The map
Every idea, grouped by the question it answers. The arrows under each one show where it leads — follow them to see how the whole system connects. Tap any title for the full explainer.
How does a bank actually make money?
Cheap current/savings money versus pricey fixed deposits — a cheaper deposit mix means fatter margins.
The blended average rate a bank pays on all its money — its purchase price for the cash it lends out.
The actual rupee profit from lending — interest earned minus interest paid.
The gap between what a bank earns on loans and pays for funds, as a % of its assets — the spread engine in one number.
Two sides — money the bank owes versus money it lends out; the gap is profit.
CASA = current + savings accounts, the cheapest money a bank can raise; branches chase it because every rupee lowers cost of funds and widens margin.
The blended rate a bank earns across its whole loan book — money's selling price.
What happens when RBI moves rates?
The slice of every deposit a bank must park at RBI as cash, earning nothing.
How an RBI rate cut reaches a customer's EMI — fast on EBLR loans, slow on MCLR.
The rate RBI charges banks to borrow overnight — the price every other rate is built on.
The slice of deposits a bank must hold in government bonds instead of lending out.
How does a loan go bad?
Once a loan turns NPA it's graded down: standard → sub-standard → doubtful → loss.
RBI's uniform rulebook for when banks must stop booking interest on bad loans and provide.
Profit set aside to cover a bad loan — taken now, long before any write-off.
Early-warning buckets — SMA-0/1/2 — that flag a loan sliding toward the 90-day NPA line.
A loan turns NPA when interest or principal goes unpaid for more than 90 days.
How is a bank judged?
The bank's own capital measured against its risk-weighted assets — the cushion before depositors are touched.
The share of a bank's deposits sitting in current and savings accounts — higher means cheaper funding and a stronger margin.
Operating costs as a share of income — what running the bank eats per rupee earned.
Bad loans as a share of all loans — gross before provisions, net after.
The share of a bank's bad loans it has already set aside provisions against.
A bank's whole health reads off about seven numbers you can scan in five minutes.
Profit measured against the bank's assets, and against shareholders' money.