In India, bank exams are often considered in high regard for aspiring candidates who wish to step into the banking domain. There are multiple bank exams that are conducted by various banks and testing agencies across the country every year.

Banking is an increasingly popular choice of employment for fresh graduates and experienced professionals in India. Banks provide attractive salaries, a measure of job security and many perks for their employees.

Due to such reasons, the competition for bank jobs is increasing at an exponential pace. The competition indicates that aspirants should have a top-notch bank exam preparation to be able to crack the exam and get selected as a bank employee.

For anyone who aspires to join the banking sector, they need to be well aware of the bank exam syllabus and the selection process that is followed by each recruiting body to appoint the candidates at various posts. Candidates can check the detailed bank exam syllabus at the linked article and start their preparation accordingly.

In this article, we will discuss the essential online bank exams, which are to be conducted in 2023. Bank exam notifications are disseminated through the respective websites of the agency conducting the exam, which will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

To read in detail about the popular Government Exams, aspirants can check the linked article.

Upcoming Bank Exams

Given below are the list of major upcoming bank exams which are conducted by different banks:

To know at length about the different upcoming bank exams, the important bank exam dates and other relevant information, click at the linked article.

SBI Bank Exams in India

The State Bank of India is the largest public sector bank in the country. It recruits employees at two levels through the following SBI exams:

• SBI PO Exam: Also called the SBI Probationary Officers (PO) exam, this exam selects candidates for the management cadre of SBI. The employees selected are called Probationary Officers during their training and move on to management roles after finishing their training.
• The SBI PO Exam consists of three stages:
  • SBI PO Preliminary Exam: SBI PO Prelims filters the candidates for the next stage of the exam, retaining about 2.8% of the total number of applicants for the main examination.
  • SBI PO Main Exam: Performance of the candidates in the SBI PO Mains determines whether they cut through the next stage of the exam. The main exam consists of two parts:
  • Objective test: This test is focussed on knowledge in core areas required in the modern workplace. The SBI PO syllabus consists of Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation, General Knowledge, Economy, Banking Awareness and English.
  • Descriptive test: The descriptive test is used to assess the candidates’ usage of written English in a business setting.
  • SBI PO Group Discussion and SBI PO Interview: The group discussion and interview is the final stage before a merit list of selected candidates is drawn up.
• SBI SO Exam: The SBI SO exam aims to select Specialist Officers (SO) for the bank. The selection process consists of an interview based on the experience and specialisation of the candidates.
• SBI Clerk Exam: The SBI Clerk exam selects Junior Associates for the clerical cadre of the banking giant. It consists of two stages:
  • SBI Clerk Preliminary Exam: Known as SBI Clerk Prelims, this exam filters out candidates for the next stage.
  • SBI Clerk Mains Exam: Commonly called the SBI Clerk Mains, the marks secured in this exam determine the selection status of candidates as clerks in the State Bank.

Aspirants preparing for the upcoming SBI exams can refer to the links mentioned below and download the official bank exam notifications and know the important exam dates:

Click here to know more about SBI Recruitment.

IBPS Exams

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is an examination body that conducts the selection of employees for a large number of banks. The IBPS conducts several online bank exams for this purpose. The following are the exams conducted by the IBPS:

• IBPS PO Exam: The IBPS PO, officially known as the IBPS CWE (Common Written Examination) selects candidates for the post of Probationary Officers for various public sector banks (PSB) as well as some insurance companies which are its members. The IBPS PO exam pattern consists of three stages:
  • IBPS PO Preliminary Exam: This stage serves as a qualifying exam for the next phase. The IBPS PO Prelims exam consists of objective type questions.
  • IBPS PO Main Exam: The IBPS PO mains exam serves as the final written exam. Based on the IBPS PO result, the participating banks call candidates for the next stage.
  • IBPS Interview: The final phase where candidates have a face to face interactive session with high ranking bank employees in the panel.

To know more about the IBPS PO syllabus, click at the linked article.

• IBPS SO Exam: The IBPS Specialist Officers exam of the IBPS consists of three stages similar to the Probationary Officers exam. They are:
  • IBPS SO Preliminary Exam: This stage consists of an objective pattern paper. The bank exam syllabus for this paper varies based on the available specialisations. The paper tests General Awareness, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and English.
  • IBPS SO Main Exam: The main exam consists of one objective paper on professional knowledge for most specialists. The post of language advisors such as ‘Rajbhasha Adhikari’ consists of an objective and a descriptive paper on their respective subjects.

To know more about IBPS SO exam dates, click at the linked article.

• IBPS Clerk Exam: The IBPS CRP clerical cadre is used by PSBs to select clerks. It consists of two online bank examinations which are:
  • IBPS Clerk Preliminary Examination: An objective paper of one-hour duration tests the candidates’ abilities in English Language, Numerical Ability and Reasoning.
  • IBPS Clerk Main Examination: The bank exam syllabus for this one consists of Reasoning, Computer Aptitude, English, Quantitative Aptitude, General and Financial Awareness. The IBPS Clerk Mains result is used to determine the merit ranking of the candidate and their selection as clerks.

To know more about the IBPS Clerk exam analysis, click at the linked article.

• IBPS RRB Exam: The IBPS RRB CRP is for Regional Rural Banks which selects candidates for smaller banks serving rural areas across the country. These include cooperative and public sector banks.

Bank exam conducted to appoint candidates in Regional Rural Banks across the country are held for both Officer and Office Assistant Posts. These posts are categorised as:

• Officer Scale I (IBPS RRB PO)
• Officer Scale II & III
• Officer Assistant (IBPS RRB Clerk)

The examination for these posts consists of two stages which are as follows:

• RRB Preliminary Exam: This exam is used as a qualifying exam for the next round. There are separate papers for Scale I officers and Office Assistants, which are conducted separately.
• RRB Mains Exam: This paper decides the merit position of candidates and is held separately for officers and office assistants. The allotment of banks is based on the RRB exam result.

However, only a single phase of Bank exam is conducted for Officer Scale II and III posts. To know in detail about the IBPS RRB Notification, click at the linked article.

Refer to the links mentioned below to know in detail about the various IBPS bank exams conducted in the country:

The main feature that distinguishes IBPS from other bank exams is the large number of banks who recruit based on its results. The institute also provides the facility of IBPS mock tests and training for candidates desirous of using these facilities.

RBI Exams

RBI is the Central Bank for the country and candidates willing to join the banking sector aspire to enter the Industry by qualifying the Officer or Clerical cadre exams in the Reserve Bank of India.

The Reserve Bank of India conducts its own exams for recruitment to various vacancies in the organisation. The following are the major exams conducted by the Reserve Bank of India:

• RBI Officer Grade B Exam: The apex bank conducts the RBI Officer Grade B exam for the selection of mid-senior level officers of the bank. It consists of recruitment to the General as well as specialist cadres of the RBI. It also includes research positions open for PhD holders in the notified disciplines.
• RBI Assistant Exam: The RBI Assistant exam is conducted to recruit candidates for the post of Assistant in various branches and sub-Officer of RBI. The post is equivalent to the clerical cadre in the banking sector.
• RBI Junior Engineer Exam: RBI Junior Engineer recruitment takes place through this exam. The selected candidates are employed as engineers handling RBI facilities. The specialisation required for this exam is Civil Engineering.

To download the official notification for the RBI exams and to know the syllabus and important exam dates, candidates can refer to the set of links mentioned below:

Other Banking Exams 2023

The other major exams conducted for recruitment to banks are IPPB and NABARD officer recruitment. The following are a few details about the exams:

• IPPB Exam: The India Post Payments Bank Exam is open only for candidates with considerable experience in the government sector. It recruits higher management for IPPB under the Department of Posts.
• NABARD Exam: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development recruits Assistant Managers for their operations through this exam.

Apart from these, various Private Sector Banks also release vacancies for clerical and Officer posts. But these do not conduct Bank exams for recruitment, rather opt for Application shortlisting and Interviews to appoint candidates.

As banks are an attractive employment option in the modern economy, aspirants should prepare seriously for the examinations to beat the competition.

Bank Exams for Employees Working in Banking & Financial Sector

There are two major bank exams which are conducted by Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF) for which only banking and financial sector employees are eligible to apply for. Aspirants can know in detail about the IIBF Exams at the linked article.

Given below is the information about the two exams:

• JAIIB Exam – JAIIB stands for Junior Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers. Only those candidates are eligible to apply for JAIIB exam who are already working in the banking and finance industry.
  • A written exam comprising three papers of 100 marks each is conducted carrying 120 marks
  • Of the three papers, Paper I is Principle and Practices of Banking; Paper II is Accounting and Finance for Bankers, and Paper III is Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Banking. To get the detailed JAIIB Syllabus, aspirants can visit the linked article.
• CAIIB Exam – IIBF administers the CAIIB exam twice in a year. As per the eligibility conditions mentioned by the IIBF on its official website, only the candidates who have completed JAIIB or PART-1 of the Associate Examination, and whose membership subscription is not arrear can apply for this exam.
  • A written exam is conducted comprising 100 questions for 100 marks and the total time duration for attempting the paper is 120 minutes.
  • There are two compulsory papers – Advanced Bank Management and Bank Financial Management, and one elective paper which the applicants can choose from the 11 given options. Aspirants can visit the CAIIB Syllabus page for the detailed exam pattern and selection scheme.

To know more about the IIBF administered bank exams held for employees working in the banking and financial sector, refer to the following links:

• AIIB Admit Card
• JAIIB Result

Bank Exam Preparation

An excellent way to start would be to download bank exam question papers and bank exam syllabus to read and understand their scope. Based on this, candidates can start focusing on specific exam patterns for each bank and finish their bank exam preparation before each exam date.

Candidates must also ensure that they solve mock tests, practise papers and refer to the previous year question papers to apprehend the level of the exam and analyse the exam pattern followed. The links mentioned below will help candidates prepare for the upcoming bank exams:

• Bank PO Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions
• Free Online Mock Test Series with Solutions
• Free Bank Exam Quiz
• Static GK
• Banking Awareness