Business
Double-Digit Growth, Falling NPAs Strengthen Indian Banks In 2024–25: RBI
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Indian commercial banks showed resilience in 2024-25, with double-digit growth, improved asset quality, and strong profitability, as highlighted in the RBI report.
Banks, NBFCs, Co-ops Show Broad-Based Strength in 2024–25: RBI Report
Despite global headwinds, the Indian commercial banking sector remained resilient during 2024-25, supported by double-digit balance sheet expansion, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2024-25.
Deposits and credit of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) grew in double digits, albeit with a moderation from the previous year, the report highlighted.
The Indian banking system saw an improvement in asset quality, with the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio declining to a multi-decadal low of 2.2 per cent at end-March 2025 and 2.1 per cent at end-September 2025.
Not only the asset quality but the profitability of SCBs remained robust with the return on assets (RoA) at 1.4 per cent and return on equity (RoE) at 13.5 per cent in 2024-25. The RBI report added that During H1: 2025-26, RoA and RoE of the SCBs stood at 1.3 per cent and 12.5 per cent, respectively.
The growth didn’t remain at the Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs). The consolidated balance sheet of urban co-operative banks recorded higher growth in 2024-25 than that in the previous year. Their asset quality improved for the fourth consecutive year, alongside strengthening of their capital buffers and profitability, the report added.
The non-banking financial companies continued to record double-digit credit growth along with robust capital buffers. Their asset quality also improved during the year.
Plans To Build Robust Financial System And Consumer Protection
In the report, the Central Bank said the climate risk poses a threat to financial stability. It plans to include climate risk disclosure norms and RBI Climate Risk Information System (RB-CRIS).
Banks were told to build climate risk into strategy and lending.
Reflecting policy efforts across the financial system, the Reserve Bank’s financial inclusion index improved to 67.0 in March 2025 fromb43.4 in March 2017, the report added.
To strengthen the system, the Central bank is planning to shift to the Expected Credit Loss (ECL) framework from April 1, 2027, with the proposal to implement new Basel III norms, such as credit risk, counterparty risk, and capital market exposure. It aims to alert to early stress signs and allows stronger balance sheets for banks.
In order to protect consumers, RBI has taken various measures against the mis-selling of financial products and loan recovery products. Moreover, it has strengthened Internal Ombudsman framework, with a special drive from January 1, 2026, to clear pending complaints.
December 30, 2025, 11:34 IST
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Business
UPI transactions hit record Rs 29.53 lakh crore in March; volumes cross 22.6 billion – The Times of India
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions touched a record high in March, with both value and volume hitting new peaks, driven by festive spending and financial year-end activity, according to PTI.Data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showed that UPI transactions totalled Rs 29.53 lakh crore in value during March, up 19 per cent from Rs 24.77 lakh crore in the same month last year.On a month-on-month basis, transaction value rose 10 per cent from Rs 26.84 lakh crore recorded in February.In volume terms, UPI registered 22.64 billion transactions during the month, marking a 24 per cent increase from 18.3 billion transactions a year ago. The volume was 20.39 billion in February.Average daily transactions stood at 730 million, with an average daily value of Rs 95,243 crore, as spending picked up during festivals such as Holi and Eid.“The sustained growth in the digital payment ecosystem in India is an affirmation of the penetration of real-time payment systems in the day-to-day life of the people. UPI processed 22.64 billion transactions worth 29.53 lakh crore in March 2026, marking its emergence as one of the trusted payment systems in the country,” said Anand Kumar Bajaj, MD & CEO of PayNearby.UPI now accounts for around 85 per cent of all digital transactions in India and contributes nearly 50 per cent of global real-time digital payments.The platform is operational in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France and Mauritius, with its entry into France marking its first expansion into Europe.NPCI, an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks’ Association, operates UPI, enabling real-time peer-to-peer and merchant payments across the country.
Business
Minimum wage rises to £12.71 an hour as firms warn of impact
But Spencer says his business is being squeezed from every angle – as well as minimum wage, he has had increases in business rates, national insurance, and statutory sick pay. He also expects energy bills to go up because of the war in the Middle East.
Business
Visa launches new AI tools to manage the charge dispute process
Visa Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Visa is launching six new tools using artificial intelligence to modernize the process of disputing credit card charges, the company told CNBC exclusively.
The digital payments company said the tools are designed to reduce the costs and frustration of “outdated” dispute processes for multiple entities involved in the payments process: merchants, issuers and acquirers.
“Some of the challenges are these back-office systems are still largely manual,” Andrew Torre, Visa’s president of value-added services, told CNBC. “We really had to think differently about how we approach this at scale.”
In 2025, Torre said, Visa processed more than 103 million charge disputes globally, marking a 35% increase since 2019.
“Our goal is to streamline this as much as possible,” Torre said. “We’d love to be able to see that growth rate come down.”
Visa’s new tools are part of a larger push by major banks and financial institutions to incorporate AI into their businesses — both internally and in consumer-facing applications. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have both said they’re already using AI to hire fewer people. BNY spent $3.8 billion on technology in 2025, or about 19% of its revenue.
Visa said three of its six new tools focus on merchants, allowing them to address potential disputes before they escalate, managing disputes with generative AI responses and providing a deeper level of detail on order insights to manage confusion over unfamiliar charges.
For example, Torre said, many disputes are borne out of cardholders not recognizing a specific charge on their statements. With the new tool, Visa will be able to provide further details to financial institutions to show cardholders that data at a deeper level, according to the company.
The other three tools are built for issuers and acquirers, using predictive AI models to aid in case-by-case analysis, analyzing documents for summaries and auto fill and establishing an AI-powered dispute platform to manage the entire process in one location, Visa said.
“We’ll be able to get them insights and data so they can move from being reactive to proactive,” Torre said.
Torre said Visa’s new AI tools are part of a broader host of solutions for consumers, including a subscription manager announced last week that allows cardholders to cancel unnecessary subscriptions directly on the manager.
The automation will save time, money and unnecessary confusion for both parties, he added. Most of the tools will be generally available later this year, the company said.
“We really believe that disputes in this solution makes it much easier to manage and resolve,” Torre said. “We think it has better outcomes for everyone.”
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