Glossary
Every concept in the map, one line each. Tap any term for the full explainer. Filter by the question it answers, or search.
- Asset classification (standard → loss)Once a loan turns NPA it's graded down: standard → sub-standard → doubtful → loss.
- Capital adequacy (CRAR)The bank's own capital measured against its risk-weighted assets — the cushion before depositors are touched.
- CASA ratioThe share of a bank's deposits sitting in current and savings accounts — higher means cheaper funding and a stronger margin.
- CASA vs term depositsCheap current/savings money versus pricey fixed deposits — a cheaper deposit mix means fatter margins.
- Cost of fundsThe blended average rate a bank pays on all its money — its purchase price for the cash it lends out.
- Cost-to-income ratioOperating costs as a share of income — what running the bank eats per rupee earned.
- CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio)The slice of every deposit a bank must park at RBI as cash, earning nothing.
- Gross & Net NPA ratioBad loans as a share of all loans — gross before provisions, net after.
- IRAC normsRBI's uniform rulebook for when banks must stop booking interest on bad loans and provide.
- Net Interest Income (NII)The actual rupee profit from lending — interest earned minus interest paid.
- Net Interest Margin (NIM)The gap between what a bank earns on loans and pays for funds, as a % of its assets — the spread engine in one number.
- Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR)The share of a bank's bad loans it has already set aside provisions against.
- ProvisioningProfit set aside to cover a bad loan — taken now, long before any write-off.
- Rate transmission (repo → your EMI)How an RBI rate cut reaches a customer's EMI — fast on EBLR loans, slow on MCLR.
- RBI & the repo rateThe rate RBI charges banks to borrow overnight — the price every other rate is built on.
- Reading a bank's results (hub)A bank's whole health reads off about seven numbers you can scan in five minutes.
- ROA / ROEProfit measured against the bank's assets, and against shareholders' money.
- SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio)The slice of deposits a bank must hold in government bonds instead of lending out.
- SMA stress buckets (SMA-0/1/2)Early-warning buckets — SMA-0/1/2 — that flag a loan sliding toward the 90-day NPA line.
- What a bank's balance sheet actually isTwo sides — money the bank owes versus money it lends out; the gap is profit.
- What an NPA is (the 90-day rule)A loan turns NPA when interest or principal goes unpaid for more than 90 days.
- Why branches push CASACASA = current + savings accounts, the cheapest money a bank can raise; branches chase it because every rupee lowers cost of funds and widens margin.
- Yield on advancesThe blended rate a bank earns across its whole loan book — money's selling price.
Acronyms
- GNPA
- Gross NPA ratio
- NNPA
- Net NPA ratio
- MPC
- Monetary Policy Committee (RBI)
- RBI
- Reserve Bank of India