Dear Members,                             

The paradigm shifts in the Banking and Financial Services ecosystem, fuelled by cutting-edge technology and evolving customer expectations all across the globe, have resulted in a clearer recognition of cross-skilling and upskilling as indispensable tools of progress. This is even more relevant for a knowledge-driven sector like BFSI. Indeed, it is heartening to find that the concept of ‘Human Sustainability’ has started to grab the centre-stage worldwide. Deloitte’s report on 2024 Global Human Capital Trends supports the idea that “when people thrive, business thrives”.

The Indian Institute of Banking & Finance, now in its 97^th year of service to the banking fraternity in India, has always strived to pursue its mission of developing professionally competent bankers and financial services professionals. At the same time, the Institute endeavours to constantly innovate its pedagogy and realign its academic and training solutions in line with the industry needs, without compromising on the quality of its offerings. 

As the Institute inches towards its centenary year in 2028, it is indeed a matter of pride to reflect upon and recognise the pioneering role played by the Institute in the development of banking education in India. However, the Institute recognises the importance of evolving and reinventing itself continuously in sync with the changing ecosystem. The ‘Vision 2025’ document developed by the Institute clearly mentions the organizational strategies and consequent goals in the short-term, for the overall development and sustainability of the Institute. While the vision broadly revolves round its core functions, i.e. education, training & certification, due emphasis has been placed in leveraging the digital advancements in delivery and outreach.

With a clear objective of strengthening the Institute’s core offerings, the syllabi for the flagship courses of the Institute, JAIIB and CAIIB, has been thoroughly restructured to capture the nuances of an evolving sector from a more practical perspective and thereby, to create more professional value for our members. Simultaneously, the Institute has completed the restructuring of the syllabi of the RBI-mandated capacity building courses in the specialised domains of Treasury, Credit Management, Risk Management, Foreign Exchange and Accounting & Audit. Currently, the Institute has been involved in rationalising and updating all of its Diploma and Certificate courses, in order to provide an up-to-date learning experience to all the candidates.

The Institute has also been focusing on developing customized Certifications for Banks, depending on the knowledge and skill-gap analysis in consultation with the respective Banks. These customized certification Programmes will emphasise on the bank-specific policies and processes, while covering the entire gamut of the subject in questions. A number of Banks, both from the public sector and private sector, has already opted for such joint-certification programmes on specific topics, e.g. AML-KYC & Compliance, for all of their employees. Moreover, the Institute has also started to develop need-based and job-family oriented courseware, depending on specific requirements from banks and FIs.

Additionally, the Institute is currently involved in developing new certification Programmes in Customer Service, Operational Risk Management, Retail Bank Management and IT Security in Banks, based on the feedback received from member banks and FIs.

As for the newer initiatives, the Institute has duly recognised the importance of creating awareness on the impending risks of climate change and of sensitising the entire BFSI ecosystem on sustainable finance, in alignment with the suggestion obtained from Reserve Bank of India. The Institute has co-developed a self-paced E-Learning Certification programme on ‘Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance’, along with International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group. This programme has been divided in two certifications, namely ‘Foundation’ and ‘Advanced’, to cover the entire gamut of climate risk and subsequent mitigation measures & disclosures. Going forward, the Institute plans to offer these certifications to international candidates as well and develop country-specific contents, if so desired.

Additionally, IIBF had conducted a series of physical training Programmes on ‘Climate Risk and Responsible Banking’ for the Banking & Finance Professionals in the four major metropolitan cities in India, in collaboration with United Nations Environment programme- Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI), with participation from board members, senior executives, credit officers and relationship managers. These workshops propagated general awareness and foundational capacity-building on the impact of climate change and sustainable finance.

In line with the trend globally, the Institute has embraced a ‘digital-first’ pedagogy with a clear emphasis on highly immersive E-Learning solutions. In order to facilitate online learning, the E-Learning modules developed by the Institute has been made available to all, irrespective of their status as a member or non-member at a minimal price-point. It is heartening for us that the Institute’s customized E-Learning offerings have found interested subscribers in the banking fraternity as some of the premier public and private sector banks have opted for our E-Learning solutions, especially for their probationary officers.

The Institute strategically shifted to ‘Remote Proctored’ mode of examination with a view to provide the candidates the comfort of taking the examinations from anywhere. However, with AI-driven monitoring mechanism, the standard of the examinations has been maintained.

The Virtual Training Programmes conducted by the Institute have garnered wide acceptance amongst the banking fraternity for their easy accessibility and the ability to reach out to a larger set of participants across the nation, without compromising on the quality of knowledge exchange and the content coverage.  With 258 training sessions organised during the year for 9298 candidates in total, the Institute is well and truly poised to become the preferred learning partner for Bankers going forward. Moreover, the Institute has been chosen by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, to conduct training Programmes for Central and State Government officers on select topics.

The Institute has continued to tread the path of collaborative growth by partnering with domestic and international organisations of repute. Internationally, the Institute has partnered with FPSB, to offer academic credits and fee benefits to CAIIB qualified candidates in India while pursuing the internationally recognised CFP programme, in the wealth management domain. Moreover, the Institute has collaborated with GARP to promote learning in risk management domain, through FRR certification. Domestically, the Institute has been collaborating with IGNOU for an MBA course in Banking & Finance, with specific credits and/or exemptions being provided to JAIIB/CAIIB qualified candidates under the revised syllabi.

It is also heartening to see that the Institute has been consulted by National Banking Institute, Nepal, in developing customized, country-focused coursewares in Risk Management and Retail Banking.

We, at IIBF, believe that progress is a continuous process of self-discovery through incremental improvement of our core offerings, supported by continuous innovations towards becoming the preferred learning partner for Banks and Financial Institutions in coming years. IIBF will continue to work closely with banks, Financial Institutions, Regulators and IBA to revise the contents of the various courses and training Programmes to make them more relevant for modern age bankers and roll out new courses/Programmes in future.

I, on behalf of IIBF, convey my sincere thanks to Shri A. K. Goel, MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank and President of Governing Council, and other Governing Council members for their guidance and whole-hearted support to the Institution.

The Institute acknowledges the role and contributions of all the Institutional and individual members.

With warm regards,

Biswa Ketan Das