A bank that serves small businesses, farmers and low-income people. It needs a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 200 crore and at least half its loans must be of up to Rs 25 lakh.
SFBs have a higher priority-sector target than universal banks.
Related terms in Banking
Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC)
A company registered with RBI under the SARFAESI Act that buys bad loans from banks at a discount and tries to recover them.
ATM
Automated Teller Machine. A machine that lets customers withdraw cash, check balances and do other basic banking without visiting…
Banking Regulation Act, 1949
The main law that governs banks in India. It sets rules on licensing, management, capital and RBI's powers over banks.
Basel III
A global set of banking rules from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. It asks banks to keep more and better-quality capi…
Business Correspondent (BC)
A person or agency appointed by a bank to provide basic banking services such as deposits, withdrawals and account opening in pla…
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR / CRAR)
A bank's capital as a percentage of its risk-weighted assets. It shows how well the bank can absorb losses.
Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB)
An extra layer of common equity, 2.5% of risk-weighted assets, that banks must hold above the minimum under Basel III. Banks that…
CASA
Current Account and Savings Account deposits. These are low-cost funds for a bank, so a high CASA ratio means cheaper money to le…
Central KYC (CKYC)
A central record of customers' KYC details kept by CERSAI. Once your KYC is in CKYC, other financial institutions can use your 14…
Cheque
A written order from an account holder asking the bank to pay a stated amount to a named person or the bearer. It is a negotiable…