retail banking caiib

RETAIL BANKING IN CAIIB

CAIIB being a flagship course of IIBF offers you an opportunity to get an early increment. CAIIB has a total of 3 subjects out of which 2 are compulsory, Advanced Bank Management & Bank Financial Management being the two, and the 3rd one is elective, to be chosen among the 6 options. Out of those 6 options, Retail Banking is one among them. To know more about what Retail Banking is, please read the following text:

RETAIL BANKING

Retail Banking is that branch of banking that deals with individuals rather than the corporations, companies or other banks (described as the wholesale banking). It is also known as consumer banking or personal banking. Retail Banking Services include provision of savings and transactional accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards, and credit cards.

Through local branch locations, financial representatives provide customer service and financial advice to its customers. Financial representatives are also the lead contact for underwriting applications related to credit-approved products in retail sector. In Retail, the retail lending has a small ticket size (small ticket size means the money given as a loan to an individual) and serves a large no. of customers involving smaller amounts than the wholesale banking.

Read Also:- Retail Banking Short Notes for CAIIB – Part 2

As an individual when you think about banking, you are probably thinking about Retail Banking. Their role in the life of general public is to help them manage their money, gain access to credit, and deposit their money in a secure way with the help of various types of Retail Products such as Asset products, Vehicle Loans, Personal Loans, Educational Loans and some other services.

Read Also:- Retail Banking Notes for CAIIB – Part 1

CHARACTERISTICS OF RETAIL BANKING:

• GEARED TOWARDS INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERS. Retail Banking is entrusted with the operations to provide at its branches the services for small (in bank terms) account holders. Banking Institutions execute transactions directly with consumers, rather than companies or other entities. Thus, retail banking strategies includes tie-ups with Institutions for Personal loans or Credit cards or educational loans, with OEMs or Authorized Dealers for Auto/ Vehicle loans, and with Builders or Developers for Home loans etc
• SERVED BY COMMERCIAL BANKS. The Retail Banking services are mostly provided by the commercial banks. Though co-operative banks also provide retail services but they are concentrated towards a smaller group of individuals.
• FOCUS ON CONSUMER MARKET. Retail Banking is mainly focused on consumer markets providing personal banking services, including saving & checking accounts, bill paying services, mobile banking, internet banking as well as credit & debit cards.
• MASS MARKET DRIVEN. Due to expansion of branches the institutional credit flow to poor rural households has reached the new heights and Indian Banks have also leveraged IT driven initiatives to bring the excluded population into mainstream banking by developing new products to suit their needs.

Important Topic:- IIBF CAIIB RETAIL BANKING SYLLABUS 2022

• PHYSICAL & VIRTUAL DELIVERY. Retail Banking also serves through IT with off-site delivery channels like ATMs, Internet Banking & Mobile Banking as well as new products like Insurance, Demat services, online/ Phone Banking, Property services, Investment advisory/ Wealth management, Reverse Mortgage and Growth of e-banking, Cross selling opportunities etc

WHY YOU SHOULD CHOSE RETAIL BANKING: 

• STUDY MATERIAL EASILY AVAILABLE. The material on the subject of RETAIL BANKING is easily available while it’s not the same case in finding the materials on the other subjects of the electives.
• PREVIOUS YEAR PAPERS. Just like the easy availability of materials on Retail Banking, the question papers of previous year are easily accessible. 
• EASY TO GRASP. This subject mostly includes the procedural topics in relation to Retail Banking. As a banker and having cleared the JAIIB, you might even have already covered the most of the topics or contents that form the subject of Retail Banking. Therefore, the subject doesn’t demand so much of your concentration as it is easy to grasp.
• UNDEMANDING. Unlike other elective subjects (other subjects being Rural Banking, Human Resources Management, Information Technology, Risk Management & Central Banking) which deals with a specific field or we can say professional field demand do not demand more than the regular action on our part.
• INVOLVES PRACTICAL ASPECTS. As a banker, you get to read in-depth details of the banking operations in CAIIB’s Retail Banking. With the knowledge of advanced aspects of banking your day-to-day tasks gets easier to accomplish as well as your command on the daily routine functions become more efficient.
• DIFFERENT FIELD. It might also be the case that somehow you aren’t involved in the retail field as of yet as a banker and you want to work in it in the foreseeable future. Then, this elective gives you the opportunity to work in the retail segment of your bank. 

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT CHOSE RETAIL BANKING:

• LENGTHY. Rural Banking as it is a vast subject & having Digital banking included in the syllabus, the syllabus of Retail Banking gets vaster in the field. Thus, making it a much lengthier than the other elective subjects if they were chosen. (Retail Syllabus)
• REGULAR FIELD. Unlike the other subjects that covers the professional fields, this subject doesn’t offer other than the regular or routine procedural knowledge. You will get to study the more advanced aspects of Retail Banking while if you were to chose any other elective that deals in a particular field then you might had been learning something new and been taking a step out of your current area of working.
• NO PROFESSIONAL EXPOSURE. As we already know that Retail banking covers the routine aspects of banking and as a banker you might be already familiar with these aspects you just get to know how to deal better with the customers on a personal level. While the other electives offer you a change in the field thus, this is just an advancement in your current expertise while you lose the opportunity to work in different field.
• MONOTONOUS. It might be the case that you already know your field very well. And then to read about it for the exam, might be a hassle for you. So, choosing Retail banking could be a serious monotonous activity when you can get exposure in other fields like rural, human resource management, information technology etc as the electives offer.

Hopefully, having gone through the above points you would have come to decide whether you will be selecting Retail banking as an elective or not. If you have decided to go with this subject then congrats to you as you will have decided to become more in your current field. And if you have decided that you might want to go with other elective than the retail banking then also good for you would have decided to venture out of your current field.