBI Grade B?
Yes, at different depths. RBI Assistant Mains has a General Awareness test in which banking and financial news, RBI functions and banking terms are a regular share. RBI Grade B Phase 1 also has General Awareness, and its Phase 2 papers on Economic and Social Issues and on Finance and Management go further into monetary policy, regulation, financial markets and institutions. The notes here give the factual base for both.
Does banking awareness come in SSC CGL or RRB NTPC?
Only the basics. SSC CGL, CHSL and RRB NTPC put a few economy and banking facts inside General Awareness: when the RBI was set up and nationalised, the first bank in India, the years of bank nationalisation, full forms such as NEFT and KYC, and the names of the bodies that regulate banks and insurance. You do not need Basel norms or lending rules for these exams; the first few topics here are enough.
What is the difference between banking awareness and financial awareness?
Banking awareness is the narrower part: banks, the RBI, accounts, loans, cheques, payment systems and banking regulation. Financial awareness adds the wider system around banks: insurance and pension regulators, capital markets, government schemes, the Union Budget and Economic Survey, and international financial institutions. Bank exams use both labels, and SBI often calls its section Financial Awareness, so prepare the two together; the topics here cover both sides.
How to prepare banking awareness in one month for a bank exam?
Cover the topics in syllabus order, one or two a day, and attempt the MCQs of each topic the same day. Give the most time to RBI functions, payment systems, banking terms, financial inclusion schemes and regulation, because they repeat every year. Keep a running list of recent RBI decisions from current affairs. In the last week, use only mixed quiz sets and previous-year questions to find the gaps.