Banking Awareness Cheat Code: 20 Must-Know Facts (2025)

1 As of December 2025, RBI’s Repo Rate = 6.25% (rate at which RBI lends to banks).

2 Reverse Repo Rate = 3.35% (rate at which banks park funds with RBI).

3 CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) = 4.5% — banks must keep this % of deposits as cash with RBI (non-interest bearing).

4 SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) = 18% — banks must maintain this in govt. securities, gold, or cash.

5 MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds Lending Rate) replaced Base Rate in April 2016.

6 DICGC insures bank deposits up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank.

7 NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) operates UPI, RuPay, IMPS, AEPS, and Bharat BillPay.

8 PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana) was launched on August 28, 2014 for financial inclusion.

9 AEPS (Aadhaar Enabled Payment System) allows cash withdrawal using biometric authentication.

10 Payment Banks can accept deposits up to ₹2 lakh but **cannot lend**.

11 Small Finance Banks (SFBs) can lend and offer basic banking — e.g., AU Small Finance Bank, Equitas.

12 BASEL III norms require banks to maintain a minimum Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 11.5%.

13 RBI was established on April 1, 1935 under the RBI Act, 1934.

14 Current Governor of RBI (Dec 2025): Shaktikanta Das.

15 NPA (Non-Performing Asset) = loan where interest/principal is unpaid for 90+ days.

16 Priority Sector Lending (PSL) target for domestic banks = 40% of ANBC.

17 NEFT = 24x7 fund transfer; RTGS = real-time, min ₹2 lakh; IMPS = instant mobile-based.

18 IFSC Code = 11-digit alphanumeric code; first 4 letters = bank code (e.g., SBIN for State Bank).

19 Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) is chaired by the Union Finance Minister.

20 India’s first Payments Bank was Airtel Payments Bank (launched Jan 2017).