Introduction to Commercial Banking and Fintech

By Prof. Wasim Ahmad | IIT Kanpur

Learners enrolled: 2285 | Exam registration: 769

ABOUT THE COURSE:

The course is designed to give practical exposure to students who are interested in understanding the functioning of monetary policy, money markets, banking sector balance sheets, banking sector regulations, financial sector linkages with banking sector, banking sector performance indicators and financial institutions role such as fintech and how market mechanism shapes the functioning of the banking and financial institutions. The course is extremely useful for economics students, both undergraduate and master's, business, and those who want to make a career in this field. The practical approach is fascinating, and it will help understand the functioning of the banking and financial institutions beyond the theory of money and banking.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: UG & PG from any disciplines

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Banking and Financial Services Firms

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Economics & Social Sciences Economics & Finance
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	02 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	20 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	24 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction to Commercial Banking: The role of banking in the economy and how they are interlinked with macroeconomic aggregates and policy variables.

Week 2: Macroeconomics of Commercial Banking – I: Understanding the macro-side of the banking sector and its connection with different monetary policy transmission channels

Week 3: Macroeconomics of Commercial Banking – II: The IS-LM framework of monetary policy transmission with reference to credit market imperfections and the critical role of the banking sector.

Week 4: Credit Creation Mechanism: The money creation system of the banking sector and its connection with the money supply.

Week 5: Balance Sheets of Commercial Banks: Understanding income and balance sheet statements for banks and financial institutions: Assets versus liabilities with reference to special indicators

Week 6: Performance and Risk Analysis of Commercial Banks: Banking sector performance and risk measures: CAMELS Analysis, balance sheet-based risk indicators, systemic risk understanding

Week 7: Indian commercial banking system: The peculiar characteristics of India's monetary management and banking system. Non-banking financial system and its importance, discussion on the financial stability report.

Week 8: Banking Sector Regulations: Understanding the global architecture of banking sector regulations and the role of central banks, different standards and measures

Week 9: Macroprudential risk and commercial banking: Introduction to different risk measures linked to systemic risk and their impact on the day-to-day functioning of commercial banks

Week 10: Fintech and Its Importance: Conceptual understanding of fintech, regulations, sandboxes and their interdependence with financial institutions

Week 11: Fintech startup ecosystem: Understanding account aggregators and Fintech-NBFCs collaborations, Co-lending models, fintech deepening and access to credit

Week 12: Summary of recent developments in the fintech domain: Fintech bridge and how recent regulations are shaping the fintech startup ecosystem in banking, the All-Ways Amendment Act 2025, digital banking and co-lending framework.

Books and references

Mishkin, F. S. (2021). The Economics of Money, Banking and Financial Markets (The Pearson Series in Economics), 13^th Edition.
Economic Survey, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India Reserve Bank of India
Financial Stability Report by the RBI
Mishkin, F. S., & Eakins, S. G. (2018). Financial Markets and Institutions. 9^th Edition, Pearson Education India.
Williamson, D.S. (2018), Macroeconomics (6^th Edition). Pearson International Edition, Boston, USA

Instructor bio

Prof. Wasim Ahmad

IIT Kanpur

Prof. Wasim Ahmad is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economic Sciences at IIT Kanpur. He has about 15 years of industry and academic experience. His working areas include international finance, climate finance, and corporate governance. He is a Post-doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Visiting Fellow at India Observatory, LSE. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Delhi in 2014.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 24, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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