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She said financial capability should develop alongside adulthood instead of becoming a stressful adjustment when young people enter their first jobs.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to step up their engagement with young customers and make banking simple, personalised and available round the clock, as India seeks to build a stronger financial ecosystem for its young population.
While addressing the concluding session of the two-day PSB Confluence in New Delhi, the Union Minister called on state-owned banks to launch a month-long ‘Banking for Youth’ campaign from October 2, in a bid to up their ‘cool’ quotient in the eyes of the country’s youth without sacrificing the prudence the business requires.
The initiative will focus on building long-term relationships with young customers — from “campus to career and beyond” — rather than treating account opening as a one-time interaction.
Sitharaman said public sector banks still carry an image of being “government banks” and are often considered less attractive by young customers compared with private sector lenders.
She urged PSBs to speak directly to young people and understand what they expect from their banks.
Asking PSBs to maintain a balance between cool and serious prudential banking, Sitharaman said, “We should keep pace with expectations of youth,” as quoted by news agency PTI.
Recalling her recent conversation with young people who said private sector banks are a preferred choice for account opening as they are “cool”, Sitharaman asked PSBs to talk to young people and find out what needs to be done to change the impression of their banking services in line with youth expectations.
“Somewhere, private banks seem to have that picture of being banks, but good enough as well… I need public sector banks not to be not cool. You should, please get some young people to talk to you. What makes you appear cool? Or at least one portion of your banks should, when they sit in front of the customers, make sure everything is cool,” Sitharaman said.
The Finance Minister asked PSBs not to wait for young customers to walk into branches but to take their services directly to colleges, universities, skill-building institutions and other campuses.
The proposed campaign could include account-opening drives, financial awareness programmes and direct interactions with students and young professionals.
“Public Sector Banks must be the first and most trusted choice of young Indians,” Sitharaman said, adding that banks should be present through different stages of a young person’s financial journey, including their first account, first salary, higher education, entrepreneurship and first investment.
Banks could also offer free online learning content in partnership with reputed educational institutions and platforms, using education and skill development to engage young customers.
Sitharaman also suggested setting up dedicated youth-focused spaces at bank branches, such as ‘Yuva Kiosks’ or ‘Yuva Banking Mitra’, where a dedicated employee could help young customers understand banking and financial products.
She also proposed lifestyle-linked benefits such as discounts or vouchers for fitness centres, yoga centres and credible mental wellness platforms.
The initiative could also include a common online portal or application for youth, coordinated through the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), providing information on banking services, education, skilling, entrepreneurship and other financial opportunities.
The Finance Minister also stressed the need to educate young people about the formal credit system.
She asked banks to create awareness about credit scores, credit products and government-backed credit schemes, particularly to help young entrepreneurs access finance.
Sitharaman also urged banks to sensitise young customers about maintaining a good credit history and responsible borrowing habits.
Sitharaman said India has one of the world’s youngest populations and that young people will increasingly influence the country’s consumption, savings, investment, entrepreneurship and wealth-creation patterns.
She said financial capability should develop alongside adulthood instead of becoming a stressful adjustment when young people enter their first jobs.
The two-day PSB Confluence 2026, organised by the Department of Financial Services under the Ministry of Finance, brought together public sector banks, public financial institutions, government officials and domain experts.
The second day focused on agriculture and horticulture value-chain infrastructure, priority sector lending and reimagining the credit card business.
Discussions on credit cards included digital onboarding, cross-selling to existing customers and opportunities arising from the RuPay-UPI integration.
The confluence also discussed ways to strengthen financing for agriculture and horticulture value chains, including farmer producer organisations, storage, processing, logistics and market linkages.
(With inputs from agencies)
Key Questions Answered
Ask News18Public sector banks are being encouraged to offer services that are simple, personalised, and available around the clock, including free online learning content in partnership with educational institutions. They also plan to introduce life-stage banking products, use data sources like Account Aggregator, GST, and UPI for unified customer profiles, and implement digital-first onboarding through e-KYC and video KYC. Additionally, customised underwriting models will be developed to support start-ups and small enterprises.
Ask News18About the Author
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre…Read More
August 19, 2026, 08:30 IST
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