Bank Clerk (IBPS / SBI Junior Associate)

Handling cash deposits and withdrawals, cheques, passbook and account updates, opening accounts, KYC paperwork, and answering customer queries. Today the job also includes helping customers with digital banking and selling bank products such as insurance, loans and deposits.

A day in the work
You reach the branch before it opens, check your cash and start the computer. By 10 a.m. there is a queue: a farmer wants his pension passbook updated, a shopkeeper is depositing the day's cash, and a student needs a new account. You enter every transaction carefully, because a small error means hunting for the difference at closing time. In between, you explain mobile banking to a worried senior citizen and may offer a customer an insurance or loan product. After closing, you balance the books with your colleagues, and that can take a while.

1. Step 1 · Class 9–12Take any stream you like. Build speed and accuracy in basic Maths and English, and read the newspaper. Study the language of the state where you want to work. A Class 10 or 12 mark sheet showing you studied that language is one of the documents banks ask for to prove local language skill.
2. Step 2 · 3 years after Class 12Finish a degree in any subject. Both IBPS and SBI ask for graduation in any discipline. Age must be 20 to 28 on the cut-off date. In the 2026 cycle IBPS counted age on 1 August 2026, and SBI counted it on 1 April 2026 (reported). SC/ST get 5 years extra, and other categories get more relaxation.
3. Step 3 · Application window (about 3 weeks, every year)Apply online. IBPS opened 1–21 August 2026, later extended, for vacancies of 2027-28. SBI opened 11–31 August 2026. You choose one state or UT. SBI allows you to take the test only once per recruitment, so choose the state and language carefully.
4. Step 4 · PrelimsOnline test of 100 marks in 60 minutes: English (30 questions), Numerical Ability (35), Reasoning (35). Each part is timed separately. It is a screening round, and only the Mains marks count for the final merit list. IBPS held it in October 2026 (reported). SBI held it on 26–27 September 2026 (reported).
5. Step 5 · MainsOnline test with General/Financial Awareness, English, Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude. In the 2026 IBPS cycle it had 160 questions in 125 minutes (reported). Wrong answers lose marks (reported). Your Mains score alone decides your rank. There is no interview for the clerk post. (reported — check with the official body)
6. Step 6 · Local language test, documents and allotmentIf you have no proof of studying the state language in Class 10 or above, you must pass a Local Language Proficiency Test. Then comes document verification. IBPS gives a provisional allotment to a bank based on rank, your bank preferences and the vacancies the banks actually report. IBPS allotment was expected around March 2027 (reported).
7. Step 7 · Joining and probationYou join a branch as a clerk and are on probation at first. SBI says Junior Associates cannot get an inter-state or inter-circle transfer for 5 years (reported). Later you can grow through bank promotion exams and internal tests, which differ from bank to bank. (reported — check with the official body)

• IBPS Clerk (CRP CSA)One exam, then you are allotted to one of the 11 participating public sector banks, such as Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank or Union Bank. You do not choose the bank directly. Rank and preference decide it.
• SBI Junior AssociateA separate exam only for State Bank of India. You apply to one state or UT and are posted there. SBI does not take part in the IBPS Clerk process.

Fees from: State Bank of India: Detailed advertisement, Junior Associates 2026 · IBPS: Notification CRP CSA-XVI. Fees change every year — check the college's own fee page before you pay.

Pay starts as a fixed scale and grows with yearly increments and promotions. Take-home is higher in big cities because of higher allowances, and it differs a little between banks.

IBPS gives SC/ST candidates 5 years' age relaxation. Widowed, divorced or legally separated women who have not remarried get relaxation up to age 35 (General/EWS), 38 (OBC) or 40 (SC/ST). Candidates with benchmark disabilities get age relaxation too (about 10 years, reported) and may use a scribe in the exam. SBI's 2026 fee was nil for SC/ST/PwBD (reported).

• Class 7–9With a parent, look at a real passbook or bank statement. Work out how interest is added and what each entry means. Then practise adding and subtracting two-digit numbers quickly without a calculator.
• Class 10–12Read the free money and banking guides on RBI's public awareness site. Then make a one-page note on how UPI, cheques and debit cards work.Open link ↗
• College or afterRead the IBPS Prelims Information Handout to see the real exam pattern. Then time yourself on a few English, number and reasoning questions from it. Also take a free basic accounting or banking course on SWAYAM.Open link ↗

• The post has new names. IBPS now calls it Customer Service Associate. SBI calls it Junior Associate (Customer Support & Sales). The words "Support" and "Sales" show that selling bank products is part of the job.
• Dates, vacancies and age cut-offs change every year. Always read that year's notice on ibps.in and sbi.bank.in before you plan. Everything here is from the 2026 cycle.
• IBPS first announced about 11,400 vacancies for 2027-28. It then updated the vacancy list on 29 September 2026. Banks report their real vacancies later, so the final number can change.
• Interested in a higher bank post later? Look at the Probationary Officer (PO) exams too. A graduate can take them after a few years of experience or directly.