How to prepare for a Branch Banking Interview

As you all know, a good preparation before the interview will increase your chances of cracking that
dream job. Post an MBA/ CA/ or a recognized certification in Branch Banking - you can actually start a
fast paced career with any Bank.
But first, you need to have a broad understanding of the roles and the outlook of this industry with
some key data, to crack that interview. Remember, there are thousands of people like you, and there
are just a few jobs available.

Roles available in a Branch:

Front End: Typical roles offered at front end are Acquisition Manager or Relationship Manager.

Some banks also employ graduates as Relationship Officers (ROs) in this area.

The role of the Acquisition manager is to build clients and meet revenue targets for the firm, whereas
a relationship manager manages relationship with existing clients, and usually cross sell/up sell
products on customer requirement. So there would a RM for current accounts, salary accounts, trade
accounts etc.

The fine distinction is between that of sales role (AM) and a Business Development role (RM).

Additionally in Branch banking you also have Customer Service Manager and Operations
Manager, who are responsible for handling the operations of the Branch. They also have additional
sales targets for the entire range of products.

The next level of growth for someone with a relevant work experience would be to grow to the level
of Branch manager, who is responsible for the performance of the entire branch and to whom the
entire branch report.

Note: Most MBA would get sales role as Acquisition manager to manage a team of ROs for the
specific product or set of products. Also MBA are preferred for the role of Branch Relationship
Managers for selling bank and third party products like life insurance, mutual fund schemes etc.

Support Roles:

Product Managers – For all the products, banks employs product manager who take care of the
product specific initiatives. For example any modification required in a product, keeping track of
products and product features being offered by competitors.

Is MBA a must?

MBA helps in getting a higher role and starting at a more responsible position in the bank. Subjects
studied during MBA helps to gain product knowledge and understand economic outlook better, which
proves crucial in initiating a meaningful dialogue with a client. However, opportunities are also
available for graduates in many cases.
 

Banks that hire in big numbers:

Major Banks that are currently hiring in big numbers are –
• Indian Private Banks - ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, AXIS Bank, IndusInd Bank, ING Vysya Bank,
Kotak Mahindra Bank and Yes Bank.
• Foreign Private Banks – Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank etc.
• Public Sector Banks – State bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda etc.

Sector Outlook:

The Banking sector in India is poised to witness tremendous growth in terms of distribution with:

• Banks expanding their presence in tier-II and tier-III cities.

• RBI granting more banking licenses.

To give you an idea SBI alone had 13,542 branches as on March 2011 and it planned to add 800
domestic branches in 2011-12.

Interviewer looks for:

Typically interviewer tests:

• Domain Knowledge
• Business Awareness
• Multi-Tasking Ability
• Sales and Marketing Skills

Common interview questions:

For a sales role the set of questions that can be asked are –

• What is CASA and why is it important for the bank?

Current accounts and saving accounts or CASA as banks call it, have gained focus due to the
following reasons:

1) It gives banks access to cheaper funds which in turn helps to improve the profitability
of the branches.
2) It gives an opportunity to sell other bank products and third party products to the
customers.
3) Enhanced relationship with the customer would also results in better reference business
for the bank.

• What other products can an officer cross-sell to an existing saving account customer?
Along with a saving account, bank can cross-sell products like fixed deposits, recurring
deposits and credit card. It can also offer third party products like life insurance and mutual
fund schemes.
 
• Why banks are putting additional emphasis on the NRI segment?

NRI as a segment is attracting additional focus by the banks to open accounts with them. This
is primarily due to below mentioned reasons
1) NRI’s bring in large amount of deposits, thus adding to the banks CASA base.
2) The amount comes through a foreign exchange transaction, adding additional revenue
for the bank.
3) Also the amount that NRI’s bring stays with the bank for longer period due to
comparatively lesser number of transactions in the account.
4) And banks just can’t miss the opportunity to sell third party investment products to NRI’s.

• If you are posted in a predominant residential area, which customer segments you will target
for current accounts?

In a residential area the segments that can be targeted are professionals like doctors,
accountants, architects and consultants, as most of them operate from their homes. Also small
stores and kirana merchants would have their presence in these areas.

• A customer walks in the branch for opening a current account, what will be the first three
questions you will ask from him?
When a customer walks in the branch he has a clear idea on what service he wants, in this
case a current account. But it is our responsibility to ensure that he is offered the correct
variant of the product that suits his requirements. For this we need to ask the right questions:

1) What is the nature of your business and constitution of the company?

This is to determine what is the scale and scope of business and what services and
products that he would need from the bank.
2) What is the volume of your transactions on a monthly basis?
This is to determine what level of turnover he would have in the account and thus what
product will be offered to him.
3) What cash to cheque ratio in your transactions?
This will determine the cash limits to be offered to him and thus offer him the best
suitable product with least charge structure involved in the same.

• What are the different types of insurance products that a bank sells?

Insurance is broadly of 2 types:

a. Life Insurance and b. General Insurance

Life insurance is again divided in to ULIPs, term plans and traditional plans.
  

Please note that interviewer would lay special emphasis on your business awareness, thus you need
to be updated with:

• Competitors analysis, especially product and service comparisons.

• What are the specific service requirements for different account types?
• Any change in regulations by RBI etc.

So you must read the newspaper (or a financial website) daily.

Additionally we strongly recommend to research on the organization before going for
interview - key financials, awards, promoters, products etc. It’s a must!

Good luck and I hope this helps.

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