CASA (Current and Savings Account) is one of the major components that banks today are reliant upon for boosting their profit margins. CASA is a preferable choice of banks over term deposits that come with the burden of increased interest rates for banks. With customers seeking to park savings beyond deposits and looking for more lucrative alternatives, CASA has become all the more important and competitive. This entails banks employing CASA-Skilled professionals to optimize their CASA ratio.
The challenge and demand for banks to attain higher CASA ratios for maintaining a lower cost of funds and pushing their net interest margin are reflective of the importance and value of CASA-skilled professionals. So if you are wondering about the benefits of CASA skill development for your career, it is a valuable investment for your career in banking. From gaining in-demand skills to accelerating your banking career plans, the CASA skill development program is an excellent headway towards a competitive career path. In this blog, we shall explore the benefits of the CASA skill development program and learn how investing in such a program can be your career booster.
Overview of the career prospects in BFSI vis-a-vis CASA
The Banking, Finance services and Insurance (BFSI) Sector is the key driver of India’s economy. The sector is reported to have emerged as the largest employer in corporate India. The Financial Year 2023-2024 saw a massive addition of 200,000 employees in the BFSI-listed companies along with public sector banks. The data indicates a career in the BFSI sector promising prospect. HDFC Bank singularly added 40,000 employees in the financial year 2024.
There are massive opportunities for individuals interested in a banking career as both public sector and private sector banks are competitively looking for qualified and skilled individuals. State Bank of India, HDFC and Bajaj Finserv are the largest employers in the country with a workforce each of 232,000 in SBI, 213,000 in HDFC and 139,000 in Bajaj Finserv.
These banks, particularly HDFC, are known for having an impressive CASA ratio. In recent times, private banks have been making efforts to raise more CASA deposits in their pursuit of improving their CASA ratio deposits to total deposits. Having in-depth knowledge and specialised skills for CASA will give several advantages. Joining these largest employing moguls will not be complicated with a specialised skill like CASA expertise. Training and preparing for this in-demand role will make you a more advantageous candidate.
Before we dilate the benefits of the CASA skill development program, let us get into a brief overview of what is CASA and how it works to understand why CASA-specific skills are in demand.
What is CASA and Why do Banks need CASA?
CASA is an acronym for a current account savings account that banks offer to customers which is a combination of the functions of checking accounts and savings accounts. In CASA, the interest rate on the current account money is nominal which means, customers get very little to no interest on their savings. It is a non-term deposit which can be used for daily banking and savings needs. It has no specific maturity or expiration. Most banks provide CASA to customers free of cost or for a nominal fee contingent upon the average or minimum balance requirement.
In the BSFI sector, the CASA ratio is a highly critical metric for assessing a bank’s financial stability and profitability. The CASA ratio reflects a bank’s potential to generate low-cost funds that can be leveraged in offering its end customers financial services like loans. This ratio is also essential for the stock market and trading as it highlights the bank’s growth potential with its insights into its financial health.
The CASA ratio is crucial for boosting profit margins as a higher ratio means the bank can lower its capital cost. On the contrary, term deposits increase banks’ expenses as they have to offer high interest rates for deposits, which is why banks need and prefer CASA. CASA is a cheaper way of raising revenue.
Benefits of the CASA Skill Development Program
Investing in a CASA Skill Development Program can prove to be highly beneficial for individuals desiring to enter the banking and finance career path.
Attaining Job-Specific Skills: Banks today are competitively working to optimize their CASA ratio with the onus of aggregating more CASA accounts laid on bank sales officers. To perform efficiently as a CASA expert, specialized training like a CASA Skill development program is crucial. Not every Bank sales officer has the knack to carry out this task, hence banks today invest in training their employees with a particular focus on CASA. Attaining these essential skills will make you a competitive candidate for the job.
In-depth Understanding of CASA Trends: With a CASA Skill Development program, individuals learn the techniques and methods of assessing CASA trends in the market and earn the skills to push and sustain the bank’s top position in the trend. This is a critical skill for bank professionals who are engaged in amassing CASA accounts and optimising CASA ratio.
Enhancing Skills and Solidifying your Career: A CASA Skill development program offers an excellent platform for working bank professionals to upskill and commit to continual learning and solidify their prowess. They earn industry-demand skills and knowledge about finance and banking’s trending practices. Such a program prepares fresh graduates for a smooth entrance to the banking industry.
Scarcity of Skilled Professionals: In the face of an evolving banking landscape, skilled professionals are scarce and finance and banking institutes are competitively seeking the right talent and appropriate skill sets. The biggest benefit of a CASA Skill Development program is that it will make you a competent professional. It is an ideal path to stay ahead of the curve. You will get to develop CASA expertise and integrated solutions for a strong finance and banking sector.
A CASA skill development program provides aspirants and banking professionals a hands-on in-depth understanding of not just CASA but the whole financial sector. Such a Skill development program bridges the talent gap in the industry and equips interested individuals to efficiently navigate the dynamic complexities of banking jobs. We have thoroughly discussed the importance of CASA and the benefits of skilling through a well-designed CASA Skill development program.
