Aspiring for a bank job? A ‘healthy’ Cibil score is a must

Do you aspire to get a banking job? Then merit and hard work alone is not enough. You also need a “healthy” Cibil score.

The first major written recruitment notification of the year issued by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), the joint recruitment agency for participating public sector banks (excluding State Bank of India), contains a new credit history clause for applicants.

The IBPS says in its notification: “The applying candidate must ensure that he or she maintains a sound credit history and has a minimum Cibil score of 650 or higher at the time of joining the participating banks.”

Candidates who have not updated their status with CIBIL prior to the date of joining are required to either update their status or submit an NOC from the Lender stating that there are no outstanding accounts in respect of accounts negatively reflected in Cibil, or failure for which the offer letter may be withdrawn or revoked in accordance with the eligibility criteria .

The new provision is causing concern among the candidates. “Clerical jobs for young graduates in the 20-28 age group. How justified is it to seek mandatory credit score for fresh graduates without any employment?”

Candidates without a bank account are not required to show their CIBIL status. But then, can you imagine a graduate without a bank account these days? Many of our students are anxious, said the director of the Bank Exams Training Center.

Vacancies galore

With the notice of the IBPS, the first major recruitment drive has started this year for staff and clerical positions, and more vacancies are likely to be notified in the future. Application process is ongoing to recruit 4045 writers. The designation is for vacancies for the next fiscal year (2024-25), as per indentation provided by participating banks.

Public sector banks (including regional rural banks) held about 27,500 staff and clerical vacancies in 2022, while the same was at 28,400 and 24,400 according to data coordinated by the IBPS and SBI, respectively.