Page 1 of 11

European Journal of Business &

Social Sciences

Available at https://ejbss.org/

ISSN: 2235-767X

Volume 07 Issue 02

February 2019

Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 676

The Study of Indian Banking Sector

GAGANDEEP

Extension Lecturer in Commerce

D. Govt. College, Gurugram

Abstract

The economic reforms initiated by the Government of India about two decades ago have changed the

landscape of several sectors of the Indian economy. The Indian banking sector is no exception. This

sector is going through major changes as a consequence of economic reforms. The role of banking

industry is very important as one of the leading and mostly essential service sector. India is the largest

economy in the world having more than 120 crore population. Today in India the service sector is

contributing half of the Indian GDP and the banking is most popular service sector in India. The

significant role of banking industry is essential to speed up the social economic development. Banks

plays an important role in the economic development of developing countries. Economic development

involves investment in various sectors of the economy. The economic reforms have also generated new

and powerful customers (huge Indian middle class) and new mix of players (public sector units, private

banks, and foreign banks). The emerging competition has generated new expectations from the existing

and the new customers. There is an urgent need to introduce new products. Existing products need to be

delivered in an innovative and cost-effective way by taking full advantage of emerging technologies.

The biggest opportunity for the Indian banking system today is the Indian consumer. Demographic

shifts in terms of income levels and cultural shifts in terms of lifestyle aspirations are changing the

profile of the Indian consumer. The Indian consumer now seeks to fulfil his lifestyle aspirations at a

younger age with an optimal combination of equity and debt to finance consumption and asset creation.

This is leading to a growing demand for competitive, sophisticated retail banking services. This paper

explains the changing banking scenario, the impact of economic reforms and analyses the challenges

and opportunities of national and commercial banks.

Keywords: E-Banking, Customer Retention, Economic Reforms, Information Technology, lifestyle,

GDP, CRM

Introduction

India is one of the top 10 economies in the world, where the banking sector has tremendous potential

to grow. The last decade saw customers embracing ATM, internet and mobile banking. India‘s banking

sector is currently valued at Rs. 81 trillion (US$ 1.31 trillion). It has the potential to become the fifth

largest banking industry in the world by 2020 and the third largest by 2025, according to an industry

report. The face of Indian banking has changed over the years. Banks are now reaching out to the

masses with technology to facilitate greater ease of communication, and transactions are carried out

through the Internet and mobile devices. A bank is a financial institution that provides banking and

other financial services to their customers. A bank is generally understood as an institution which

provides fundamental banking services such as accepting deposits and providing loans. There are also

nonbanking institutions that provide certain banking services without meeting the legal definition of a

bank. Banks are a subset of the financial services industry. A banking system also referred as a system

provided by the bank which offers cash management services for customers, reporting the transactions

Page 2 of 11

European Journal of Business &

Social Sciences

Available at https://ejbss.org/

ISSN: 2235-767X

Volume 07 Issue 02

February 2019

Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 677

of their accounts and portfolios, throughout the day. The banking system in India should not only be

hassle free but it should be able to meet the new challenges posed by the technology and any other

external and internal factors. For the past three decades, India‘s banking system has several outstanding

achievements to its credit. The Banks are the main participants of the financial system in India. The

Banking sector offers several facilities and opportunities to their customers. All the banks safeguards

the money and valuables and provide loans, credit, and payment services, such as checking accounts,

money orders, and cashier‘s cheques. The banks also offer investment and insurance products. As a

variety of models for cooperation and integration among finance industries have emerged, some of the

traditional distinctions between banks, insurance companies, and securities firms have diminished. In

spite of these changes, banks continue to maintain and perform their primary role—accepting deposits

and lending funds from these deposits. Before the establishment of banks, the financial activities were

handled by money lenders and individuals. At that time the interest rates were very high. Again there

were no security of public savings and no uniformity regarding loans. So as to overcome such problems

the organized banking sector was established, which was fully regulated by the government. The

organized banking sector works within the financial system to provide loans, accept deposits and

provide other services to their customers. The following functions of the bank explain the need of the

bank and its importance:

• To provide the security to the savings of customers.

• To control the supply of money and credit

• To encourage public confidence in the working of the financial system, increase savings speedily and

efficiently.

• To avoid focus of financial powers in the hands of a few individuals and institutions.

• To set equal norms and conditions (i.e. rate of interest, period of lending etc.) to all types of

Customers.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this paper is to explain the changing banking scenario, to analyze the impact of

liberalization, privatization & globalization and to study the challenges and opportunities of national

and commercial banks in changing banking scenario. In addition to this, an attempt is made to

understand the significance of banks in India.

Evolution of the Indian Banking Industry

The first bank in India, called The General Bank of India was established in the year 1786. The East

India Company established The Bank of Bengal/Calcutta (1809), Bank of Bombay (1840) and Bank of

Madras (1843). The next bank was Bank of Hindustan which was established in 1870. These three

individual units (Bank of Calcutta, Bank of Bombay, and Bank of Madras) were called as Presidency

Banks. Allahabad Bank which was established in 1865, was for the first time completely run by

Indians. Punjab National Bank Ltd. was set up in 1894 with headquarters at Lahore. Between 1906 and

1913, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, and Bank of

Page 3 of 11

European Journal of Business &

Social Sciences

Available at https://ejbss.org/

ISSN: 2235-767X

Volume 07 Issue 02

February 2019

Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 678

Mysore were set up. In 1921, all presidency banks were amalgamated to 22 forms the Imperial Bank of

India which was run by European Shareholders. After that the Reserve Bank of India was established in

April 1935. At the time of first phase the growth of banking sector was very slow. Between 1913 and

1948 there were approximately 1100 small banks in India. To streamline the functioning and activities

of commercial banks, the Government of India came up with the Banking Companies Act, 1949 which

was later changed to Banking Regulation Act 1949 as per amending Act of 1965 (Act No.23 of 1965).

Reserve Bank of India was vested with extensive powers for the supervision of banking in India as a

Central Banking Authority. After independence, Government has taken most important steps in regard

of Indian Banking Sector reforms. In 1955, the Imperial Bank of India was nationalized and was given

the name "State Bank of India", to act as the principal agent of RBI and to handle banking transactions

all over the country. It was established under State Bank of India Act, 1955. Seven banks forming

subsidiary of State Bank of India was nationalized in 1960. On 19th July, 1969, major process of

nationalization was carried out. At the same time 14 major Indian commercial banks of the country

were nationalized. In 1980, another six banks were nationalized, and thus raising the number of

nationalized banks to 20. Seven more banks were nationalized with deposits over 200 crores. Till the

year 1980 approximately 80% of the banking segment in India was under government‘s ownership. On

the suggestions of Narsimhan Committee, the Banking Regulation Act was amended in 1993 and thus

the gates for the new private sector banks were opened. The following are the major steps taken by the

Government of India to Regulate Banking institutions in the country:- 1949: Enactment of Banking

Regulation Act. 1955: Nationalisation of State Bank of India. 1959: Nationalization of SBI subsidiaries.

1961: Insurance cover extended to deposits. 1969: Nationalisation of 14 major Banks. 1971: Creation

of credit guarantee corporation. 1975: Creation of regional rural banks. 1980: Nationalisation of seven

banks with deposits over 200 Crores.

Phases of Evolution of Indian Banking Industry

In the evolution of this strategic industry spanning over two centuries, immense developments have

been made in terms of the regulations governing it, the ownership structure, products and services

offered and the technology deployed. The entire evolution can be classified into four distinct phases.

Phase I- Pre-Nationalisation Phase (prior to 1955)

Phase II- Era of Nationalisation and Consolidation (1955-1990)

Phase III- Introduction of Indian Financial & Banking Sector Reforms and Partial Liberalisation

(1990- 2004) Phase IV- Period of Increased Liberalisation (2004 onwards)

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Indian banking industry has a diverse structure. The present structure of the Indian banking industry

has been analysed on the basis of its organised status, business as well as product segmentation. The

entire organised banking system comprises of scheduled and non-scheduled banks. Largely, this

segment comprises of the scheduled banks, with the unscheduled ones forming a very small

component. Banking needs of the financially excluded population is catered to by other unorganised

entities distinct from banks, such as, moneylenders, pawnbrokers and indigenous bankers. Structure of