Banking: players, trends, regulation, and how to crack the cases
Main players by region, what changed from 2024 to 2026, regulation in general terms, and typical case prompts with the first driver to check.
Industry brief, with a one-minute summary: Retail and commercial bankingFirm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.
Key takeaways
- Banking looks similar everywhere, but interest rates, regulation, and customer habits differ by country.
- Common traps: Looking for cost of goods sold in a bank.
- Interest rates turned again.
- Conflict in the Middle East.
Key idea
Banking looks similar everywhere, but interest rates, regulation, and customer habits differ by country. Before you structure a bank case, ask where the bank is, what the rate environment is, and which customers it serves.
| Region | Examples of large banks | Digital and new players (examples) |
|---|---|---|
| US | JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo | Chime, SoFi |
| Europe and UK | HSBC, BNP Paribas, Santander, Deutsche Bank, ING | Revolut, Monzo, N26 |
| Gulf | First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, Saudi National Bank, Al Rajhi Bank (Islamic), QNB, Kuwait Finance House (Islamic) | Wio (UAE), STC Bank (Saudi Arabia) |
| India | State Bank of India (state-owned), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank | Non-bank lenders (NBFCs) such as Bajaj Finance, and payment apps that offer credit |
| Singapore and Southeast Asia | DBS, OCBC, UOB (Singapore); Maybank (Malaysia); BCA, Bank Mandiri (Indonesia) | Digital banks licensed by MAS in 2020, including GXS (Grab and Singtel) and MariBank (Sea) |
| Africa | Standard Bank, FirstRand, Absa (South Africa); Ecobank (pan-African); Equity Bank, KCB (Kenya); Attijariwafa (Morocco) | TymeBank (South Africa), mobile money such as M-Pesa |
| China and Japan | ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China; MUFG | WeBank, MYbank |
So-what
By total assets, S&P Global Market Intelligence ranked four Chinese state-owned banks first to fourth in its 2025 list, with ICBC first and JPMorgan Chase fifth. Size by assets is not the same as profit or market value.
Trends from 2024 to 2026 (checked 28 September 2026)
- Interest rates turned again. After cuts in 2024 and 2025, the US Federal Reserve raised its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent on 16 September 2026, saying inflation remains elevated (Federal Reserve). The European Central Bank raised its three key rates by 0.25 percentage points, taking the deposit rate to 2.50 percent from 16 September 2026 (ECB, 10 September 2026). The Reserve Bank of India held its repo rate at 5.25 percent in August 2026 (Forbes India). Rising rates usually help net interest margins at first, but can raise credit losses later. Rates change at every meeting, so check the latest decisions.
- Conflict in the Middle East. From 28 February 2026, a conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States sharply reduced shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the UK House of Commons Library (June 2026). The World Bank reported in May 2026 that Brent crude rose about 65 percent by the end of March 2026. How this affects Gulf banks, their deposits and their borrowers depends on events that are still unfolding, so check the latest official sources before a Gulf interview.
- Capital rules. On 19 March 2026, US regulators issued new proposals for the final Basel III rules that would reduce capital requirements compared with the 2023 proposals, modestly for large banks (Freshfields summary). These are proposals, and the final rules may differ.
- Islamic finance kept growing. The IFSB reports industry assets of about USD 3.88 trillion at the end of 2024, up 14.9 percent in a year.
- Digital banks and instant payments. Digital banks such as those licensed in Singapore compete for deposits with low costs, and national instant payment systems (see the payments and fintech module) reduce banks' income from payments.
Banks need a licence from the central bank or banking regulator. They must hold minimum capital and liquidity (the Basel III framework, applied differently in each country), and deposits are usually protected up to a limit by a deposit insurance scheme. Banks must check customers and report suspicious activity (anti-money laundering rules), treat customers fairly (conduct rules), and in many countries lend a share of loans to priority groups (for example priority sector lending in India). Islamic banks also answer to a Sharia supervisory board. The central bank sets the policy interest rate, which feeds into loan and deposit rates.
| Case prompt | Structure hint | First driver to check |
|---|---|---|
| Why did our retail bank's profit fall? | Profit tree: net interest income, fees, costs, credit losses | Net interest margin versus last year, then loan volume |
| Should we close a third of our branches? | Cost saved versus revenue at risk, by customer segment; transition plan | Share of each segment's transactions and sales already done digitally |
| Should we launch a digital bank in the Gulf or Southeast Asia? | Market, customers, licence, capabilities, economics, competitor response | Customer acquisition cost versus the deposits and revenue per customer |
| Should we grow our unsecured loan book? | Return on equity after losses, costs, and capital versus cost of equity | Expected credit losses and how they behave in a downturn |
| Should two banks merge? | Strategic fit, synergies, capital, integration risk, regulator view | Cost synergies from overlapping branches and IT systems |
| Should we open an Islamic banking window? | Demand, Sharia board and product structure, pricing, operations | Share of target customers who prefer Sharia-compliant products |
So-what
Almost every bank case comes back to the four branches of the profit tree plus capital. Name them early and the interviewer will trust your structure.
Looking for cost of goods sold in a bank. Treating deposits as money the bank owns. Growing loans without asking about credit losses and capital. Forgetting that deposit rates move more slowly than loan rates, so rate changes squeeze or widen margins for a while. Reading a lower cost/income ratio as worse (lower is better). Assuming Islamic banks cannot make money because they do not charge interest.
A bank in the US has USD 100 billion of loans that reprice with market rates and USD 100 billion of deposits. Market rates rise 0.25 percentage points. Loan rates rise by the full 0.25 points, but the bank raises deposit rates by only 0.10 points. What is the change in yearly net interest income, in USD millions?
Related modules: the case-type module "Financial services P&L: banks and insurers" practices full bank profit cases. For deals, use "Mergers, acquisitions, and due diligence"; for new digital banks, use "Market entry"; for branch programmes, use "Cost reduction and cost cutting". The industry-fundamentals module explains value chains and unit economics in general, and the payments and fintech module covers cards and instant payments.
A bank's profit fell even though its loans grew 10 percent. Which first step is best?
In a murabaha home or car finance contract, how does an Islamic bank earn money?
Why does a bank need capital before it can grow its loans?
Sources for this lesson (15)
- S&P Global Market Intelligence: The world's largest banks by assets, 2025 (April 2025)
- Bank for International Settlements: Basel III framework overview (official)
- Islamic Financial Services Board: Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2025 (official)
- FDIC: press release on the second quarter 2026 Quarterly Banking Profile, net interest margin 3.32 percent (official, August 2026)
- European Banking Authority: Risk Dashboard, data as of Q2 2026 (official, September 2026)
- Bank of Japan: Financial Results of Japan's Banks for Fiscal 2025, chart of interest rate spreads on loans (official, September 2026)
- Business Standard: NIM stabilisation, asset quality and disciplined growth key for banks in 2026 (January 2026, bank margins for July to September 2025)
- Federal Reserve: FOMC statement, 16 September 2026 (official)
- European Central Bank: Monetary policy decisions, 10 September 2026 (official)
- Forbes India: RBI keeps the repo rate at 5.25 percent, August 2026 policy
- Freshfields: Basel III endgame, take two, key points of the US capital re-proposals (March 2026)
- Monetary Authority of Singapore: successful applicants for digital bank licences, December 2020 (official)
- UK House of Commons Library: Israel/US and Iran conflict 2026, reopening the Strait of Hormuz (research briefing)
- World Bank Data Blog: Strait of Hormuz disruption sends oil prices surging (2026)
- Recognized public explanations of case-interview concepts and frameworks
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