Career in Private Banking Sector in India - Pros and Cons

Career in private banking sector in India is one of the most rewarding and full of growth opportunities. In 2024 private sector banks employed more people than Public sector banks. As of 31st March 2024, the total employee strength of private sector banks stood at 846530 growing by around 7.5% year on year.

Net profit of 26 Private banks was Rs. 1.78lakhs Crore for FY24. These banks are highly professional and well-managed by professional management Teams. These banks are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India which is one of the best banking regulators in the world.

In part one of this series, we will be talking about what are the opportunities and challenges of career growth in the private banking sector in India. ?

Why choose a career in Private Banking Sector in India?

Here are some of the advantages of private sector banks in India for your career:?

1.?Professionally Managed: These banks are run by professionals who are highly skilled and experienced. Management of these banks are from top Management Institutions and have with depth of experience in banking within India and abroad.

Private Banks are the most sought-after place to work which attracts top talent. Performance of these banks and the way these banks have constantly increased market share is a testament to the quality of talent that is available with these banks.

2.?Best-in-Class HR Policies: These Banks have HR policies that are one of the best in the country. Some of the leading Big Private banks are innovators and rolling out employee-centric human resources practices.

3.?Career Progression: Private Banks provide one of the best ecosystems for career progression. Every employee has an opportunity to grow, while also providing fast-tracking of growth for Top performers. Most Private Banks in India depend on Internal talent for filling next-level positions and depend on lateral hiring for positions that cannot be filled by internal talent.

4.?Fixed Salary: Private Banks in India have one of the best compensations across all Industries. Starting from entry-level to top management salaries in India Banks are higher than any other Industry.

5.?Other Financial Benefits: Financial Benefits like Bonus, Retention Bonus, ESOPs, discounted loans, and many others are part of the overall compensation structure.

6.?Non-Financial Benefits: Terms of employment, Leave, workplace quality, number of working days, and many more.

7.?Impact of Technology: Private Banks are at the forefront of new technology adoption which give an opportunity to its employees to learn and adapt new tools and technology. ??

8.?Learning and Upskilling: Private Banks are highly focused on upskilling and training their employees. Most of these banks have compulsory learning goals for every employee. All employees are expected to achieve learning and upskilling targets as part of the performance appraisal scorecard.

9.?Equal Opportunity: A career in the private banking sector is a good opportunity for women, as their policies are gender-neutral. Compensation, promotion, and movement within departments are equal to all employees.

10.?Demand gap in Banking: All the private Banks are growing and expanding their Branch network as well as digital offerings that have been given to experienced Bankers. Over and above that new small finance Banks have now started expanding which has further increased the demand gap for seasoned bankers. Technology changes are changing whole dynamics in banking which is further increasing demand for people with specialized skills. ?

11.?Opportunities with other Financial Services Companies: Experienced bankers are in demand across job levels from AMCs (Asset Management Companies), NBFCs, Microfinance Companies, ARCs and other Financial Services players.

12.?Opportunities with Fintech and other Startups: The Fintech and Startup ecosystem is growing, especially payments, Neo Banking, Retail Loans, invoice discounting, and others have a huge demand for experienced bankers.

13.?Demand from GCCs (Global Capability Centers): India already has more than 1800 GCCs and these numbers are increasing with every passing day. Most of these GCCs are focused on banking and Financial services. All such GSSs have a high demand for experienced Bankers.

14.?Work-Life Balance: Work times may get stretched sometimes but largely at the Industry level weekends and holidays available are high, over that compulsory leave for some roles adds to the time available to bankers for family, health, hobbies, all other types of recreation.

15.?Social Respect: Bankers enjoy Respect in our society and is considered one of the most respectable jobs.

Also Check: Types of Banks in India ?

Why some people may not like Private Banks as an Employment option?

There are a few disadvantages of private sector banks in India that some people may not like:

1.?Highly Regulated: Banks are highly regulated businesses which hampers innovation. People with raw innovation of Product offering or use of technology or customer reach out may find banks a bit frustrating

2.?Lack of Entrepreneurship: RBI's first and primary responsibility is to protect depositors' money, to achieve this objective banks are expected to follow a risk-averse model that discourages an entrepreneurship mindset for its employees.

3.?Changing Market Dynamics: Technological changes and change customer behavior expect employees to keep upskilling, learn, and adopt new technology, people who are not willing to constantly upskill themselves will find it hard to survive

4.?Meritocratic Culture: Private sector banks in India are driven by a meritocratic culture that requires the highest level of performance. Some people find it difficult to cope with this demand for performance.?

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Others

Overall Private Banks are one of the Best employment options for people from all backgrounds, genders, geographic locations, and educational backgrounds.?

In this series of articles we will discuss following?

1.?How to start a Career in Banking

2.?Career growth strategy for Bankers

3.?Trends in Banking and Financial Services?

4.?How to switch specialization within Banking

5.?How to have a Banking career on the Fast Lane And more

You are welcome to write to us by email at [email protected] , if you want us to discuss any specific topic or have any suggestions .